Over a series of workshops artists Baff Akoto, Thomas Buckley, Angela YT Chan, Enorê and Kialy Tihngang were supported in developing ideas for a large-scale, site specific, immersive arts exhibition based at the Tatton Park estate. I gave presentations on the various technologies and platforms available and supported the artists to develop a mobile, gamified, Augmented Reality tour around the grounds of the park.
Workshops took place at Somerset House (London), FACT (Liverpool) and at Tatton Park (Cheshire)
Stream of Consciousness is an 18-minute VR film experience about the creaturely lives and sensitive ecologies of the Darent Valley. 360 video footage produced by the artist was encoded and processed for high quality distribution online and on Meta Quest 2 VR Headsets on which viewers access the film.
Seen on tour across the valley in an Airstream caravan over 2023-4, exhibited at Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope Gallery and Dartford Museum Mar-Apr 2024. It will also be touring care homes in the district in 2024-5. Commissioned by the Darent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme, and co-financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Union and the European Regional Development Fund.
In a collaboration between The REP and the British Council with UK collaborators Tyrone Huggins, Judy Owen and Edie Jo Murray - I worked with Kenyan dance group Dance Into Space to create a theatre production that allowed onstage actors to interact with digital characters, and provided dancers with digital imagery to enhance the storytelling. A series of 3D scenes and animations were made, together with effected video clips and live camera feeds for Augmented Reality sections. Custom software was developed to control all the elements live on stage to help tell the story of the 'Lunatic Line' built across Kenya.
Seen at the Kenya National Theater, Nairobi
Ben Neal is an Arts-focused Creative Technologist and has worked freelance for over 20 years as Psicon Lab (pronounced "Sy-Kon Lab"). He collaborates with creative people who want to use technology, and brings their ideas to life.
He also co-runs Displace Studio an immersive Mixed Reality performance studio with co-lead Kerryn Wise. Their best known project is a VR experience called Facades which has toured internationally.