Pea Arts About

Arranging myself with pen and paper at my maker table rather than computer desk (that sounds more luxurious than the cramped reality of each), I am determined to get writing again. It has been an intense few weeks of action working on all aspects of Audiovisual Cultures podcast , and my brain and body need a break away from computers and electronic devices in general. I have had to have the same word with myself as I've had before about not equating being hunched over a laptop with productivity. I've probably said this before on the blog, but words just flow out of me when I handwrite them, whereas I get exhausted after typing half a sentence I've just thought of.  So, no, better to jot this by hand and type it later; a method that befits the intermedial qualities of the artworks I want to discuss in this post. Following a wonderful phone catch-up with my dear friend, the North East-based artist Richard James Hall , Dick sent me an equally wonderful gift: several intricate

Well, I've gone and fallen head over heels in love with Community and pretty much every character in it. It's a show I didn't see much of first time round, and since it released on Netflix last year it has received a new lease of life and a whole new fanbase, including me. One of the reasons its run on NBC (2009 - 2014) was dogged by low ratings (as well as being up against The Big Bang Theory in the US) was that internationally it was being shared and downloaded illegally. Oh the days when we had to wait up to two years in the UK for American shows! I'm sorry to say that this was how I ever saw the odd episode as I was seeing someone who downloaded it from bit torrents and it was part of a jumble with Parks and Recreation , Arrested Development and shows I didn't enjoy and can't remember the titles of. This was during my last PhD year so it's all a bit blurry, and if you know what I was researching, you'll know I needed escapism. And my goodness, is Co

The timing made March a 3-episode month for Audiovisual Cultures, and what excellent episodes they are. In all three there are instances of creative and technological innovation with emphasis on some sort of community. The first is a joyous conversation with Belfast-based artist Clinton Kirkpatrick who deals in the weird and wonderful world of the absurd as a way of navigating the strangeness of life and to explore his experiences with race and sexuality. Episode 87 features a lively panel with some of the creative team involved with the Secret Library.* Producer of Odd.o.Ts' Entertainment Todd Zimmerman, events manager Debra Beardsley and actor Katrina Michaels thrash out the learning curves in shifting immersive interactive theatre and gaming online in our fun and informative discussion. Finally, for episode 88 I spoke with two filmmakers in Hamburg, Lars Henriks and Nisan Arikan, who are doing the exciting and arduous work of using the technologies now at their disposal to for