Contact IOCT for event and ticket information.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 11:30 AM (GMT)
You are invited to the unveiling of NRG, a unique people-powered multimedia installation designed and built by Chris Joseph, Digital Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT), De Montfort University, Leicester.
The
event will begin with a presentation by Chris Joseph in which he
explains the making of NRG. The work itself will be launched at 12.30,
when there will be an opportunity to interact with it. A light lunch
will be provided.
We hope you can join us at 11.30am on Tuesday 23 September 2008
Numbers are limited. Please register to secure your place.
Directions to the IOCT
About NRG
It's 2010 and you have been appointed to lead the new World Energy Directorate, with the power to control international spending and research on energy sources and production. Your decisions will influence the life of billions of humans, countless species and the Earth as a whole. How will your choices change all our lives during the planet's next forty years of industrial development?
Part environmental game, part multimedia artwork, NRG (short for En-er-gy) is self-sustaining, people-powered installation. No previous knowledge about energy issues is assumed or required, but NRG is intended to stimulate thought and discussion about energy consumption, its links to global warming and the need for the development of lifestyle alternatives. More about NRG
NRG was created as part of the first Digital Writer in Residence position at the Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT), De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. It is funded by a Grant for the Arts from Arts Council England.
Artist’s Statement
Over the past fifty years electronic art has grown to become an established genre, yet energy – specifically the power required to view a work, as well as create it - is rarely acknowledged. But a electronic writers, artists and musicians must confront the fact that natural resources (converted to electricity) are continually required in order for the work to be experienced by both physical and virtual audiences. So in responding to the IOCT - an institution at the forefront of electronic creation - it seemed natural that my residency work should consider energy, both as a narrative theme and in the practical realisation of the piece.
NRG resides on a laptop that is not connected to the mains, but instead requires power to be periodically supplied by its ‘players’ through a bicycle generator. To play, simply select which energy sources the world should invest in, choosing as few or as many as you wish. Just as in the real world, the choices made will have significant impacts upon energy supply and use, population, carbon dioxide levels and other planet-wide measurements over the next five decades.
Chris Joseph
Chris Joseph is a digital writer and artist whose past projects include ‘Inanimate Alice’ (with Kate Pullinger, www.inanimatealice.com ), an award-winning series of multimedia stories; ‘The Breathing Wall’ ( www.thebreathingwall.com, with Kate Pullinger and Stefan Schemat ), a digital novel that responds to the reader’s rate of breathing; and ‘Animalamina’ www.animalamina.com , a collection of interactive multimedia poetry for children. He is editor of the post-dada magazine and network 391.org
He was the first Digital Writer in Residence at the IOCT from September 2006 until September 2008, funded by Arts Council England. His residency comprised three major elements. Firstly, to provide mentoring and support to regional digital practitioners, through workshops and creative surgeries; secondly, to increase the profile of digital writing and interdisciplinary creative practice through regular ‘Salon’ events www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/salon ; and finally to respond in his own creative practice to the work being undertaken at the IOCT.
The Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk
New technologies are transforming the world of human creativity in ways unimagined just a few years ago. The IOCT, through its unique research environment, is developing cultural and creative horizons by fostering previously undiscovered connections between people and technologies, crossing traditional boundaries, and forming communities around shared ideas and aspirations, rather than around disciplines or geographical locations.
The IOCT’s core research themes relate to quality of life and developing future cultures. Its projects appeal to regional, national and international organisations in the public and private sectors as well as policymakers and funding bodies. Its research methods encompass collaboration and co-operation, creativity and innovation, transliteracy and transdisciplinarity.
The IOCT stands at the centre of a collaborative network across De Montfort University, incorporating external partners, linking research in virtual environment technologies, digital writing, music technologies, holographic imagery, software technology, computational intelligence and many other such research centres. At the heart of this network is the IOCT laboratory, a multipurpose, flexible space which is home to both humans and robots.
It comprises a vibrant research community and hosts a full calendar of events, seminars and activities that students are invited to participate in. It showcases research projects throughout the year and runs a groundbreaking transdisciplinary Masters programme in Creative Technologies (MA/MSc)
Institute Of Creative Technologies
De Montfort University
1, The Gateway
Leicester LE1 9BH
United Kingdom
Director: Professor Andrew Hugill
Tel. 44 +116 250 6146
Email. ahu@dmu.ac.uk
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