#HADADi — Helix Arts Digital Artists' Drop-in

Well, it might have been several minus degrees outside but that did not deter the digital artists of the North East and beyond, as we settled into a warm Queen’s Hall for last night’s #HADADI in Hexham. And we were not disappointed - a rich collection of concepts, challenges, and questions…

How do we relate to the space around us?

Lee MacKenzie and Alex Carr (writer in residence, and artist in residence, Josephine Butler College, Durham University) shared how they are exploring our relation to the space around us, and to each other. Alex’s work ‘Axis Mundi’ examines the connection between earth and the heavens. Lee is developing his work on social historic mapping, and how this might be used as prompt for poetry. Their final installation of spoken word and fog screen sounds intriguing…watch this space…

What’s the link between boredom and creativity?

Deborah Ballin (researcher, writer and filmmaker based at Leeds Arts University) shared how her current work is driven by histories of childhood, the emotional legacy of childhood events, theories of resilience, and boredom and creativity. ‘Under An Artificial Sun’ developed from Deborah’s research into the Stannington Sanatorium collection at Northumberland Archives. She has been Investigating the affects of long term hospitalisation at Stannington due to childhood tuberculosis, and examining the link between boredom and creativity.

How can artists work collaboratively?

Alan Fentiman (Filmmaker) has been working over the past year with dance artist Penella Bee on Helix Arts’ established dance and health programme, Falling On Your Feet. Alan is driven by the idea of collaborating with other artists, getting out of your comfort zone, and working with people who are not always engaged in creative processes - helping them to take ownership. For him, working with other artists is all about taking risks, and pushing your own practise beyond what you already know.

Can gaming provide insights into our politically post-truth era?

Mark Jackson and Alan Hughes (Blue Mountain Arcturus Games), explained how their artist/curator/writer group kept coming up against similar interests in sci-fi, fiction, and the history of role playing games. The social and political history embedded within role playing games prompted discussion into the impact on wider academic practise and education. On the one hand these games are supposed to be historically accurate…on the other hand they are a cut-up remix of historical possibility - fitting into a post-truth era of re-fixing reality.

How can virtual reality recreate historic buildings?

Simon Edwards (Architectural Illustrator), artistically visualises modern contemporary design proposals, as well as digital reconstructing historic scenes and structures (Definitely worth checking this out - https://www.historyrebuilt.com/). Simon is currently developing a virtual reality tour of an historic corn mill in Alston, Cumbria. His research led him to understand how the building had changed, how machinery might have worked and been laid out. This is then developed this into the structure of the VR tour, to be viewed through a headset in 360 degrees. We’re really looking forward to hearing how the work develops!

FUTURE DIARY DATES

The next #HADADi dates are:

Tuesday 5 March 2019, 5pm, Think Lab (Room E304), Ellison E Block, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Directions can be found here

Thursday 9 May 2019, 5pm, Think Lab (Room E304), Ellison E Block, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Directions can be found here

Tuesday 17 September 2019, 5pm, Think Lab (Room E304), Ellison E Block, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Directions can be found here

Tuesday 10 December 2019, 5pm, Think Lab (Room E304), Ellison E Block, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Directions can be found here

Thursday 6 February 2020, 5pm, Think Lab (Room E304), Ellison E Block, Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST. Directions can be found here

We will also be back at Queen’s Hall, Hexham, later in the year. Dates will be posted soon.

Keep an eye out on our twitter feed for further details.