Call for circus, cabaret and outdoor arts makers and performers to be part of an exciting research project into how immersive technologies can be used to augment and/or to capture live performances.
The project is called XR Circus – Extraordinary Circus and is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council.
We are looking for artists and organisations to be part of an intense co-laboratory with scientists and technicians to design and devise new 3-5 minute performances that make use of immersive technology. The performances will be presented as works-in-progress to an invited audience at Brighton Spiegeltent in May 2018.
These performances can either be entirely new or could build on existing or current work, or projects already in development that can demonstrate the potential to be significantly enhanced through participation in this collaborative process.
Immersive technology includes VR (virtual reality) AR (augmented reality), 360 film, spatial audio, haptic technology (controlled by touch or movement), location based technology and live broadcasting technology.
We are looking for projects that push the creative boundaries of these new technologies, for example what would a 21st century Pepper’s Ghost Optical Illusion be? What are the possibilities of live event capture and distribution that communicate the intimate magic of street performance and circus spectacle?
The project is led by a consortium including the University of Brighton and King’s College London (research partners), Without Walls, Freedom Festival Arts Trust, Sea Change Arts and Lighthouse Arts.
The University of Brighton will host a series of developmental laboratories for participating artists led by leading scientists and technicians including Professor Kelly Snook, former NASA scientist and co-founder of the Mi Mu collective of specialist musicians, artists, scientists and technologists developing cutting-edge wearable technology for the performance and composition of music (www.mimugloves.com) and co-inventor of the Mi Mu gloves which have been used by Imogen Heap, Arianna Grande, and Chagall amongst others; Marley Cole, award winning sound designer specialising in spatilaised and surround sound design and Jeremiah Ambrose, expert in gaze controlled VR and 360 film and Unity programmer. Other experts will be brought in as required to support artist ideas. All artists will receive appropriate mentorship, advice, support and access to equipment during the intervening times between the workshops.
The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 20th February – evening launch event, Lighthouse Arts, Brighton
| Session 1: Vision
February (3 days) 21/22/23 February |
Session 2: Sound
March (1 day) 8 March |
Session 3: Movement
April (2 days) Between 23 – 25 April |
Session 4: Audience
May (1 day) Confirmed date: 21 May |
| Fab Lab in The Central Research Laboratory at the University of Brighton. | Fusebox/ 5G testbed at Digital Catapult Centre Brighton | Drill House, Great Yarmouth | Brighton Speigeltent
‘XR Cabinet Of Curiosities’ A Public/ Live Lab with audience |
| · Co-designing joint and individual objectives
· Introductions to the technologies, tools and software · VR/ AR/ 360 film · Haptic technology · Coding & programming |
· Architecture of sound in immersive environments
· Connectivity
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· Storytelling
· Performance skills · Dramaturgy · Rigging · Audience Experience Design |
· Audience interaction
· Industry feedback · Event Capture
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Other individual sessions, workshops, tutorials etc. to be booked as needed.
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Participating artists must be available to attend all 4 sessions.
Remuneration
A nominal fee of £2000 per artist/ group will be paid to cover direct costs and expenses.
Any equipment and materials will be agreed on a project-by-project basis and paid for separately.
Ownership
The intellectual property of the final devised pieces remains with the artists who agree to credit XR Circus in any future developments.
Application Process
Interested artists should apply by email to xrcircus@gmail.com providing the following information:
- A statement of why you are interested in being part of the XR Circus project
- A brief outline of the project you would like to develop and the technologies that you might be interested in using
- Brief biography / examples of previous work/ links to website
- Confirmation that you are able to make the dates
- Confirmation of how many artists will take part in the project
Opportunity to discuss your application
We are offering potential applicants the opportunity to ask further questions and to discuss their initial ideas with one of the project leads during the following times. Please contact them to arrange an appointment:
- Helen [H.Kennedy@brighton.ac.uk] – Friday 12th January 2 – 3pm and Wednesday 17th January 12.30 – 1.30pm
- Sarah [Sarah.Atkinson@kcl.ac.uk] – Monday 22nd January 10 – 12am
- Donna [D.Close2@brighton.ac.uk] – Tuesday 23rd January 4-6pm and Thursday 25th January 4pm-6pm.
Applications must be received by 9am on Monday 29 January 2018