WAVES: Crosscurrents of Art, Technology and Environments

Digital displays and projections are spreading across our cities in an almost dystopian manner (Stephenson, Snow Crash 1992). They are found in airports, shop windows, building façades, bus stops, train stations. Where movement of people is constant and density high, these technologies entice us to purchase things we do not really need or probably want. The costs associated with installing, running and maintaining these technologies are high, so they are mainly used as marketing platforms. But, could they be used for creative endeavours and in pedagogical contexts? Higher education institutions can provide access to these technologies by setting up their own displays and projection systems on campus, and using them as learning platforms that would otherwise be inaccessible to students. This democratises students’ access to the technologies used by media and advertising industries while at the same time serving as a platform to display student-generated content in public. In this paper we discuss the international collaboration between the University of Kent (UoK) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore. The collaboration involves working with students – who are the future “actants” (Latour, 2005) of creative industries – to produce media artworks that are suitable for two venues: Media Art Nexus (NTU Singapore) and Gulbenkian Media Façade (UoK). Over the past 3 years, students have addressed a variety of briefs, ranging from environmental to cultural issues (e.g. travelling across continents, impact of pollution and digital technology on the environment). The benefits for students outweigh the challenges of collaborating across curricular structures and time-zones (e.g. teleconferencing, exhibition dates). Students have the opportunity of producing media artworks that are displayed in two venues concurrently during the international WAVES exhibition. Student’s profiles and artworks are included in a student designed website, contributing to their online presence and professional development.