The Watershed and British Council have united 12 leading artists and designers from across East Asia and the UK, for an intense five-day sprint at Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio around the theme of The Playable City.
The Pervasive Media Studio is a collaborative venture between the Watershed, University of West England and University of Bristol. The studio is a self-styled ‘multi-disciplinary creative technologies lab’ that explores and produces pervasive media content, applications and services.
Pervasive Media Studio’s current project, Playable City Sprint, delivered in collaboration with the British Council, asked the 12 participants to experiment with playful interventions that use creative technologies to rethink public space. The organisers selected the theme of ‘play’ because of its potential to inspire audiences to participate and contribute, rather than just observe. The participants have had just five days to respond to this playful brief. However, the project aims to enable peer learning and development beyond the event.
The Playable City will culminate in an interesting lunchtime offering: A 1pm talk on Friday 24 February at the Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio. Participants will discuss their experiences of developing a new piece of work in a week and showcase their interventions.
The talk is free, informal and open to all. Guests are welcome to bring their sandwiches with them! Please read on to find out more about the 12 participants and the rich variety of art forms and disciplines in which they work, or click on this link to find out more about the programme.
Participants
Tine Bech is a visual artist and researcher working with interactive installations and public art, based in London.
Julian Sykes is a games designer and co-founder of ARK LAB, a social club and a network that seeks to improve the community.
Kathy Hinde is a sound artist with an interdisciplinary approach that combines art forms.
Matthew Trivett is a visual artist and producer based in Nottingham. His work examines the relationship between humans, the environment and technology.
Vahakn Mattossian is a British-Armenian-German designer who works in interactive art and design. Vahakn Art & Design studio is based in London.
Leticia Cáceres and Angela Betzien are theatre makers of Real TV, a leading theatre for young people in Australia.
Yuri Suzuki is a Japanese product designer and sound artist.
Megumi Matsubara is a visual artist from Japan. His practice ranges from static architecture to sculpture, performance, music and writings.
Jayoung Bang and Yunjun Lee are a duo from Korea who work together on art, cinema and research projects.
Ng Chor Guan is a composer from Malaysia. His professional credits ranges from music for concert and theatre to film and dance.
