Happenstance - Technology Residencies for the Arts

Leila Johnston

Leila Johnston is a writer and broadcaster with a particular interest in the culture of technology. She is the author of the gamebook and iPhone app Enemy of Chaos and How To Worry Friends and Inconvenience People – which was turned into an interactive online animation series by BBC Comedy. In the last year she has been working on creative technology experiments with Made by Many, and writes regularly about hacking WIRED UK. She is the embarrassed owner of many obsolete computers.

Nat Buckley

Resident at Lighthouse

I am an interaction designer and developer, interested in exploring the ways we interact with technology, and how in turn our technologies shape the way we live.

In my spare time I play with electronics, build digital ephemera, do martial arts and drink cider. Not always all at once.

http://ntlk.net
http://twitter.com/ntlk

James Bridle

Resident at Lighthouse

James Bridle is a writer, publisher and artist based in London, UK. He makes things with words, books and the internet, and writes about what he does at http://booktwo.org.

Linda Sandvik

Resident at Spike Island

I’m an interface developer and wannabe MacGyver. Although I describe myself as a front-end developer, I have a background in proper programming (well, computer science at university). I’ve studied digital media at Hyper Island, with a focus on group dynamics and self-leadership, idea and concept development, brand management, and design facilitation. I’ve had my own consultancy business since 2009, which mainly does web development, apps and physical installations (electronics).
I love doing research, user testing, experimenting and prototyping. I’m curious, oddly creative, and like exploring new things. Sometimes I do weird things like catapulting myself 2000ft into the air. In August 2012 I will be participating in the longest horse race in the world, the Mongol Derby.

Kevin Walker

Resident at Spike Island

I’m a designer, researcher, artist, technologist and journalist working across disciplinary and geographic boundaries. I design and program installations, software, and web sites, mostly for museums, galleries and artists. I conduct and publish research on how people use, understand and learn with technologies ranging from mobile devices to sensor networks. My artwork bridges the digital and natural, tending toward the minimal and scientific, with motorised installations, computerised drawings and pencil sketches. And I’m a compulsive journalist, constantly interviewing, investigating, recording and writing. I hold a BA in Anthropology/Mass Communications, a Masters in Interactive Telecommunications, and PhD in Museums & Technology.

After the Sandpit

Last week’s Sandpit saw 18 great candidates assemble at NESTA for a busy day of interviews and workshops.

Between talk of tiny robots and ping pong balls, games and magic, we discussed organisational challenges, approaches to making, and the similarities and differences between art and technology.

It was a great opportunity for the teams from Lighthouse, Site and Spike Island to meet the technologists, designers, producers and writers who came along, and we’re now tackling the difficult job of placing the right people in the right organisations.

Getting the placements right is the most important part of Happenstance: as well as being an opportunity to make interesting things, we’re keen to embed the residents’ expertise in each organisation, so it’s not just about ideas, but about matching interests and approaches, and getting the pairing right.

We’ll be letting all applicants know the outcome of the selection process by 23 February, and we’ll announce the full line-up shortly after that.

Getting Started

The search is now on for some amazing technologists to apply for the residencies. Each residency will be an opportunity to think, make and prototype digital projects and products as part of a small creative team. We’re looking for people who are creative thinkers, don’t mind getting their hands dirty (!), can communicate well and share their processes and thinking and can work in an Agile way.

We’ve been talking about ‘agile project management’ – a common practice in technology development teams but less so in the arts. Developing an agile approach to technology, and making digital products in the way we would usually make art, is one of the things we want to experiment with, so the process of making will be just as important as the things we make.

You’ll hear much more from us on this as we begin the activity but the basics – making, talking, trying things out – mean that the process has equal weighting to the finished product.We’re very lucky to be working with a great team from the University of Warwick Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, who will help us understand the impact of the project and the wider value of the work, and we hope that Happenstance will make a long-term change in the way that arts organisations approach technology.

And finally, now seems like a good time to thank the people who generously gave their time and expertise as we were designing the programme – so big thanks to Chris Thorpe, Bill Thompson, Matt Jones and Rohan Gunatillake.

Technology Residencies for the Arts