The Big Blip 03: a one day festival of creative arts, science and technology, 1.30pm - midnight at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton

To mark its first two successful years, Blip organized a one day festival event. It was based on the format of our monthly Blip meetings where we invite scientists and artists to present their work or perform, after which the evening continues more informally and there is an opportunity to show and discuss work in progress. The aim was to organize a larger scale Blip event, hence the name.

At the Big Blip 03 there were a number of invited speakers and performers as well as an exhibition of generative art curated by Andy Webster. The event lasted from early afternoon to midnight and there was plenty of opportunity for people to interact in an informal environment with a cafe and bar on site. We made the event child friendly from 2pm to 5pm, exhibiting two child oriented interactive toys/installations by Interact Lab and other interactive exhibits and robots on display. We also had a qualified nanny on hand to help with child care. The event was a great success with over 400 people attending during the day, even though we clashed with England's crucial European Championship qualifier with Turkey. We received 40 feedback forms, all of which were positive about the event.

The event began at 2pm with a presentation of films about the seminal art-science group Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT). Anne-Olivia Le Cornec (France) showed her documentary about EAT co-founder, Billy Kluver, and talked about his collaborations with John Cage, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and others. Sadly, Billy died earlier this year but his pioneering art-science collaborations are a continuing inspiration.

At 3.30pm there was a talk by pioneering generative artist William Latham on Art versus Technology.

In association with Café Scientifique, from 5pm to 6pm Professor Phil Husbands (CCNR, University of Sussex) and artist Paul Brown presented their individual research and discussed the collaborative process between artists and scientists in the relaxed setting of the Sallis Benney bar. People then had a chance to get some food and watch a stimulating 0 - 0 draw in local pubs.

At 7pm the evening performances began with artist and musician Ansuman Biswas . This was followed by Tim Blackwell and his Swarm Music who performed with composer/performer Michael Young, members of Goldsmiths Live Electronics Group and the classical singer Robin Higgins. To finish the evening, the Brighton-based Laptop Jams group staged a laptop-driven performance of art and music with members of the audience free to plug in their laptops and join in. They had a sell-out appearance at last year’s Big Chill festival and have been described by Bizarre magazine as, “an aural and visual barrage so innovative and downright weird that your brain could get bruised.”

In between the performers and speakers some of Brighton's top VJs performed in the Sallis Benney Theatre: VJ Juxta (ninjatune); Russell (vjamm); Sleepy Tom (vjamm Allstars); Mishfit.

Throughout the day there was an exhibition of generative art in the Sallis Benney foyer, cafe area and garden. The exhibitors were: Daro Montag - Living Mattering; Sophia Milligan - Generative Sofa; Andy Webster, CiCi Blumstein, Joe Faith; Jon Bird and Bill Bigge - Drive; Sam Woolf - GooglePoweredGoggleBox and films with generative soundtracks; Tine Bech and Sam Woolf - Echidna and Boundless in Space; Bill Bigge - NoisyNeuroWorm; Clare Bridgman - 116 Pointless Activities; Interact Lab - Virtual Peñata; Colour Cubes; and The White Van Manifesto who projected images in the garden once night fell.

Feedback

10% of the people who came to the event filled in feedback forms and they were all positive, but obviously people who fill in these forms tend to have enjoyed the event. We also received some unsolicited email feedback from Michelle Hammond, EvoNet Marketing and Information Manager, London South Bank University.

Dear Blip Team,

I attended my first Big Blip on 11 October with a colleague and my 8 year old son. It was a marvellous festival of science and art and I feel compelled to write and tell you this.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see and hear all of the days events but the ones we did experience left a big impression. The Interact Lab exhibition was excellent - for both the young and grown-up child alike. The interactive exhibits/installations stimulated all the senses but what was great for the kids was that they were keen to grasp why and how these artefacts responded the way they did to their interaction. My son still talks about why he was able to blow up a computer generated balloon graphic and why a ball of wire reacted the way it did to human touch and ....

William Latham's talk provided an interesting insight to the artist and the computer games entrepreneur. The performance by Ansuman Biswas's was engaging because of his ability to comprehensively link the spiritual, the scientific and the musical together so creatively.

I was especially impressed with the controversial and thought provoking discussion between Paul Brown and Phil Husbands as it succeeded in getting the whole audience involved. The knowledgeable scientist, the committed artist and novices in both areas like myself, I felt got a lot out of this discussion.

What was most surprising about this first class event, was that it was free! Keep it up. I look forward to future events.

Acknowledgements

The event was produced by Blip, in association with the University of Brighton, the University of Sussex, members of a proposed SIGGRAPH chapter, Arts Council England, Café Scientifique and Lighthouse Media Centre.

Many thanks to the Sallis Benney team: Gez Wilson; Graham Rees; and Colin Matthews.

Thanks to James Fry for documenting the event.