Week commencing 7 January:

It’s been an incredibly exciting week in the Studio with two new residencies starting, an announcement of the eight REACT Books and Print projects and tickets now available for our Artists in Residence showcase later this month. Read on to find out more:  

This week saw the Craft +Technology residencies kick off. Craft has always played an important role in society and culture, taking forms that can be challenging, beautiful, useful, tactile and extraordinary. Watershed launched the residencies to see what could happen if there were more opportunities for contemporary makers to work with technologists. Three talented makers – Heidi Hinder, Chloe Meineck and Patrick Laing – will work with technologists in the Studio, at i-DAT in Plymouth and Autonomatic in Falmouth during the Residencies to explore how new technologies embedded in objects (otherwise known as the Internet of Things) can enable remarkable interactions between people and objects. Heidi Hinder will be working in the Studio on her project ‘Money No Object’ exploring how to combine digital representations of money with a tangible beautiful physical object. You can find out more about it and the other two projects here.  

You might remember our call out for our communicating science residency with IOP Publishing. Well we are very pleased to announce that on Monday designer Helen White joined the Studio. During her residency, Helen will be exploring the upsurge in the availability of information on a global scale, seeking to give form to an aesthetically bereft mass of data. With media attention on solar flares and their effects on positive events (the northern lights) or predicted negative events (technological disruption), she will be developing a  ‘solar wind chime’; an installation that is powered by real-time data triggering an audible and visual record of the movement of charged particles released from the sun. Helen will be giving a free Lunchtime Talk on the 25 Jan where she will be sharing her ideas and plans for the residency, you can find out more here.

REACT were delighted to announce the successful Books & Print projects. Books & Print Sandbox will explore books as historical, contemporary and future phenomena, developing new digital products and experiences for a publishing industry at a critical stage in its history. You can read all about the eight successful projects here. On Wednesday and Thursday all the participants came together in the Studio for their first workshops. The workshops went brilliantly and gave everyone a chance to meet each other and hear about all the projects in more detail. We are extremely excited to follow the progress of the projects and will be bringing you updates in the following months.

Lumiere Digitale were in the Studio every day working towards their new show that draws together elements of dance, circus, projection mapping and tracking into a unique and exciting audience experience. They have now set the dates for the end of April, have cast their production and finalised all the creative and visual artist team. You can find out more about their plans in the write-up of a Lunchtime Talk they gave at the Studio here.  

The lovely Raucous collective had their first production meeting with all their collaborators present, as they gear up towards their showing in April. They are currently working towards a prototype piece of immersive theatre called The Stick House, inspired by the work of Angela Carter and Otto D.  Excitingly everyone in the play is now cast except for one, and they’re looking forward to start the rehearsal process. You can find up to date news on their website here.

Over at the nu desine Adam, Felix and Liam and preparing to head to The NAMM show 2013 in California. The NAMM Show is the world's premier music products trade show, where manufacturers from around the globe come to unveil the latest new gear and products. They will be showing the AlphaSphere and have some exciting meetings set up. You can find out more about the NAMM show here and follow nu desine on twitter here to find out the most up to date news.

Our Artists in Residence Ben Sadler & Phil Duckworth and Timothy X Atack & MrUnderwood have been preparing for their final showcase on Thursday 31 March, where you can come and see a robot that draws and a kinetic choir that will keep making sound for 100 years. They will be talking about what they’ve been up to for the last four months and showcase the work they have developed. It’s one not to miss so get your tickets here.

Tickets have now gone online for Digital Bristol Week, which is a week-long schedule of networking, training and knowledge exchange for the creative industries is being hosted and produced by the BBC Bristol Partnership. All events are free but tickets need to be reserved in advance. The Studio is getting involved in various ways. On Thu 31 Jan we, alongside other creative companies and venues in the city, will be throwing open the doors for an open day. The residents will demo some of the exciting projects they are working on and we will offer free hourly tours for anyone interested in finding out more about what we do. On Wens 30 Jan Clare will give a talk at the BBC about creative technology and the potential for developing new broadcast models and the REACT team will be giving an introduction to the upcoming Future Documentaries theme. The DCRC will be bringing a flavour of last year’s iDocs festival to Digital Bristol Week, exploring the emerging field of Interactive Documentary. You can find out more on the BBC website here.

Also as part of Digital Bristol Week, Rik Lander is going to be running play testing for his new play The Memory Dealer. It is a form of interactive theatre where the audience becomes part of the story. On the 31 January there will be a full dress rehearsal where attendees can experience the play for free in exchange for responding to research questions. Each experience will last about two hours. A smartphone is required but these can be provided, to find out more visit their website here or reserve your ticket here.

Lastly don’t forget to join us next friday for a Lunchtime talk from our new Communicating Science resident Helen White. During her residency, Helen will be exploring the upsurge in the availability of information on a global scale, seeking to give form to an aesthetically bereft mass of data, and exploring new approaches to science communication using creative technologies. Join us for this special lunchtime talk to find out more about her ideas and plans for the coming months.  You can find out more about our ongoing series of Lunchtime Talks on our events page here.