Mixed Realities & Social Histories: Can tech create empathetic connection?
Date and time
Location
Online event
Our Creative Director Samantha Lindley talks to artist Thomas Buckley about his Digital Democracies commission and ArtHouse Jersey residency
About this event
Our Creative Director Samantha Lindley and Digital Democracies commissioned artist, Thomas Buckley, discuss why mixed reality and technology offer new ways to engage with social and local histories.
Thomas Buckley was Digital Democracies’ first artist in residence last year, and presented his brand new commissioned work at Frequency Festival 2021 as part of the Cornhill High Streets Heritage Action Zone Cultural Programme.
Through his work with local communities and archival objects, Thomas retold stories of the city through his multi-sensory installation, Repositorium.
In this online talk, Samantha and Thomas will catch up on how Thomas' work has developed since Frequency Festival, and his recent residency with ArtHouse Jersey exploring collaboration between artists, writers, perfumers and mixologists.
They will ask:
How do people from completely different mediums connect and collaborate?
How we can develop shared language and open conversation?
Can technology open new routes into storytelling that let us empathise and connect viscerally?
Is this tension of practitioners a tool for creating a work that is full of empathy and connection?
Free and open to artists and creatives at all stage of their career.
About the Speakers
About Thomas Buckley:
An alumni fellow of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Thomas makes work exploring the potential of mixed reality and emergent technologies in drawing out our humanity. Thomas uses both digital and sensory mediums to propose new ways we can archive and share our social histories - exploring new ways heritage can engage with new media.
About Samantha Lindley, Creative Director at Threshold Studios:
Samantha’s 18 years of experience as a Creative Producer in the cultural sector spans the public realm, moving image, community cohesion, education, artist and talent development, employability, live events and commissioning.
As Creative Director for Threshold, she designs, develops and implements projects that manifest the organisation’s vision and ethos locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Committed to using arts and culture for social change and equality, she believes that digital and emerging technologies allow expansion of culture for social good and inclusion.
About Digital Democracies:
Led by Threshold Studios and supported by Arts Council England, Digital Democracies is a pioneering national project exploring the intersection of technology, art and public space.
Through commissioning of democratic and innovative digital work, inclusive artist development opportunities and rapid prototyping, the project aims to create a new generation of radically inclusive public cultural experiences in shared places where we live, work and play.
Digital Democracies brings together three of the UK’s leading commissioning agencies and festivals: Threshold Studios (Frequency International Festival of Digital Culture, Lincoln), Freedom Festival Arts Trust (Freedom Festival, Hull) and Lighthouse (Brighton Digital Festival, co-produced with Brandwatch), along with a network of associate partners and collaborators across the UK.
Image Description: High street at night with large scale digital projections on three screens stretched across the street horizontally.
