Book Cover Design Competition

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Open call for young people aged 13-23 in the West Midlands Your chance to get your design featured as the cover of a new story by acclaimed author Tony White and win £100. Young people aged 13-23 local to the West Midlands are invited to design the cover of a new book about the project… Read more »

Welcome Our Friends Electric resident Imwen Eke

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In September, we offered Our Friends Electric the chance to have a free three-week artist residency with Blast Theory and we’re very excited to announce that Imwen Eke was the chosen resident. Imwen will be working on a project called Blk rooms while on residency with us from the 10th – 28th October. The project… Read more »

2097: We Made Ourselves Over

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Phone boxes start to ring across the city. You answer the call. A vehicle stops alongside you. A voice asks you to get in. It’s 2097. We are on the cusp of a new century and you decide where we go next as we invite you to re-imagine two cities 80 years into the future…. Read more »

Join us in A Place Free of Judgement

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A Place Free Of Judgement is a teenage takeover of libraries. Young people from three libraries across the West Midlands in Cannock, Telford and Worcester, have been working with the Blast Theory and acclaimed author Tony White to re-imagine libraries, story telling and their place in the world. On Saturday 29th October, this work will… Read more »

Residency Opportunity for Indonesian Artist

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Blast Theory is offering a unique opportunity for an Indonesian artist to spend up to four weeks at its studio in the UK next March as part of its 2017 residency programme. The residency aims to provide a space and uninterrupted time to research and develop new work in a supportive environment and comes with an award of £1,600 to… Read more »

Watch an interview with playwright Caleb Lewis

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Originally a theatre-maker, over recent years Caleb Lewis has become increasingly interested in audience interactivity. Caleb used his July residency with us to develop an app called The City in which the player offers advice to 4 homeless characters and is intended to raise awareness of the everyday struggles of life on the street. Watch… Read more »

We are recruiting a Project Manager

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Pandemics and Public Health

Want to work with us? Blast Theory is recruiting a Project Manager to assist with the delivery of major projects in 2017 and beyond. The role requires a highly organised person to liaise with multiple partners in the UK and abroad, to track progress towards deadlines and ensure timely delivery of projects. Working as part… Read more »

Watch My One Demand on NOWNESS

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My One Demand has been featured as part of the NOWNESS Directors’ Cuts series. We shot the film in 2015 in one continuous two-hour take and streamed it live to a cinema and online. In My One Demand, seven people stride out across Toronto in an interactive film about unrequited love. Day gradually falls to night… Read more »

Interstice at Fort Process

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Fort Process is an expansive multi­disciplinary music and arts festival that takes place in the evocative spaces of Newhaven Fort in East Sussex. We are thrilled that our Technical Lead Alex Peckham will be presenting his solo work Interstice as part of the festival programme. He caught up with festival organiser Lorah Pierre of Lost… Read more »

Meet our new studio tenants

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We’re delighted to welcome Innocente Messey in August and Hayley Rackham in September to the Blast Theory building. Innocente Messey graduated from London College of Fashion and is the founder of Innocente Messey™ apparel. Her first collection ‘Mobaly’ fuses 1960s MOD inspired cuts with bright, bold colours influenced by her African heritage. Describing herself as a… Read more »

What is Gameful Design?

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Sofia Romualdo is a PhD researcher at the University of Exeter and during her residency with us she continued to investigate the use of Gameful Design in museums and galleries. Delving into the Blast Theory archives, Sofia looked at relevant projects Flypad and Ghostwriter to explore the influence of digital gaming on their curated spaces. Watch the interview with… Read more »

Welcome new resident Aleea Monsour

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Aleea Monsour graduated form the Queensland University of Technology Fine Arts Drama with distinction and has a keen passion to bring theatre and the arts to those from all walks of life. In 2015 she worked as a writer, director and producer on Remembering Palestine, a verbatim theatre piece which explores the lives, stories and experiences… Read more »

Say hi to our new resident Caleb Lewis

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Caleb Lewis is a multi-award winning Australian playwright interested in ways of engaging an audience in order to co-author a narrative. Currently studying video game narrative at the University of British Columbia, Caleb will use his residency to further develop The City, a story-driven app where the audience interact with the characters. The City offers a glimpse… Read more »

Studio space available to rent at our building in Portslade

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20 Wellington Road studios

Two studio spaces will soon be available to rent in Blast Theory’s building in Portslade, Brighton. Designed by award winning architects Block, the building has three studio spaces, an edit suite, a communal kitchen area, storage space, a project space and a residency space. The building is a Victorian warehouse overlooking the harbour and was… Read more »

Welcome new resident Sofia Romualdo

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Sofia Romualdo is a PhD researcher at the University of Exeter, investigating the use of games in museum and gallery settings. While on her residency she intends to look at relevant Blast Theory projects such as Flypad and Ghostwriter, exploring the influence of digital gaming on their curated spaces. She worked in institutions such as… Read more »

Operation Black Antler receives 4 and 5-star reviews

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Unmissable stuff, beautifully crafted and delivered by two remarkable companies, the stuff that makes Brighton Festival great ★★★★★ Latest Brighton We’ve had a fantastic run of Operation Black Antler at Brighton Festival. The show itself has received great praise from audiences and critics alike and we’ve also had some great post-show discussions around the themes of… Read more »

Welcome new resident Ting Tong Chang

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Ting-Tong Chang, image courtesy of the artist

Ting Tong Chang is a Taiwanese artist currently living in London and will be on residency with us through May. He is interested in juxtaposing the conventional idea that machines are efficient enough to replace humans by creating a serious of animatronics that highlight human flaws such as anxiousness, quirkiness and often unproductiveness. Drawing themes… Read more »

Watch the trailer now for Operation Black Antler

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It seems like a vital time to examine exactly what the limits are of police surveillance. What is justified and what cannot be justified? We want to give people an experience where they come out with a fresh perspective on what it might mean to undertake surveillance or be the victim of surveillance. In this… Read more »

Volunteer with us

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Our volunteer programme is an opportunity for those embarking on a career in the arts to have first-hand experience working with an artists company. Blast Theory is a small team of 8 people who work closely with each other to deliver a wide range of projects in a fast paced environment. Our programme gives volunteers… Read more »

Alinah Azadeh: Through A Wall

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Alinah Azadeh is our new artist in residence and will be with us through March and April 2016. During her residency, Alinah will be developing a project called Through A Wall. This cross-platform collaboration explores how boundaries created in society from migration, prejudice, belief and conflict shape our understanding of people and the world around… Read more »

Computational Creativity and the Generative Novel: an interview with Jessica Harneyford.

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Jessica Harneyford is writing a novel about an artificial intelligence called LEILA: The Lovelace Test and used her February 2016 residency with us to research methods of telling the story interactively. Alongside this research, Jessica was pursuing another project exploring the use of artificial creativity in game-form and in this interview she discusses a brainwave she had linking the… Read more »

What is the alternative to screen-based maps?

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While on her residency with us in December 2015, Rachel Henson focused on developing a navigaitonal tool to guide a solo walker on a journey from a residential area to the countryside. She experimented with homemade devices intending to add to the atmosphere of the surroundings rather than distract the walker’s attention in the way that… Read more »

Blast Theory lands in Indonesia

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Carpark in Toronto

Blast Theory artist, Nick Tandavanitj, is travelling to Indonesia as part of a British Council visit to meet Indonesian artists and organisations working with digital technology. Alongside a group form the UK including FACT, MAKLAB, Invisible Flock, Abandon Normal Devices and the V&A, Nick will be presenting the work of Blast Theory in a programme… Read more »

Blast Theory will be playing in Lagos in March

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Toronto street junction

Playable City Lagos 2016 intends to find new ways to start a conversation in the city through play. The project will take place over 8-days in Africa’s fastest growing city – exploring the challenges and opportunities that come with this. Ju Row Farr will work collaboratively with 9 other creative individuals from either the UK… Read more »

A Place Free of Judgement

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Grasses photographed in Buffalo

With the support of Grants for the Arts from Arts Council England, we are collaborating with author Tony White and three groups of young people to create A Place Free of Judgement. This work is a teenage takeover of libraries, aiming to re-frame and re-engage young people’s relationship to words, literature and libraries. We will… Read more »

Welcome to our new resident Jessica Harneyford

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Resident Jessica Harneyford. Image © Tagxedo

Jessica Harneyford is primarily a writer and is currently developing an interactive digital narrative piece called LEILA: The Lovelace Test. The work explores the blurred lines between humans and machines asking questions such as: what it would take for an artificial agent to be deemed ‘creative’? Could an artificial agent be said to be ‘morally responsible’ for… Read more »

A little bit about workshops

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Workshops are an integral part of Blast Theory’s practice. We take part in them externally and internally, we lead them in a vast range of settings and we are soon to be hosting our first one on app development for art and artists at our studios in Brighton. Ahead of this workshop, Artist Ju Row Farr has… Read more »

Welcome to our new volunteer, Tom Fletcher

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We’d like to welcome our first volunteer of 2016, Tom Fletcher. He recently graduated from the European Theatre Arts BA at Rose Bruford College in South London, and since then has set up a small company with a colleague called ‘Bite the Hand Theatre’ which premiered its first show at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol… Read more »

Watch an interview with former resident Thanos Polymeneas-Liontiris

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Thanos Polymeneas at a mixing desk, image courtesy of the artist

Thanos Polymeneas Liontiris‘ research looks at traditional opera in relation to interactive music theatre and how the two can coincide in one performance. He is interested in putting opera outside of the traditional context of large music halls and instead placing it within an immersive environment that participants can walk through and experience. His residency… Read more »

Watch an interview with former resident Mats Staub

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Mats Staub, image courtesy of the artist

During his residency, Mats Staub continued to work on his long-term project, 21 – memories of Growing Up. The project involves interviewing participants about the year they turned 21, then a few months later recording them listening to themselves speak about their memories. The result is an installation work where the viewer sits in front of a video-portrait of… Read more »

Watch a film about our project Too Much Information

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Too Much Information explores the experiences of two very different age groups; young adults and over 60-year-olds. With awkward and intimate questions posed to both, this project shows what each group can learn from the other, despite their different stages in life. Participants were invited to walk through the streets of Manchester with a GPS… Read more »

Welcome new resident Rachel Henson

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Rachel Henson, image courtesy of the artist.

Rachel Henson is interested in solo walking and the heightened sense of alertness and vulnerability we feel when outside on our own. We enter an almost trance-like state, totally immersed by our surroundings, and the objects we find along the way have the ability to fuel our imagination and creativity.   While at Blast Theory, Rachel… Read more »

Branch in Brazil

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Ju recently led a workshop in Sao Paulo with Mesa & Cadeira where the overall aim was to make a project with social impact. On day 1 everyone met, on day 2 everyone was given a mission to ‘create and launch a system to reach people who don’t usually have a voice’ the 18 participants developed a… Read more »

Apply now for the 2016 Residency Programme

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Evening view from the terrace at 20 Wellington Road

We are now inviting applications for the 20 Wellington Road Residency Programme for 2016. This unique Residency Programme is initiated and run by the artists in Blast Theory. It aims to provide a space for residents to research and develop new work for between one to three months. Blast Theory encourages debate and exchange with… Read more »

Watch a film about our game, Hurricane, in action

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Hurricane

Hurricane is a game designed by Blast Theory as part of a permanent exhibition at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva. Up to 25 players must work together around a touch-sensitive table in order to save as many people as they can from the impending Hurricane. It teaches how prevention and preparation… Read more »

Watch an Interview with former resident, Tamara Saulwick

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Tamara Saulwick, image courtesy of the artist

Throughout September 2015, Tamara Saulwick focussed her residency on an interactive installation piece to be presented by Arts House in the Festival of Live Art (FOLA) in 2016. The work is for 16 participants at a time and centres around 16 iPads. The iPads are used as lights and speakers in order to draw the… Read more »

Karen wins Innovation award at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma

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Japanese car park

Karen is on a roll.   We’re very excited to announce that after recently being shortlisted for a competition as part of the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal, Karen is a joint winner of the award for Innovation. The “Nouvelles écritures” category showcases productions on the cutting edge of interactivity and immersiveness within documentary… Read more »

Meet our new resident, Mats Staub

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Mats Staub, image courtesy of the artist

During his residency, Mats Staub will continue to work on his long-term project 21 – memories of Growing Up. 21 is a collection of interviews from people about the year they turned twenty-one, exploring both personal and generational experiences. Mats transforms narrator into listener as the participants are later filmed again listening to their original… Read more »

Watch an Interview with former resident, Jessy Lauren Smith

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During her 2015 residency, Jessy was working on a project called Artifacts. The work is part of a Living Room Playmakers event in which audience members will walk through an area of collected items called Salvage One. Part audio tour, part live theatre the work raises questions about how our cultural narrative effects our current allegiances…. Read more »

Karen wins at the Lovies

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We are pleased to announce that Karen has won Bronze under the Experimental and Innovation category of the annual Lovie Awards. Thank you to everyone who voted! This marks Blast Theory’s third consecutive win at the Lovies, with My Neck of the Woods in 2014 and I’d Hide You in 2013. If you haven’t played… Read more »

Karen exhibited as part of the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal

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Japanese car park

Karen will be shown as part of the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal, an 11-day event which aims to showcase new innovations in all aspects of cinema. Karen has been chosen as one of six productions to be featured at the Hexagram-UQAM experimentation studio; a space devoted completely to “Nouvelles écritures”. The projects are being showcased… Read more »

Karen’s 40th Birthday Bash

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Karen looking in mirror

A one-off immersive live experience by Blast Theory in partnership with National Theatre Wales. Karen’s having a big bash for her 40th on 24 October, at a secret location near Cardiff and you’re invited. She’s booked the curry house, a DJ, a singer, the bar will be open and it’s going to be a right laugh…. Read more »

Blast Theory in Canada

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Ju will be in Canada from the 28th September to take part in a number of talks and conferences discussing Blast Theory’s practice and recent projects including Karen and My One Demand. On the 28th September Ju will be on the iLunch panel, an Interactive Ontario event discussing interactive documentaries. On 29th September, Ju will… Read more »

Volunteer with us

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Volunteer call out

Could you be the ambitious arts volunteer we’re looking for? We’re recruiting now for volunteers for the first six months of 2016 (January – June). Our volunteer programme is an opportunity for those embarking on a career in the arts to have first-hand experience working with an artists company. We are looking for ambitious volunteers… Read more »

Vote now for Karen to win Lovie Award

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Karen Lovie Award Nominee

Hot on the heels of the BIMA Award win, Karen has been selected as a Finalist in The 5th Annual Lovie Awards in the Mobile Handheld: Experimental & Innovation category. As a Finalist, we’re up for two awards: The Lovie Award and The People’s Lovie Award. The Lovie Award is chosen by the Academy, while… Read more »

Charlie Yetton starts as Artists’ Assistant

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Please join us in welcoming Charlie Yetton into the Blast Theory fold, as he begins work with us as Artists’ Assistant. Charlie has worked for internationally renowned artists such as Phyllida Barlow and Jane and Louise Wilson building and facilitating projects in some of the UK’s major arts institutions. Charlie is also officially the first qualified Boatbuilder to… Read more »

Karen wins BIMA Award

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It’s official, Karen is award winning. Karen is the winner in the ‘Data’ category for the Best of British Digital at the 2015 British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Awards.   We couldn’t have got here alone. A big thank you to all partners and collaborators involved in the project – National Theatre Wales, Dr Kelly Page, The Space, Mixed Reality Lab and… Read more »

Meet our new resident, Tamara Saulwick

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Tamara Saulwick, image courtesy of the artist

During her residency, Tamara Saulwick will be working on a digital, interactive sound installation to be presented at Melbourne’s Arts House for the Festival of Live Art (FOLA) in 2016. Tamara is a Melbourne based artist who creates contemporary performance works for theatres and public spaces. Tamara’s practice draws from a background in multiple performance… Read more »

Meet our latest resident, Jessy Lauren Smith

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Publicity still for Artifacts, image courtesy of the artist.

During her residency, Jessy Lauren Smith has been developing a theatrical event entitled Artifacts, which will premiere in Chicago in November 2015. This project will lead audiences on a fictional audio tour through an actual space, a labyrinthine urban artifacts shop called Salvage One, where they will encounter another story that unfolds in live scenes. Her theatre collective, Living Room… Read more »

Download Karen now on Android and iOS

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Karen

She’s ready to meet you on Android! The wait is over, Karen is now available to download on Android from Google Play. Are you looking for a life coach? Karen is happy to help you work out a few things in your life. Karen is an interactive story on your phone, described by one iOS user as “one… Read more »

Karen finalist for BIMA Award 2015

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Following it’s launch on iOS in April, we’re thrilled to announce that Karen is now a finalist in the ‘Data’ category for the Best of British Digital at the 2015 British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Awards. A big thank you to all partners involved in the project – National Theatre Wales, The Space, Dr Kelly Page,… Read more »

Karen coming to Android on 21st August

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karen_mainimage

Following its launch on iOS in April, we’re delighted that Karen will be available to download on Android from the Google Play Store on Friday 21st August 2015. Karen has already been praised in The New York Times, BBC Click, and selected for the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Need any more encouragement to take part? Here are… Read more »

View our photos from Too Much Information

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In February this year, we premiered a new piece of work, Too Much Information, with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester as part of FutureEverything Festival. Too Much Information is an audio walk around the streets of Manchester, based on a series of frank and funny conversations between two groups of people at very different stages of their… Read more »

Working in games or mobile web development and looking for a new home?

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20 Wellington Road studios

In early September one of our tenants is moving on and so we will have another space available to rent at our building in Portslade. We’re looking particularly for small games, mobile or web design / development companies as these are areas we’re very interested in working in ourselves. The studio is a light, bright… Read more »

Book now for MIX DIGITAL conference

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You Get Me

Bath Spa University is back with their 3rd MIX DIGITAL conference. MIX DIGITAL has established itself as an innovative forum for the discussion and exploration of writing and technology, attracting an international cohort of contributors from the UK, Australia, and Europe as well as North and South America. Blast Theory artist Ju Row Farr, will… Read more »

Watch an interview with former resident Andrew Crofts

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Artist Group 'The Larks' logo

Throughout March 2015, our resident artist was Andrew Crofts. Andrew is one of The Larks, a group who combine the spectacle of theatre with the agency of play. During the residency he worked on an upcoming project, Room Zero. This is an immersive digital theatre experience where a participatory audience become trapped in a room… Read more »

Who the hell are Blast Theory?

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Kidnap, Debbie on the roof

Blast Theory creates interactive art to explore social and political questions, placing audience members at the centre of our work. Led by Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr and Nick Tandavanitj, Blast Theory draw on popular culture, performance, technology and games, the work often blurring the boundaries between the real and the fictional. In virtual and… Read more »

We have space to rent at our studios in Portslade

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20 Wellington Road studios

One studio space is now available to rent in Blast Theory’s building in Portslade, Brighton. Designed by award winning architects Block, the building has three studio spaces, an edit suite, a communal kitchen area, storage space, a project space and a residency space. The building is a Victorian warehouse overlooking the harbour and was originally an… Read more »

We’re Hiring! Apply now for Artists’ Assistant post

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Figurines close up

We are looking to recruit a new Artists’ Assistant as the wonderful Sarah Julia Clark departs for Australia, after 2 glorious years with us. The role of Artists’ Assistant is a vital part of Blast Theory in supporting the artists to make the best work possible. We are looking for a highly motivated individual to deliver work of… Read more »

Time to meet Karen

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Karen

She’s ready to meet you! Karen has been accepted by the Apple App Store and is available to download for free on your iPhone now. Karen has already been praised in The New York Times, BBC Click, and selected for the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Need any more encouragement to take part? One… Read more »

Watch this message from Karen

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Karen

Are you looking for a life coach? Karen is happy to help you work out a few things in your life. She recorded this video to tell you all about it. Karen is an interactive story on your phone. She launches to the world on 16th of April (and to her Kickstarter backers a little earlier)…. Read more »

Welcome Sophie Dixon, our new Artist in Residence

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Blast Theory would like to welcome our new Artist in Residence, Sophie Dixon. Sophie is a UK based artist who works with drawing, writing, audio and video to explore the constant process of constructing and reconstructing memory to formulate meaning. Her films are made for gallery installation and single screen cinema environments and over the… Read more »

Apply to volunteer with Blast Theory

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Could you be the motivated volunteer we’re after? Are you looking to gain experience of working in the arts? We’re recruiting now for volunteers for the second half of 2015. Our volunteer programme is an opportunity for those embarking on a career in the arts to have first hand experience working with an artists company…. Read more »

Karen is coming, soon

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Karen

We’re getting very close to bringing our new app Karen to you. Karen mixes gaming and storytelling, using psychological profiling techniques to create a personalised experience. Having finished filming, we’re now in the edit and the footage is looking absolutely fantastic. The app will be released to the public on the 16th April 2015 (Kickstarter backers will… Read more »

Welcome Katie and Alice, who are volunteering with Blast Theory

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We’d like to give a very warm welcome to Alice Green and Katie Dale-Everett who have recently started volunteering with us. With so much preparation to be done in the run up to the launch of Karen their presence is really useful at this moment. Alice Green’s creative work is mainly with photography. In her… Read more »

Read the Act Otherwise 2014 Insight Report

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Act Otherwise is our annual and intimate discussion forum hosted at our studios in Portslade. In 2014 with the provocative title The Invisible Hand: On Profiling and Personalisation inspired by the Adam Smith quote that describes the self-regulating behaviour of the marketplace, we turned our focus to the cultural implications of profiling and personalisation. We… Read more »

Welcome a Lark in residency

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Artist Group 'The Larks' logo

We’re very pleased to welcome our first resident of 2015, Andrew Crofts. Andrew is one of The Larks, a group who combine the spectacle of theatre with the agency of play. During the residency Andrew will work on an upcoming project, Room Zero. This is an immersive digital theatre experience where a participatory audience become… Read more »

Computer Human Interfaces Honourable Mention for I’d Hide You paper

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We’re thrilled that a paper on our interactive work I’d Hide You has received a SIGCHI Best of CHI Honourable Mention Award. This means the paper, I’d Hide You: Performing Live Broadcasting in Public, was considered one of the top 5% of those submitted to the prestigious Computer Human Interfaces conference this year. The paper was… Read more »

Karen is coming, soon

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Karen

Our new app Karen, which mixes gaming and storytelling, using psychological profiling techniques to create a personalised experience, is well into development. Following the success of our Kickstarter campaign, we are hard at work developing the app, which will be released in spring 2015. The experience will culminate in a special live event in the summer, delivered… Read more »

Say hello to our new volunteer, Sophie Dixon

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We would like to extend a very warm winter welcome to Sophie Dixon, our new volunteer. Sophie will be working with us until the end of February. Sophie’s work has research themes at its heart, and uses writing, drawing, audio and video to articulate the process. She is concerned with questions and the exploration to… Read more »

Apply now to develop your work in our unique Residency Programme

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20 Wellington Road studios

Blast Theory is currently inviting applications from artists for the 20 Wellington Road Residency Programme for 2015. This unique Residency Programme is initiated and run by the artists in Blast Theory. It aims to provide a space for residents to research and develop new work for between one to three months. While a resident you… Read more »

A warm welcome to Dan Shay, our new volunteer

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We would like to give a warm welcome to our new volunteer, Dan Shay, who will be working with us until we break for Christmas. Dan is an artist whose practice addresses the impact of technology on our society, investigating the increasingly blurring boundaries between the real and the virtual. Before joining Blast Theory Dan… Read more »

Read The Guardian’s exploration of mobile tech in art

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Blast Theory artist Matt Adams was featured in an article in The Guardian, exploring how mobile technology is changing the way we make and experience art: “The key driver in all these technologies is a rise in interaction and participation…It reflects the sheer breadth of the way people might engage with the work we’re making.”… Read more »

Matt to speak at Digital Interfaces seminar in Paris

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Associate artist Paul Dungworth playing SNAP with a mobile phone

In December artist Matt Adams will return to the Sorbonne in Paris for the seminar “Digital Interfaces in Situations of Mobility: Cognitive, Artistic, Game Devices.” Hosted by Bernard Guelton, the Lab Director of the Fiction and Interaction Group at the Sorbonne, the seminar considers mobile devices as extensions of the brain and how these extensions are… Read more »

Matt demonstrating Karen at the Film4 Innovation Forum

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We are excited to be showing the first test build of our new app Karen at Film4’s Innovation Forum in London on the 18th November. Artist Matt Adams will demonstrate how Karen will work and describe how we are mixing story telling and play in this groundbreaking app that psychologically profiles you as you interact… Read more »

Lovie Awards Silver Win for My Neck Of The Woods

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We’re thrilled to announce that we are Silver winners in this year’s Lovie Awards with My Neck Of The Woods, the young people’s live-streamed broadcast project we ran on the streets Manchester in September 2013. The project achieved joint top place in the Internet Video: Events & Live Broadcasts category of the pan-European Internet awards…. Read more »

Thank you for Kickstarting Karen

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We are delighted with the success of our very first Kickstarter campaign, which raised over £17,500 to fund the development of our new artistic app project Karen. Over 530 people backed the campaign, taking us well past our initial Kickstarter target of £15,000. The campaign, which ran for 30 days and finished on 5 November,… Read more »

Final week: help us kickstart Karen

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Just one week left to fund #Karenapp: our first Kickstarter campaign: KAREN: an app that psychologically profiles you as you play. Karen is a life coach who wants to get to know you, perhaps a little bit too much. The more you chat with her, the more personal your experience with her becomes. She seems to… Read more »

Welcome Nick Rebstadt, our new Artist in Residence.

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Blast Theory would like to welcome our new Artist in Residence, Nick Rebstadt. A recent graduate, Nick works with the expanded practice of interior design. Exploring the deconstruction – and subsequent reconstruction – of space, design is manifest between the tangible and conceptual. He has applied this thinking in areas ranging from urban, to exhibition… Read more »

Want to work in the arts? Apply to be a Blast Theory volunteer

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To people working on a project. Volunteer with us.

Could you be the ambitious arts volunteer we’re looking for? We’re recruiting now for volunteers for the first six months of 2015. Our volunteer programme is an opportunity for those embarking on a career in the arts to have first-hand experience working with an artists company. We are looking for ambitious volunteers who are eager… Read more »

Blast Theory in New York

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Entering an underpass

Matt will be in New York from the 29th September and is giving a number of talks. Matt will be speaking about a selection of Blast Theory’s work that shows how the audience can be the protagonist in a story. At the same time our audio work Soft Message – originally commissioned by BBC Radio 3 – will… Read more »

Watch Matt talk about the limitations of big data in storytelling

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Matt at Future of StoryTelling

Matt Adams will be presenting at the Future of StoryTelling Summit in New York, taking place on the 1st and 2nd October. The Future of StoryTelling is an invitation-only, two-day gathering of technology, media, and communications visionaries from around the world. The summit is designed to put participants in direct contact with the most vital… Read more »

Hello to Adryon Stuart

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We are excited to welcome Adryon Stuart to the Blast Theory fold as our new Marketing and Communications Coordinator. Adryon will be planning and delivering our marketing and communications activity across the organisation, as well as developing our social media presence and web content. Adryon has worked in communications and marketing for about six years, largely in… Read more »

Welcome Paschale Straiton, our new Artist in residence.

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Paschale Straiton, image courtesy of the artist

We are pleased to welcome our new Artist in residence, Paschale Straiton, a performer, director and co-director of Red Herring Productions, an outdoor theatre company based in Brighton. She will stay with us during September to build from a recent production, Funny Peculiar – a theatrical guided tour which focuses on eccentrics and the nature… Read more »

Watch an interview with former resident Joe Ryan

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Joe Ryan, image courtesy of the artist

Joe Ryan was our Resident Artist throughout August 2014. During his residency, Joe worked on a virtual reality controller that uses technology found in most smart phones to track motion.  Using a combination of a gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetic compass he is looking to quickly develop the software that will fit in the control device…. Read more »

Nick is Back

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Nick is back

Nick is back from his 5-month sabbatical; he went to Madrid, Massachusetts and Middle Street (Brighton). Our volunteer Matias Daporta interviewed him on his return to find out what he got up to: Hey Nick, happy to be back? Yes, I think so (Laughs) What did you get up to while you were away? Any… Read more »

Book now for the Games and Performance Masterclass at Cambridge Junction

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Can You See Me now? runner Dicky Eton

Following our presentation of Rider Spoke in July, we are returning to Cambridge Junction to lead a two-day masterclass exploring games and performance. In this masterclass we will focus on the city as a playful space and how one can stretch the very nature of games themselves. We will share strategies and techniques to generate ideas… Read more »

Blast Theory part of FutureEverything’s ArtsAPI project

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FutureEverything ArtAppi project with Blast Theory

ArtsAPI is a major collaborative R&D project led by FutureEverything, the University of Dundee and Swirrl. The project will develop a new web application for arts organisations designed to show the value and impact generated through their networks. It will aggregate, analyse and present their data, helping the arts sector to create new and refined… Read more »

Hello, Abigail Sidebotham

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Film still from Auditorium. Image courtesy of the artist.

We’re thrilled to welcome Abigail Sidebotham as our new tenant. We’ve known Abigail for a long time. She first worked with us in 2009 after graduating and before moving on to complete her Masters in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art in 2013. Working in photography and film, Abigail has been awarded several… Read more »

Introducing our new resident, Joe Ryan

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Joe Ryan, image courtesy of the artist

Welcome Joe Ryan, our new Artist in Residence. Joe Ryan is a game designer based in Bristol, UK. Having designed both video games and interactive performances, he is now exploring ways in which narrative and player decisions can create meaningful and immersive experiences. Having recently finished a Nesta funded mobile app project that promoted dance… Read more »

Goodbye, Heather and Ivan Morison

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Photo by Paul Hester

Heather and Ivan have rented a studio at 20 Wellington Road since their return to Brighton from Wales in 2010 and during that time we have enjoyed their company and their work. Incredibly prolific, their work ranges from sculpture, photography, writing, building, performance and more. During their time here we have seen them work in… Read more »

We’re hiring a Marketing and Communications Coordinator

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Associate artist Paul Dungworth playing SNAP with a mobile phone

We’re hiring! We have recently implemented a new marketing strategy to deliver a strong campaign for our work and to engage with our diverse audiences. We are now looking to bring somebody in to deliver this strategy and to develop ways to find out more about our audiences and to engage them more deeply. If… Read more »

Get to know our new volunteer Matias Daporta

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Matias Daporta, volunteer with Blast Theory in 2014

We’re glad to welcome our new volunteer, Matias who will be working with us until October. He will be assisting with the development of projects such as Live Transmission, Krautrock R&D and one very exciting project that is yet to be announced. Matias studied choreography, theatre and filmmaking at SNDO, university for choreography and performance… Read more »

Read Matt’s blog about Krautrock Pilot Week

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Recently Blast Theory artists Matt and Ju along with our Associate Artist John and other members of the team, spent 5 days researching and developing a new project. They explored the possibility of a new documentary work about the intersection between the Krautrock school of German music and the radical left wing opposition in West Germany in… Read more »

Welcome Anne Rupert

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Photo of Anne Rupert

We are thrilled to welcome our new volunteer Anne Rupert, who will be working with us on a part-time basis until October helping us to research and deliver new funding initiatives as part of the Catalyst scheme. Anne is originally from the Netherlands and studied English Literature at the University of York. After her Master’s… Read more »

View our photos from I’d Hide You

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We were excited to show I’d Hide You at Sheffield Doc/Fest again this year. Take a look at some of the highlights from the event on Flickr or Facebook. I’d Hide You is a video streaming game of stealth, cunning and adventure like no other.  Jump onboard with your chosen team of illuminated runners live from the streets of Sheffield… Read more »

Rambles with Sheila

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Our Associate Artist Sheila Ghelani spent some time in our residency studio over April and May. She was showing her work in two festivals in Shoreham and Brighton, as well as getting ready for a show at Tate Liverpool. Read about her experience in the wonderful blog post she had written.

View photos and read reviews from Rider Spoke in Cambridge

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Rider Spoke was at Cambridge Junction from 3rd – 6th of July as part of the Vélo Festival. The Vélo Festival is a programme of events taking place across Cambridgeshire from May to September, celebrating the Tour de France, which travelled through the County on 7 July. We were really honoured to be able to present this work in Cambridge,… Read more »

Book a place on the Blast Theory Storytelling & Interdisciplinary Practice Masterclass

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Ju Row Farr will be leading a Blast Theory: Storytelling and Interdisciplinary Practice Masterclass at the West Yorkshire Theatre Network on Saturday 12th – Sunday 13th July. Building out and around from some of the recent projects of Blast Theory and some projects in development about live streaming and story telling, the workshop will look… Read more »