tag: Vivid Projects

Artist, performer and musician Antonio Roberts works with technology in innovative ways, exploring authorship, gaming, digital and reproduction.

In the Spring of 2024, his Vivid Lab research residency focused on developing an experimental narrative fiction game using Twine software. This work was showcased from May 3rd to May 11th 2024 in a solo exhibition at Vivid Projects titled A Boy is a Gun; an exploration of stereotypical roles within video games, black masculinity and the artist’s own experiences of growing up as a black British boy and teen. These themes are explored through the vehicle of the character Skate Hunter (from Streets of Rage 2), reimagined by Roberts, presenting a new fictional narrative to better reflect his own life, blending a gaming world with an all too real experience.

In this final part of this three-part series I’ll be going over installing Xuan Ye’s work in the Bcc exhibition. This work posed a similar challenge to Scott Benesiinaabandan’s work. I needed to automatically load a web page except this time I needed to allow for user interaction via the mouse and keyboard.

The artwork isn’t online so I’ll again go over the basic premise. A web page is loaded that features a tiled graphic with faded captcha text on top of it. The user is asked to input the text and upon doing so is presented with a new tiled background image and new captcha. This process is repeated until the user decides to stop.

The next artwork that was challenging to install was Monuments: Psychic Landscapes by Scott Benesiinaabandan.

I won’t be showing the full artwork as all of the artworks were exclusive to Bcc: and it’s up to the artists whether they show it or not. On a visual level the basic premise of the artwork is that the viewer visits a web page which loads an artwork in the form of a Processing sketch. There is a statue in the centre which becomes obscured by lots of abstract shapes over time whilst an ambient soundtrack plays in the background. At whatever point the viewer chooses they can refresh the screen to clear all of the shapes, once again revealing the statue.

It was recently announced that after four years of leading Black Hole Club and seven years total of working with Vivid Projects (and previously VIVID) I’ve decided to leave to focus on my own artistic and curatorial practices.

I’ve really enjoyed curating exhibitions there and working with the Black Hole Club artists to develop their practices. I could never have guessed that from my first interactions with Vivid Projects in 2009/2010 with the fizzPOP Howduino and GLI.TC/H 20111 that I would go on to become a core part of the team.

To close the Mediafest Algorave returns to Vivid Projects for a night of live algorithmic techno and algorithmic visuals.

Featuring:

A Museums at Night 2018 event.

Algorave is a combination of “algorithms” and “rave”, the opportunity to dance to alien rhythms and freaky visuals, all created from code before your eyes. The Algorave scene is fast-growing around the world building on its fine roots in electronic music history.

I’m happy to announce the second iteration of No Copyright Infringement Intended  will be taking place at Vivid Projects, Birmingham, from 1st - 23rd September.

No Copyright Infringement Intended is a group exhibition exploring the relationship between copyright and culture in the digital age, investigating how the concept of ownership and authorship is evolving and coming into conflict with outdated copyright and intellectual property laws.

On 3rd December I’ll be curating and performing at the Algorave at Vivid Projects.

An Algorave is a party where electronic music is generated live from algorithms. The word was coined around 2012, initially as a joke, but has since taken hold with Algoraves taking place in over 40 cities around the world.

At an Algorave the creation of algorithms are brought into the experience of the music itself. This is done using specially made “Live Coding” environments such as SuperCollider, TidalCycles, Gibber, ixi lang and Extempore. This processed opened up by projecting the code on screens around the venue, so audience members can see how the music they hear is being made. This is often complimented by algorithmically generated visuals projected alongside the code.

After eight months of working at Vivid Project as an Associate Producer my role has evolved and I’m now an Associate Curator.

In this new role I’ll be continuing to organise the activities of Black Hole Club. This year I, with the input of its members, organised and oversaw the development of events including I Am A Strange Loop, a Dirty Video Mixer workshop, various Crit Clubs and tART. Expect more of this in March 2016 when Black Hole Club.

Things on this blog have been rather quiet in recent months. I’ve stopped updating it with absolutely every event or exhibition that I’m somehow involved in - there’s now a dedicated Events page for that. I’ve also been very engaged with delivering workshops (gotta entertain the young ‘uns somehow this Summer!), such as the How To Gif workshops for Future Curious and a number of Pure Data and Glitch Art workshops.

Another thing occupying my time and filling it with joy is my work for Vivid Projects and Black Hole Club. On 7th August Black Hole Club returned to Vivid Projects to exhibit recent work as part of Digbeth First Friday.

Stealth launched at Vivid Projects on 25th June and it was a great success! It’s the first time I have curated an exhibition or event that has lasted more than a few days, so I’m happy to see that there have been a steady flow of visitors.

Stealth presents recent work by UK and international artists critiquing surveillance culture and the invasive and pervasive technologies that shape our daily interactions. Utilising a variety of media including installations, video, social media and software, the exhibition explores how technology affects and disrupts our perceptions of privacy.

On 25th June I’ll be putting my curator hat back on for my first curatorial duties since my appointment as Associate Producer to present Stealth at Vivid Projects.

STEALTH presents recent work by UK and international artists critiquing surveillance culture and the invasive and pervasive technologies that shape our daily interactions.

Utilising a variety of media including installations, video, social media and software, the exhibition explores how technology affects and disrupts our perceptions of privacy.

I’m happy to announce that I have recently joined Vivid Projects as their Associate Producer.

If you’ve been following my progress as an artist you’ll see that I have worked with VIVID/Vivid Projects in various forms since 2009. In 2009, as a result of the Young People on Arts Boards programme I joined the board of directors at VIVID. As VIVID I curated/co-curated the fizzPOP Howdowino, GLI.TC/H and Bring Your Own Beamer. In their reincarnation as Vivid Projects I curated/co-curated Dirty New Media, Bring Your Own Beamer and µChip 3.

On August 5th from 13:00-17:00 I’ll be running a Pure Data workshop at Vivid Projects.

Pure Data (aka Pd) is an open source a Visual Programming Language, similar to the likes of vvvv and Max/MSP. Pd enables musicians, visual artists, performers, researchers, and developers to create software graphically, without writing lines of code. Pd has seen various implementations including live visuals (VJing), electronic music and even as an embedded library on websites, games or a Raspberry Pi.

Vivid Projects’ acclaimed 33 REVOLUTIONS programme concludes this winter with Bring Your Own Beamer, a one-night celebration of the projected image curated by Antonio Roberts with assistance from Pete Ashton.

Armed with projectors, artists are invited to beam responses to 33 REVOLUTIONS in Vivid Projects’ space.

The full lineup for Bring Your Own Beamer Birmingham 2013 has just been announced. This year sees some old favourites return as well as lots of new faces from across the UK. Details below:

FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER | 7PM – LATE

Revolution 33 // Bring Your Own Beamer

Vivid Projects’ acclaimed 33 REVOLUTIONS programme concludes this winter with Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB), a one-night celebration of the projected image. Armed with projectors, artists will descend on Vivid Projects’ space in Digbeth to create a collective Revolution #33 through a giant audio-visual environment. Join us for the finale and raise a glass to the revolution - viva the beamer!

Here’s a selection of photos taken by Pete Ashton for Dirty New Media.

Dirty New Media took place on Thursday 21st March at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts. It was one of the most adventurous exhibitions that I’ve curated!

Thanks go out to:

• The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, for taking a chance and including something wildly different to their usual programme
• Vivid Projects, for asking me to curate this exhibition
• University of Birmingham for including Dirty New Media as part of their Arts and Science Festival, and for including videos in their Illuminate outdoor projections
• Pete Ashton, Sam Underwood, Leon Trimble and Ben Neal for providing lots of support and equipment at the last minute
• Keith Dodds, for his awesome work on the programme and other graphic design
• All of the performers, lecture-deliverers and artists that got involved (more below)
• And last, but not least, thanks to you, the audience, for travelling from the far reaches of England to attend Dirty New Media! You helped to make it a success!

Here’s a list of all of the works/pieces/artists included in the programme, should you want to check out more:

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival.

Super Special Essay

Shawne Holloway + Steven Hammer - 1_approach.dnm: (inter)active viewership in dirty new media

The invisibility of various technologies, interfaces, and wares, via their often seductive and seamless interfaces, fosters a kind of cultural ocularcentrism[1] vis-a-vis capitalist consumerism. Dirty New Media (DNM) seeks to disengage our perception of screen-based activity from the two-dimensional, and critique material production of objects and systems that produce, curate, and guide reception of various texts.

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

AV Performances | 7-10pm

Minuek

Circuit Ben

Norah Lorway

Meta

Dirty New Media // REVOLUTION 02

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Screenings | 6-7pm

Modulate - O>L>S

Description: A short audio visual journey exploring abstract narrative, movement, shape, colour, non verbal expression and spatial awareness. Sounds sourced from “The Octophonic Loop System"8.1 sound installation by Bobby Bird /Modulate, commissioned by Francisco Lopez.

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Screenings | 6-7pm

Michael Lightborne - What Did The Duck Say To The Pig?

A stupid joke, told badly.

Bryan Peterson - [Dirty] inputs/processes.outputs

Appropriated Phil Morton video, twisted and built through analog video mixers

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Exhibition | 4-10pm

Jamie Boulton - C:\Users\5629a7\Pictures\IDDisplay.jpg

> Applying reality safeguards… > Discarding morality values… > Deactivating motivation protocol… > Accessing Internet Database… > Initialising… > Ready.

URRRGH - __KWEEN_CLARISSURRRGH, __YOUCHOOB_4_EVA, __ALADDINZ_CAT

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Lectures | 4-6pm

Jon Cates - WTF?! is D1RTY N3W M3DI∆?!

Dan O’Hara - An Irregular and Spasmodic History of Glitches and other Systemic Stutterings

Glitches interrupt the smooth realism of our mediated experience of the everyday world, from malfunctioning train announcement boards to distorted video streams and white noise in our phone calls. But is it only machines that glitch, or does ‘glitching’ exist in nature too?

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Workshop | 12-2pm

Optical Theremin workshop with Circuit Ben

An optical theremin is a motion-operated instrument, based on an LM386 op-amp chip, we’ll be building them from scratch, learning the basic principles behind audio manipulation using voltage, and making some unholy racket! No soldering experience necessary.

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Screenings | 6-7pm

Theodore Darst - Approach

Following a group shows’ theme of “home in the digital age”, Approach utilizes 3D modeling software to create a private digital sculpture garden textured, in part, with personal screenshots.

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Exhibition | 4-10pm

Kate Pemberton - Tracert

Tracert (pronounced trace route) is an examination of how traditional craft ideas translate into the modern multi-media networked world. A sampler has been cross-stitched by hand from a transposed graphic of a tracert DOS command.

Dirty New Media will be making its way to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts on 21st March as part of the University of Birmingham’s Arts and Science Festival. Over the week I’ll be providing an overview of the upcoming event.

Exhibition | 4-10pm

Dec Ackroyd - Cityscape #46

Cityscape #46 image is from a series of GIF based images that are made to resemble city skylines, the images are created using digitally broken image files

An engaging day of performances and interactive installations from digital artists, hacktivists and new media explorers from the West Midlands, Chicago and beyond. Artworks take the form of hacked and customised hardware, accessories, demos, lectures, data-mangling, projection and more!

This eclectic, expectation bending event is presented by Vivid Projects in association with artist/curator Antonio Roberts and The Barber institute of Fine Arts.

/-;-/-;-/– AV Performances –\-;-\-;-\ 7 – 10pm

Minuek Norah Lorway Circuit Ben

We are pleased to announce the Birmingham edition of Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB), taking place on Friday 16th March at VIVID as part of Flatpack Festival. BYOB is an international series of one-night exhibitions inviting artists, armed with films and projectors, to convene and explore the art of projection in an immersive environment of moving light, sound and performance.

BYOB Birmingham is curated by Antonio Roberts (that’s me!) and Pete Ashton, and is presented by VIVID and Flatpack Festival BYOB is an idea originally conceived by Berlin-based artist Rafael Rozendaal.

Now in its second year, GLI.TC/H gathers a variety of participants + works + ideas from within glitch/dirty/experimental-new-media art communities into a multi-day & multi-format happening consisting of video screenings, real-time performances, workshops, lectures, panels, a gallery exhibition and on-going online components. Thinkers and artists; Makers and breakers converge to celebrate technological catastrophe. A glitch is a moment known to everyone but enjoyed by few. GLI.TC/H brings together those inspired/curious/provoked by glitches and provides a platform to break things, share thoughts, and develop ideas.