Can you believe that 2010 is already coming to a close? Time flies when you’re having a good time and we’ve had an incredibly exciting year. There have been new additions to our team, fascinating projects and new collaborators. We’ve run and supported great events, met amazing people and introduced many new faces to the exciting world of pervasive media. Time to share some of our favourite events!

In February we celebrated our second birthday for which Play Nicely lovingly crafted a Studio piece showcasing highlights from our start-up period. It now graces our reception area; a small version can be downloaded here. Our talented placement student Reuben (Ravensbourne) also went through our archive. We asked him to create a short Studio trailer showing off our projects and residents. Watch the impressive result below, Reuben created this piece in less than two weeks.

 [video:http://www.vimeo.com/14118725]

PM Studio Trailer 2010 

In early 2010 UWE’s Digital Cultures Research Centre became official partner of the Studio and celebrated the occasion with a large launch event. Since then the DCRC team has been based at the Studio, working closely with residents for research and teaching activities. A nice example is July’s Creative Producers summer school, which gave 20 producers and managers a chance to develop and hone their skills.

iShed was delighted to welcome two new team members in the past 12 months. Creative Technologies Research Associate Dan Williams supports Studio residents and collaborators to get the best out of pervasive technologies and keeps us up to date with what is going on in the tech world. iShed Coordinator Grace Denton works closely with iShed Producer Victoria Tillotson to deliver iShed’s programme. (Her position is supported by Jerwood, DCMS and Arts Council England.) Theatre Sandbox Producer Katie Day completed her Cultural Leadership Placement in Dec and returned to her Birmingham based Theatre company The Other Way Works.

 [video:http://www.vimeo.com/11791690]

Theatre Sandbox, iShed's commissioning scheme for theatre makers piloted in 2010. 

The Studio was pleased to receive support from the Arts Council’s Digital Opportunities programme to offer two Artists’ Residencies in 2010. Newly formed collaboration Mercurial Wrestler (Jay Kerry & Becca Gill) and artist Hazel Grian were given the opportunity to research, produce and present projects at the juncture of art, pervasive technologies and culture. We will offer two Artists' Residencies for early 2011, so watch this space. Details will be published in January.

[video:http://www.vimeo.com/14074444]

The Magician's Desk is part of a series of site-based, sensor driven magical installations, that take place in real and illusionary worlds. 

Three New Talent/Graduate residents completed residencies with us in 2010. Lucinda Orrell’s study E-Motion explored location-based expressions of emotion articulated through social media; Ed Roger’s project aims at making Braille cell displays available and affordable for mobile devices; AlphaSphere by Adam Place is an original musical instrument which aims to move the production process back into the instrument. (Adam has been accepted on this year’s Media Sandbox, follow his progress here.)

iShed’s successful commissioning scheme Media Sandbox has just completed its development period and will celebrate the work of its participants with a final showcase on Friday, 18 Feb. This event is the perfect chance to get to know this year’s ground-breaking projects, so save the date!

In the past 12 months we have been working closely with DShed, Watershed’s online showcase of creative work, to offer more audio-visual documentation of our projects and events. Here are some of our favourites:

Drawing with Light, a workshop with artist and DCRC PhD researcher Tine Bech exploring the spaces around Watershed; Living in the Internet of Things, a talk and one-day workshop with innovation and media theorist Rob van Kranenburg; Pervasive Games and Playful Experiences: Rendering the Real World, our panel on SXSW Interactive; Theatre Sandbox celebrates the successful run of the national commissioning scheme for theatre makers with a showcase event at Watershed. Happy browsing!

We wish you all a lovely Christmas break and look forward to seeing you on the other side. 

Your PM Studio team