Join us for a special Art & Climate Showcase event to experience the new work created by Watershed & MAYK’s Winter Artists in Residence – Xavier Velastin, Robbie Thomson, Ella Good and Nicki Kent.

We’ll also be exploring the wealth of ideas being developed in response to the climate emergency by Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio residents and associates and hear from multi-award winning author and journalist Matthew Todd, contributor to Extinction Rebellion’s handbook ‘This Is Not a Drill’ and the author of the award winning ‘Straight Jacket’.

To open the event, Matthew will look at the reality of the forthcoming ecological collapse and what history suggests will happen for issues such as inclusion and diversity. He will also be discussing and questioning why the arts have not collectively engaged with this subject, considering the alarm has been raised for more than 30 years and examine the role the creative community can play now that we are at the edge of an unprecedented catastrophe.

This will be followed by presentations from our Winter Residency artists:

Xavier Velastin is a performing sound artist, poet and composer. He will present [whalesong], a human-computer duet that takes its structure from the song of male humpback whales. The idea comes from his interest in seismic surveying, the process whereby loud soundwaves are used to prospect for oil and gas – something that is hugely damaging to marine life. During this residency, Xavier has experimented with sensor technologies to enhance the performance of [whalesong] and delved into global ecological myths. Discover what he learned from these old forms of knowledge and just how he is using them.

Sound and visual artist Robbie Thomson is concerned that the places where the impact of climate change and environmental destruction is most visible – like the Amazon fires or coral reef bleaching – feel very distant from our everyday lives. He has been working hard to develop a series of part organic, robotic sculptures that draw our attention to the ‘invisible’ changes happening under our noses. Join us for an exclusive sneak peak into his work.

Since 2016 Ella Good and Nicki Kent have been working towards Building a Martian House, a real life house that you can step into and imagine how we might live on another planet, in a very different climate. Find out about the ideas they have tested and how thinking about a life on Mars provides a stark lens for how we live here and now on Earth. Each artist will share the thinking behind their work and where they hope to take it next.

Following the presentations you are invited to meet and experience work-in-progress developed by our Residency artists and Pervasive Media Studio residents and associates in thePervasive Media Studio. This will include work from Alison Neighbour, Dan Pollard, Tim Kindberg, Uninvited Guests, David Lisser, Caroline Williams, Jasmine Creusson, Anne-Marie Culhane.

Our annual Residency programmes support artists to experiment, make and think. We work with creative practitioners from varied disciplines, career stages and backgrounds, who have ideas for projects that blend art and technology.

We'd be delighted if you can join us for this special showcase! Complimentary drinks will be served and the event will feature live BSL interpretation.

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