Research
This brief overview is an invitation to anyone who would like to contact me regarding the research I am doing now and have done in the past.
Current
Researching the impact that the logic embodied in the computer CPU has had on human thinking and culture.
Previous
Exploring ways of writing programs which, when used, generate responsive behaviours in automata that make them appear to have individual personality.
Mapping Behaviour - a project that maps behaviour and reflects on the behaviour of mapping website
Developing an online archive of work produced by students on the Innovations Unit of BA Computer Visualisation and Animation course. Development of the Online Innovation Library (OIL) project in 2006 was sponsored by the NCCA and supported by CEMP (Centre for Excellence in Media Practice). The Data base was collated and entered by Sarah Thompson and the management system and front end produced by Jonathan Wardle, Jenna Law and Joe Lanman. The results of the project can be seen here: Online Innovations Library.
Development of teaching techniques and materials for use in lectures and workshops. This has included research into computer games design and the relationship between art, science and technology. A poster about the Innovations unit that I developed can be seen here: Innovations Poster.
The research interest in behaviour emerged through art practice, which since 1984 has concentrated on the potential use of computer technology to make participatory or interactive work. In 1984 it was anticipated that the project would take at least ten years to achieve any significant results. It led initially to the development of a suite of computer programs named 'Smallworld' which was the subject of a case study in my PhD.
One of the outcomes of developing Smallworld was a plan to develop a 3D Graphic Programming Language which would be used to design behaviours. The language was to be an integral part of the work being developed in my art practice - the Virtual Reality Aesthetic Programming Interface (VRAPI). Without access the immersive VR facilities needed to complete this project it is currently in abeyance.
Smallworld prompted and served as a case study in my PhD research at Loughborough into the use of computer technology in works of participatory art. A synopsis of the PhD thesis follows:
During the twentieth century ideas about participation, in philosophy, politics, science and the arts have been combined with developments in technology to produce a considerably extended array of types and manners of participation. Within this climate of technological change an increasing number of artists have produced works of participatory art that make use of interactive computer technology.
Some writers have presented general analyses in which these works have been placed within the context of all art produced using computer technology. Others have drawn attention to aspects of these works which relate specifically to their own practice as artists. This research has identified a need for a general system of analysis of these works which can be remembered easily and applied in their critical evaluation and realisation.
The thesis proposes a system of analysis in which the principal characteristics are considered to be those which contribute to the degree and manner of control afforded to participants. The system can be applied in the composition of works as well as in their analysis. The system was evolved by comparing ideas and practices which emerged during the practical development of a participatory work called Smallworld with those reported by makers and critics of existing works.
Although the thesis addresses a special class of the use of interactive computer technology it is intended to contribute to the broader discussion of the use of computer technology in participatory situations.
The PhD Thesis can be accessed here Participatory Art and Computers.
At Loughborough, part of a team working on The Co-Operative Machine project sponsored by Alvey.
At The Polytechnic of North London researched the use of lightwieght structures in architecture, the geometry of architecture, and the relationship between Art and Architecture.