Norwich University of the Arts at Norfolk and Norwich Festival

The performances will feature works from An-Ting, Ian Gallagher, Chris Allen, Collusion, the Broads Authority, and others. Members of the Norwich University of the Arts community will also be exhibiting, including Meitao-Gu, Kate Flurrie, Prof Louie Nixon, and Dr Kirk Woolford. The works on show address social and mental anxiety around climate change by exploring imaginable futures co-created with communities that allow them to see beyond the damage of today and the coming changes.

The IVSL is the first facility of its kind in the UK, and brings together film makers, animators, games designers, and visual artists from across the region to communicate and address global challenges. It features a volumetric capture system, 10m x 4m 360º LED volume with immersive sound and programmable AI for audience interaction.

Lost Communications 失絡之聲, An-Ting, and Ian Gallagher

Thursday 15 May – 6.30pm
Friday 16 May – 6.30pm

Lost Communications 失絡之聲 is an immersive exploration of the light and darkness of nature. Composer An-Ting collected field recordings of birdsong and mixed them with dark experimental electronic music with droning soundscapes and hard beats.

For a live audio-visual performance, An-Ting is joined by Ian Gallagher. Ian uses cutting-edge AI technology to document the duo’s ideas and mind-bending experiences with live audio-reactive visuals for a 360º screen, reacting in real-time to a special spatial mix of An-Ting’s music.

The Lost Communications performance will be preceded by screenings of two short video works by Norwich University of the Arts staff:

• Jinn-Ginnaye, by Dr Kirk Woolford, is an exploration of movement in place. It is a collection of dance pieces exploring issues of bringing western dance performance to the United Arab Emirates, where local modesty laws influence how bodies can be shown in public. Using video compositing, motion capture, and virtual reality techniques, the piece removes the body of the dancer, but leaves behind both the dance and traces of the desert in which it was created.
• Sea States is a new multi-screen video installation by Prof Louis Nixon, consisting of 24 CCTV monitors on stands.

Atemporal 360, The Light Surgeons

Thursday 22 May – 4pm & 6:30pm
Friday 23 May – 1:30pm, 4pm & 6:30pm

Atemporal 360 is an immersive live cinema performance created by pioneering arts studio The Light Surgeons in memory of the British novelist, painter, and poet John Berger. It is a poetic audio-visual concert that reflects on Berger’s thoughts and philosophies on time and memory. Specially adapted for the 360º immersive space at IVSL. The performance unites original surround-sound music, documentary film, and video art created by collaborating media artists Tim Cowie and Christopher Thomas Allen.

The Light Surgeons’ performance will be preceded by short works-in-progress screenings from three Norwich University of the Arts-affiliated artists, focusing on the landscapes of East Anglia:

• Exploring the decommissioning of offshore platforms in the South North Sea, Meitao Qu will present experimentations with virtual filmmaking in Unreal Engine to consider how these changing landscapes and structures might impact the life of communities along the Norfolk Coast.
• Kate Flurrie will present 360º film tests of underwater habitats as part of research exploring the Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds, one of the most ecologically significant Marine Protected Areas for chalk habitats in Europe. Kate is developing an immersive film exploring how through creative technologies, we can better understand fragile ecosystems.
• Sea States is a new multi-screen video installation by Prof Louis Nixon, consisting of 24 CCTV monitors on stands.