Producer, writer, facilitator and artist, although like a scratchy woollen suit that last badge is worn only when occasion demands. What should it matter? I try to peer into my head and interpret what I find drifting about in there, butterfly net at the ready – usually involving some form of creative silliness and an unusual degree of dressing-up.
Currently Visual Arts Programme Manager at Cornerhouse, Greater Manchester’s international centre for cinema and contemporary visual art.
My wider background is a diverse mix of arts production, media fields and journalism. I started out writing speech bubbles in children’s comics and graduated to teenage magazines and later became a bona-fide BBC do-it-all, but spent years working nights and weekends in theatres, observing stagecraft, direction and performance, the relevance of which is only now starting to become clear to me.
I guzzle the juices of different areas and fields of expertise, hoping to learn something and collaborate with others along the way. This is what I enjoy the most: sharing, plotting and combining forces, aligning intent, calibrating fascinations and unleashing schemes designed to destabilise reality and bring about a glorious Empire of the Imagination.
I’m actively seeking opportunities to challenge, stimulate and engage audiences who might otherwise lack the confidence or knowledge required to access art in more formal settings.
Recent projects/awards include:
‘The People You’re Not’, collaboration with Unrealised Projects and Harry Hill, Cornerhouse, Manchester. Recipient of x3 London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Inspire Mark awards for ‘Places of Public Resort’, interactive outdoor video carousel with North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University; ‘Silent Night’, a dual-site a/v remix in partnership with the BFI and Liverpool Music Week; ‘DaDaVisions’, disability artist film and video series with DaDaFest, Liverpool.
‘Scratch ‘n Sniff Cinema presents…’ (2009 – ongoing), Festival Square, Edinburgh Fringe; The Yan, Grizedale Forestry Commission; Hub Gallery, Salford University School of Art & Design; Cornerhouse, Manchester. ‘Atmosphere’: expanded cinema presentations of ‘Blood Tea & Red String’ and ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ at Inspace Gallery, Edinburgh in partnership with New Media Scotland. ‘Swamp Planet Christmas’, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester.
Producer for other artists projects and live events, including the international premiere of Peaches Christ’s ‘All About Evil’ live cinema experience, Abandon Normal Devices, Cornerhouse; ‘Hand from Above’, Chris O’Shea – Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica 2010; ‘Village Screen’, interactive arts camp at Glastonbury Festival 2009 and ‘Urban Screens Manchester’, a multi-site public art and live event programme exploring the potential for urban screens and digital facades, 2007.