Creative Europe
Desk UK
for Culture

Robots and Avatars is a programme of work originally conceived and produced by body>data>space through a research and development phase in the UK in 2009 with NESTA. The support of the EU Culture programme enabled body>data>space to expand massively the scope of the project at an EU level, collaborating with new partners from Central Europe, to reach and engage new EU audiences and wider range of issue such as the emergence of the EU virtual/physical citizen.

Partners
Robots and Avatars brings together a set of great UK and EU partners, all engaged in innovative and public-oriented projects using new technologies. Co-organisers are KIBLA, in Maribor (Slovenia), recognised throughout Europe as illuminating future activists and one of the top institution in Slovenia dealing with multimedia and intermedia art, AltArt in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), who develop interactive platforms, mixed reality events exploring new cultural dimensions and interdisciplinary projects. In the UK associate partners are FACT in Liverpool, who has been leading the UK video, film and new media arts scene for 20 years with groundbreaking exhibitions, education and research projects, and the National Theatre in London who is one of the UK most prominent publicly funded theatre companies and increasingly developing digital relationships with our audiences in both the virtual and physical spaces.

Activities include:
– A Call for Proposal seeking for interdisciplinary visions by EU based artists. +180 applications received from emerging and established artists from all over Europe. 3 Commissions and 14 Exhibits selected by international Jury.
– Robots and Avatars touring Exhibition showcases the most exciting innovations from EU artists, designers and architects, exploring their impact on the future of work and play. Showing in the UK at FACT, Slovenia at KIBLA as part of Maribor 2012 and Romania at AltArt.
– Learning Experiences and Debates, linked to the Exhibition, for future skills and knowledge sharing within society
– An intergenerational camp in Maribor will bring participants from 7 to 70 years old from UK, Romania and Slovenia together for workshops and exploration.
– A Book disseminating Robots and Avatars project outputs and visions for the future.

Public Engagement
body>data>space is recognised as a leader in the involvement of the public through interactive digital works and we are building on the expertise of our UK and EU partners who are all extraordinary catalysts and agitators, engaging creatively both local communities and international audiences.
A key focus of Robots and Avatars is the creative and interactive engagement of the public via new technologies. The project’s activities bring together participants and audience from different age, gender and cultural backgrounds, from established specialists to people who usually do not engage in arts activities, in a dynamic virtual/physical knowledge and idea sharing process.
Robots and Avatars enables more young people to engage in high quality digital arts and digital society and to share this practice within their family and school environments. Learning experiences explore the set of skills and knowledge that young generation will need in the future, through new media, telepresence and virtual worlds workshops.

A good example of this audience engagement campaign is the series of workshop led by Artist Michael Takeo Magruder at FACT with 9 female students from Weatherhead Media Arts College. Through these workshops, the students co-designed some elements of Michael Takeo Magruder’s artwork “Visions of our Communal Dreams”, a cutting edge virtual world installation. The Year 9 students learned how to create a communal forest within a shared 3D environment in virtual worlds and a series of soft and hard skills, such as creativity and collaboration but also basic scripting and animation, avatar customisation and constructing 3D objects.

http://www.artplayer.tv/video/210/visions-of-our-communal-dreams

PROJECT IN FOCUS

Robots and Avatars explores how young European citizens will work and play with new representational forms of themselves and others in virtual and physical life in the next 10-15 years. The project brings together an exhibition, debates and learning experiences, showcasing the most exciting visions and innovations from EU artists, designers and architects, exploring their impact on the future of work and play.
Robots and Avatars is a programme of work originally conceived and produced by body>data>space through a research and development phase in the UK in 2009 with NESTA. The support of the EU Culture programme enabled body>data>space to expand massively the scope of the project at an EU level, collaborating with new partners from Central Europe, to reach and engage new EU audiences and wider range of issue such as the emergence of the EU virtual/physical citizen. Join us in a near future where robots, avatars and telepresence form part of an exciting new reality!

“A show revealing some of the ways robots and on-screen avatars could change our lives, as the borders between our physical and virtual lives begin to blur.” The New Scientist

“It’s art that’s interactive and immersive.” The Guardian

“While the creations featured in Robots and Avatars seem straight out of science fiction (…) they could be only a short step away.” Liverpool Post

“The exhibition tackles the overlap between the virtual and the real worlds.” Wired

“I love the way Robots and Avatars is bringing together a beautiful diversity of people, exploring new paradigms, with unexpected and inspiring results. Exciting! Brave! Fun!” Pear Urushima , marketing guru