Adrian Slatcher invites you to come and play
Manchester has been a great place to be this year if you’ve an interest in digital arts. We’ve had two brilliant festivals, in FutureEverything and Abandon Normal Devices, and in the traditional surroundings of Manchester Art Gallery Rafael Lozeno Hemmer’s “Recorders” exhibition has wowed audiences.
However, if digital daunts you, or if you’re just looking to learn, experience and participate in using digital technology then Play Space at the Contact Theatre on 4th December is a golden opportunity to get your digits dirty.
Over the last couple of months I’ve been working with Contact Theatre, in my capacity as a Digital Development Officer at MDDA, to help put together a whole day of performances, installations, workshops and experiences – including an unconference strand where anyone can pitch in their own ideas, find out where art and digital collide, and meet new friends and collaborators.
It follows on from the PlayEverything event that took place in May, as part of FutureEverything – and we’re expanding on the programme from that day, and making sure there’s plenty of time during the day for participants to help explore their own interests and ideas.
It’s going to be a fantastic day, and the highlights are too many to mention. But whether you are a dancer, performer, writer, musician, technologist, or just someone who likes to experience new and interesting opportunities, Play Space is going to be much more than a day for “playing”. What we hope is that the day will help people develop their own ideas and start picking up on digital technologies to use in their own work.
I’m organising the Unconference and we’re kicking off with a number of conversations about curation, storytelling, creative technologies and open data – and how they can help the arts get digital.
The day is free, with funding from Manchester City Council and the Manchester Beacon for Public Engagement, and offers a unique to chance to end the year with an indoor festival of digital dynamism. Come along with an open mind and you’ll hopefully have a great time.
Registration is online now.
I’m particularly looking forward to the one-to-one of a wearable film, and the opportunity to be part of Albino Mosquito‘s virtual identity installation in Space 2.
Dim Sum Digital 