AHSS Lunchtime Research Seminar - Dr. Kirk Woolford: The role of the creative practitioner in transdisciplinary collaboration

Dr Kirk Woolford

Principal Research Fellow in Creative Technologies, AHSS

The role of the creative practitioner in transdisciplinary collaboration.

Working across and between disciplines is not a new concept. Indeed, this has been an established method of working for centuries, However, over the last century, academic fields have become increasingly focused and specialised. This move to narrow disciplines is occurring at precisely the same time creative practices are moving from UK Art, Design, and Film schools into more traditional universities. These shifts pose unique questions for creative practitioners: how narrowly do we need to define our practices?  What unique knowledge do we bring to academia? How might this be of use to older, more established disciplines? What can we bring from academia into our own practices?

In this presentation, Dr Kirk Woolford will discuss how he has shifted from creative works, funded by arts councils in the UK, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands, to creating practice/research funded by the AHRC and EPSRC. Kirk will discuss his recent research into transdisciplinarity and present creative projects developed in collaboration with composers, choreographers, archaeologists, engineers, neuroscientists and life sciences. He will discuss how these projects have successfully brought together creative, technical, social and cultural questions, and will focus on how creative exploration in one discipline can lead to unexpected insights in others.

Kirk Woolford’s online portfolio is available at:

https://b.bhaptic.net/tag/immersive/

Bio

Dr Kirk Woolford is a pioneer in the field of Immersive Media, creating immersive experiences and performances as a method of exploring ideas, technologies, and cultures. His work has been featured at international festivals and venues including the Venice Biennale, ARCO Madrid, Art Cologne, P.S.1. (MoMA), Shanghai eArts, Ars Electronica, ISEA, and SIGGRAPH. Kirk’s work has been broadcast in the UK (BBC & C4), Germany, Netherlands, Austria, USA, et al.

Most recently, Woolford has created games and interactive elements for BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Woolford is PI on the AHRC/EPSRC Creative Economies Next Generation of Immersive Experiences vRSP: virtually (Re)Sounding Place project, and was PI on the AHRC funded Moments in Place Platform, which brought together researchers from 8 creative and technical disciplines across 4 universities.

Kirk Woolford is the Principal Research Fellow in Creative Technologies at Anglia Ruskin University. Kirk has a hybrid background with 35 years of industry and academic experience, having co-founded and directed video games and interactive media companies in New York, London, and Amsterdam, working with clients including BBC2, Channel Four, Sky Television, Economist Magazine, and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Join this seminar on ZOOM.