Being successful in receiving this funding would support my artistic practice in three ways:
• Time to develop my skills and creative ideas
• Attend events, find new exhibition opportunities and grow my network
• Invest in tools and equipment
Since being awarded an Arts Council England DYCP in 2021, I’ve developed a successful practice in digital participation practice centred around the immersive arts and now at a pivotal point in my career where I am ready to grow and establish myself as a leading artist in my field.
This growth in my learning and practice has led me to develop a number of new ideas and approaches, which I will develop further as new exhibited outputs. This includes the exploration of transablism and developing new ways to deconstruct, demystify and deliberately disable 3D and immersive arts processes, in response to my transition from an able-bodied person to someone now living with physical disability. This will help me achieve an artistic identity that is both personal and well interrogated.
My ability to attend significant events in relation to my practice is limited, due to time and resources. This fund will also allow me to attend conferences like future The Big Thing, specialising in immersive arts practice, and the International Community Arts Festival (ICAF), where I’ll be able to grow my network of orgs and collaborators, as well as learn new processes and practice related to my work. Through this opportunity I’ll also take time to connect with new galleries and organisations to help me achieve new public commissions and opportunities.
Finally, through my solo shows and current projects, I’ve learned that to be successful I also need to invest in tools and equipment that support my work to be exhibition ready, for any new opportunity I develop during the next two years. This includes a high powered graphics PC that I can both develop work on and be a ready to go installation machine, meaning galleries will have the confidence in showing my work to a high standard, allowing me to achieve a reliable reputation for quality that will grow my opportunities further.
Being an Arts Council England Priority Place for Culture, working in Darlington provides a great opportunity to demonstrate and develop my skills and practice in participation and community engagement, while raising the profile of the areas creative arts identity.
My work is co-creative and driven by an ethos of championing community creativity through high quality digitally immersive experiences, celebrating “everyday creativity”. Through this period of development, I will work with Darlington communities to explore their creative interests and incorporate them into the work. Driving a sense of pride in the town and promoting a creative culture to others.
I’m also passionate about sharing practice and the processes that I use, to support others in developing their own skills in digital arts exploration, and will undertake an artist led approach to facilitate workshops that provide an introductory look at creative technology, in order to grow artistic and digital confidence in the area.
Previously sharing practice online through Helix Arts, I would like to further connect with Darlington arts organisations to share practice and experience to support their ambitions with creative technology from the inside out, in order to raise the profile of all creative arts practice in the area.
I am a multi award winning Digital Participation Artist and Producer using digital tools and materials to creatively engage audiences with arts and contemporary culture. My work is a fusion of digital and participatory practice, through collaborative and co-creative processes, with a focus on creating together. This involves the developing of processes that translate complex digital practice into accessible creative activities, which inspire and empower audiences in the creation of immersive experience. I’m passionate about developing high quality digital experiences that champion the diverse creative expression of our communities. This is driven by enabling participant led co-creation and construction in immersive spaces and crafting platforms and experiences that showcase community creativity in gallery and non-traditional exhibition spaces. My work includes exploring participatory practice through our conscious experiences of online and offline immersive creative spaces. Aligned with phenomenological philosophies and the basic intentional structure of consciousness, I’m intrigued by how our first-person perspectives of collaborative physical and online spaces can allow us to explore our individual conscious experiences and their relationship to others. I am also the Participation and Outreach Lead at immersive arts NPO MBD (Metro Boulot Dodo), where I led the winner of Digital Project of The Year 2023 at The Stage Award, and was individually awarded the Marsh Award for Excellence in Visual Arts Engagement in 2023. I also led Recent exhibitions include:
• Passage to PlayLAND, Derby QUAD, Derby, 2024. A combined exhibition of both PlayLAND and PlayLAB, working with Derby QUAD audiences to create new ways to exhibit and engage with the work.
• PlayLAND, LEVEL Centre, Rowsley, 2024. An immersive interactive installation exploring the playful potential of the natural world in the direct vicinity of the gallery space.
• PlayLAB, LEVEL Centre, Rowsley, 2023. An immersive interactive installation exploring creative play through physical and digital interactions.
I hold a Post Graduate Certificate in Visual Communication (Animation and Moving Image). Prior to this, I was awarded a BA (Hons) 2.1 in Performing and Media Art and have undertaken undergraduate study in 3D Modelling and Animation in preparation for my post-grad.
• I received the Marsh Award for Excellence in Visual Arts Engagement in 2023.
• I received an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice funding grant in 2021, where I developed practice in participant co-construction in immersive spaces
• I received the Mainframe Award for Digital/Creative Ambassador of the Year in 2020.
Two public commissions by LEVEL Centre, Rowsley. Which includes the immersive work ‘PlayLAB’ (2023) and ‘PlayLAND’ (2024). Both works were part of a larger exhibition at Derby QUAD (2024) titled ‘Passage to PlayLAND’.
Current commissions include ‘Forest Keep’ a multi-platform immersive exhibition with Electric Medway and ‘PlayLAND Charnwood’, a VR experience exploring the barriers to natural environment in a joint commission with Charnwood Arts and the National Forest.
My work was recently selected for The Theme Zine: Issue 2 ‘Nature as Sanctuary’ – https://www.instagram.com/p/DI5zKP_N6bQ/
I was selected to take part in the LEVEL Residency Lab in 2021-22, which lead to my first solo show at LEVEL Centre in 2023.
I was also recently selected to be a part of the UK New Artist Collective #3 group residency in Feb this year, where I worked with other artists to explore the ‘Language of Machines’. This experience has driven a need to explore physical installation and spacial audio in my work, which I will use this opportunity to develop further.
Email: artbyjohn@outlook.com
Address: 6 Seascale Close, Breadsall Hill Top, Derby, Derbyshire, DE21 4DF, GB
Local Authority: Derby City Council
