Events

First Friday is a monthly social event open to anyone. These events are somewhere between the last meeting of the week and the first event of your weekend. You might meet an artist or an engineer, a school teacher or a city leader. It is a place to connect with someone you might not otherwise meet, and hear about stuff you didn’t already know. All are welcome - from inside and outside the city, online or in the Watershed building.

February 2024 event

The next First Friday will take place both in Pervasive Media Studio and online on Fri 2 February 17:00-18:00.

Our February event coincides with the opening night of Bristol Light Festival. We invite you to join us for some informal sharings by our Studio Resident community, incorporating light in playful and unexpected ways, before going out to explore the festival.

People joining us in person will have the opportunity to have a look around Pervasive Media Studio and to find out more about some of the work that happens here. There will also be some equipment set up to chat with people joining the event remotely.

As well as the chance to socialise in the Studio, attendees joining the event in person will also get to see a selection of work by some of our Studio Residents. Residents sharing work include:

• Vincent Baidoo is a Creative Technologist and Transmedial Producer working with visuals and underrepresented narratives. Vince will be showcasing his 2nd iteration of his Dynamic Holographic prototype, where he has been developing software to explore the interactive potential of cutting-edge Holographic hardware.  
• Kathy Hinde is an interdisciplinary artist inspired by behaviours and phenomena found in nature expressed through installations that combine sound, sculpture, image and light. Kathy will be sharing her outdoor light and sound installation Chirp & Drift which comprises a flock of illuminated instruments that chatter in morse code messages.
• Kaleider is a production studio that combines installation, live performance and digital in their artworks. They will be showing Twist and Shine, an interactive installation of giant, glowing sculptures for children and playful adults. Each sculpture can be twisted into different shapes, with audiences working together to move the pieces.
• Liam Taylor-West is a composer and audiovisual artist. He will be showcasing Forest Fire, a piece created in collaboration with Dr Edward Crane, a specialist in probability, during Liam’s time as Artist-in-Residence with University of Bristol School of Mathematics. 
• Air Giants is a team of creatives and technologists who create living, breathing installations using their own expressive soft-robotic technology as a core medium. They will be showing videos and images of some of their recent projects, including Squeeze Me which premiered at Playable City Bristol last summer.
• Frazer Meakin is undertaking MyWorld Research Fellowship exploring the skills and opportunities young people need for a career in creative technologies, to inform the development of tailored educational programs and initiatives. At First Friday they’re keen to have informal chats with attendees to learn more about different career paths people have taken and what those currently working in the sector believe are the key skills needed.

Content warning - Please note that some of the work being shown includes pulsing / flashing lighting effects. 

The hosted element of the event will finish at 6pm. After that, in person attendees are welcome to continue conversations in Watershed's cafe bar area.

People joining online can participate in short speed networking conversations, facilitated by our chat roulette style software. You will be paired up at random for a series of five minute conversations, one-to-one with other guests. There is an option to take a break between each chat and you are welcome to pop in and out whenever you like. It's fine to join the event late and leave the event early.

Join the First Friday mailing list here.

This event is supported by MyWorld.

Booking info

To join us online sign up here. You will be asked for your email address so we can send you your personal link. Please try and use either Chrome or Firefox on your computer (rather than a mobile device).

If you are attending in person, there is no need to pre-book. Head to our main bar area, buy a drink if you want to, and then follow directions down to Pervasive Media Studio.

About Pervasive Media Studio

The Pervasive Media Studio hosts an international community of over 150 artists, companies, technologists, and academics exploring experience design and creative technology. We are a space for risk taking and early ideas; for the kind of projects and questions that inhabit the meeting points of art, technology, and society.

Our projects span play, robotics, location-based media, food, connected objects, interactive documentary, new forms of performance and more.

We have an open plan studio with a culture if generosity, curiosity, and interruptibility. We believe that by clustering people together from a broad range of backgrounds, with differing skills, experience, and opinions, all of our ideas become better.

Access

Pervasive Media Studio is wheelchair accessible and there is an accessible and gender neutral toilet. There is also a baby changing area.

We have a dedicated quiet room where there is low lighting, sofas, bean bags and space to lie down. This is away from the general open space of the Studio.

If drop in events aren't accessible for you, please email studio@watershed.co.uk to book in. When you book in, we will link you up with a member of our team who will reach out to find out where you would like them to meet you and what time you will arrive. That team member can also arrange a time for you to visit the Studio for a 1-2-1 tour so you can familiarise yourself with our space before attending.