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From 27th April - 3rd May I’ll be in Toronto for the 10th Libre Graphics Meeting. Details of what I’ll be doing will follow shortly.

Libre Graphics Meeting

Libre Graphics Meeting (LGM) is the annual gathering of users and developpers of Free and Open Source software for graphics, design, and visual art. This unique event brings together different groups, usually gathering around specific projects, online, via their mailing-lists or forums. LGM has grown over the years to become an essential moment in the lives of these diverse but interconnected communities. The discussions, presentations and feedback available at LGM have had a positive impact on the developpment of both the tools and their respective communities. The event gives developers, contributors and users a chance to get together, get things done, and come up with new ways forward.

And more info on this year’s event:

Libre Graphics Meeting 2015 - Beyond the first decade

For its 10th edition, Libre Graphics Meeting is looking back at the achievements of Free/Libre and Open Source software for artists and designers. We’re also looking forward, at the developments coming in the next decade.

Since its first edition, held in Lyon, France, in 2006, Libre Graphics Meeting has been bringing together software developers, artists, designers, users and other contributors to Free/Libre and Open Source graphics software. For its tenth edition, Libre Graphics Meeting heads to Toronto for four days of talks, workshops, hack sessions and meetings.

Developers and prominent users of software projects like Inkscape, Gimp, Scribus, Fontforge, My Paint, Blender, and Krita—among many others— come together to show off their projects and discuss them with the larger Libre Graphics community. Not only is Libre Graphics Meeting an exciting and motivating moment for developers and users of all kinds, from typographers to illustrators, designers and video artists, it’s is also a unique moment for users and developers of free software to collide and share ideas beyond the confined space of mailing-lists, bug trackers or forums.

2015 is going to be an exciting year for LGM. The program, available online now, is packed full of talks and workshops, from new methods of type design to animation, as well as plenty of time built in for informal collaboration and discussion. As well as the four scheduled days, LGM 2015 will also feature pre-event work sessions and hackathons, including the Inkscape Hackfest, which will allow developers of the popular vector graphics software to get together and do concentrated work.

LGM is open to the public, and registration is free. Even if you don’t plan to attend LGM, you can always help us fund the costs of bringing contributors to this invaluable meeting. Our annual fundraising campaign helps support the travel costs of contributors travelling to attend LGM. If you’re a user or just a fan of Free and Open Source Software, please consider donating as a way to say “Thank You!” to the developers of these projects. All contributions will be used to reimburse those who travel to Toronto to make our software better.

The tenth edition of Libre Graphics Meeting will offer a unique look at the achievements of the last ten years of the Libre Graphics world, and opens the door for more great things in the years to come. So if you are an artist or developer interested in Free and Open Source tools, don’t miss a chance to participate in this unique and itinirary event held this year in the beautiful city of Toronto. You will learn how those tools are reshaping the way artist work and have the opportunity to share your ideas with some of the most interseting people of this community.

Being given the opportunity to attend Lbire Graphics Meeting gives me a chance to influence the development of software, and also to show developers what art their tireless efforts are helping to create. For everyone else, though, I feel that the Libre Graphics Meeting is important to further the development of not only open source software but digital culture as a whole. Many libraries, programs and ideas have been formulated or accelerated thanks to these face-to-face meetings, and new ideas that challenge the status quo are developed here.

If any of this resonates to you and you want to help then donate to help make LGM happen! This money will help to cover expenses of the developers. Of course, they could start charging for registration, but by keeping it free they reduce the barriers for anyone interested to take part.

From March 19th-21st myself and Sam Wray will be curating μChip 3 at Vivid Projects as part of BBC’s Digital Week.

µChip comes to Birmingham for a 3-day event celebrating Chiptune music, digital art, hacking, modified hardware and unconventional approaches to making music and visual art. µChip 3 will feature hands-on hacking workshops and demos alongside an exhibition of vintage computers, digital art, video screenings, and performances from a range of local, national and international Chiptune musicians. The ambition is to inspire and empower participants of all ages to engage with creative media in new and unconventional ways.

Thursday 19 March | 12:00 - late

12:00 – 14:00

Glitch Art workshop

Antonio Roberts/hellocatfood will lead participants on a journey through source code hacking and glitch art. Open to all ages, no prior experience necessary. Admission £5, capacity limited - book to reserve your place.

LSDJ workshop

Sam Wray/2xAA will teach participants how to use LSDJ Game Boy software to make electronic music. Admission £5, capacity limited - book to reserve your place.

18:30 – 22:30

Evening performances

Join us for an evening of performances from leading Chiptune artists including Sabrepulse, gwEm, Ultrasyd, Mizkai, Shirobon, Infotoxin and Alex Juno. Visuals will be provided by bitrituals, LazerSausage and Sebastian Lenton.

8Bit Lounge presents retro 16bit games consoles including SNES, Megadrive, Master System, and Commodore 64.

Admission £5, book to reserve your place.

Friday 20 March | 18:30 - late

Vivid Projects and µChip presents the Birmingham premiere of Javier Polo’s 2013 documentary Europe in 8 Bits at The Old Joint Stock (4 Temple Row West, B2 5NY) as part of Flatpack Film Festival.

In situ throughout will be a selection of retro and vintage computers and commissioned artworks inspired by Chiptune plus Leon Trimble’s 8Bit Lounge retro games consoles for visitors of all ages to play.

Saturday 21 March | 12:00 – 17:00

Don’t miss your last chance to see the µChip3 exhibition of vintage computers, digital art, video screenings at Vivid Projects. Featuring artwork from Mizkai, Chema 64, Emily Mulenga, Love Through Cannibalism, and an installation of retro computers from Dom Breadmore and Darren Harris

Admission free, no booking required.

µChip 3 is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

From January 23rd-25th 2015 I took part in the Global Game Jam. Having never made a game before I was a bit nervous about taking part and wondered what skills I could contribute. With the theme “What do we do now?” I worked with teammates Oliver Clews, Rowan Piancastelli, Liam Biddle, Jonny Graney and Jake O’Connor to create Fade.

Fade. is a game aiming to represent the progression of an sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease. In order to emulate this progression, the main mechanic of the game revolves around beginning to forget things. An example of this is losing the ability to unlock doors, as your character starts forgetting to carry his keys with him. The decline in mental health can also be seen in the visual and sound design, with levels becoming more visually vague and unclear, as well as musical motifs recurring in a much more distorted manner.

I contributed some of the game’s backgrounds, which can be viewed in full on Flickr.

The game went on to win the Birmingham part of the Global Game Jam, which was a great surprise to me! You can download the game (for Windows only) or play it in your browser (requires Unity).

After having its UK debut at The Photographer’s Gallery in early February, Ways of Something episodes 1-3 will be having their West Midlands premier at Vivid Projects on 12th March.

Ways of Something is a contemporary remake of John Berger’s classic BBC documentary, ‘Ways of Seeing’ (1972).

The project consists of one-minute videos by 85 web-based artists who commonly work with 3D rendering, GIFs, film remixes, webcam performances, and websites. The original audio track is retained, disrupted by an exuberant series of 60-second artworks contributed by artists working across the world.

Join us on Thursday 12 March for the Birmingham premiere of episodes 1 & 2 (2014) and the recently completed episode 3 (2015).

The screening will be followed by a discussion with artist Lorna Mills (via Skype), Dr Richard Clay, Senior Lecturer in History of Art at University of Birmingham and contributing artist Antonio Roberts (UK).

‘Ways of Something’ marks the official launch of Vivid Projects’ new programme RADICAL NETWORKS. All are welcome to join us after the discussion for drinks to celebrate the start of our 2015 programme.

This is a free event, but booking is strongly recommended to reserve your place.

It’s free y’all!

Although it has been shown at many galleries and festivals alongside episodes one and three, episode two of Ways of Something is now finally available to view online.

The project, curated by Lorna Mills, seems lots of artists remake John Berger’s Ways of Seeing minute by minute. I’m at minute nine, which you can view below:

Now on to episode three!!!