BBC Public Space Broadcasting
Curation
2004 - 2010
BBC Big Screen network UK-wide
Curator | outdoor screen specific, new commissions and interactive art
Delivered in partnership with the BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation, LOCOG: London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games 2012 and host cities/towns.
The BBC Public Space Broadcasting Project (2002-2013) was at the time of operation the largest network of not-for-profit outdoor digital video screens in the world.
It had no precedent within the UK as a curatorial or grassroots access opportunity, albeit early progress in creative programming of outdoor screens was underway across international sites - from New York’s Times Square (Creative Time’s 59th Minute), Dallas (Victory Arts), Toronto (TRANSMEDIA :29:59), Amsterdam (Contemporary Art Screen Zuidas), Seoul (Nabi Art Centre), Ekaterinburg, Russia (Out Video) and Melbourne (Federation Square).
Early attempts at working with international curators to shape programming resulted in content more suited to gallery presentation rather than outdoor public space; be it through lack of access, time spent in observation, more nuanced consideration or need for wider conversation with stakeholders and those with expertise in related fields - necessary to broaden understanding in addressing this highly specific medium.
Notable exceptions that directly addressed the creative potential of outdoor digital billboards included The Bigger Picture (Cornerhouse, Manchester), curated by Kate Taylor and Helen Wewiora, as well as the International Urban Screens Association (no longer operating), initiated by Mirjam Struppek.
Having sidestepped as a broadcast journalist with the BBC into production, I joined the founding team with BBC Live Events for the unprecedented experiment that was the BBC Big Screen network. First as manager for the BBC Big Screens in Liverpool and Edinburgh, later becoming team lead in curation and interactive commissions as a result of my close work with artists and organisations such as FACT: Foundation for Creative Art (Liverpool) and ICDC: International Centre for Digital Content.
Across 2005 – 2010 the role offered a unique opportunity to develop my own curatorial practice, having direct access, as well as sharing best practice and content with other managers across the expanding network. This allowed me to experiment, learning from mistakes and leaning into success, resulting in a rolling series of not only curated packages of existing media art, but commissioning artists anew, including site-specific and interactive commissions.
Highlights amongst my own curated packages and artist commissions included the following:
In association with the BBC Radio 3 Festival of Free Thinking, Concrete Cannot Stop Them presented an international selection of video and interactive work responding to pervasive surveillance.
Artists: Michael Bell-Smith, Penelope Cain, Katy Connor with Helena Gough, Michel Gondry and Manu Luksch.
Beneath a Cloudless Sky attempted to reignite a sense of architectural wonder, unrestricted by build costs, planning approval or viability.
Artists: Paul Amitai, Cao Fei, Tom Wall, Squint/Opera plus students of School of Architecture University of Liverpool, Porto School of Architecture (Portugal) and Bauhaus Dessau Foundation (Germany).
In response to the lingering perception of outdoor screens as giant TVs, Sizemology took a step further by magnifying the miniature and everyday while simultaneously shrinking the grandiose down to size.
Artists: Eva Lee, Sam Meech, Erik Olofson, Alex Pearl, Pipilotti Rist, Hiraki Sawa, Molly Schwartz.
DaDaVisions presented four new outdoor screen-specific commissions by deaf and disabled artists intended to challenge views of visual impairment, celebrate sign language and use comedy to encourage debate.
Artists: Alison Jones, Caroline Parker, No More Excuses (Ali Briggs, Mandy Redvers-Rowe, Mandy Colleran) and Gina Czarnecki.
Winner: London 2012 Inspire Award for innovation.
A collaboration with NWFA: North West Film Archive and ICDC: International Centre for Digital Content (Liverpool John Moores University), Places of Public Resort was a giant video carousel that members of the public could select video extracts of vintage regional news reports featuring communal celebrations, disrupting ‘breaking news’ cycles and encouraging observers to linger and reflect upon a collective wish for novelty and escape.
Winner: London 2012 Inspire Award for innovation.
See Production for further programming examples of my work with the BBC Public Space Broadcasting project.
