6:30 for 7:00 pm Tuesday 7 October 2008

London Knowledge Lab
Institute of Education
23 - 29 Emerald St
London WC1N 3QS
UK

Nearest tubes: Holborn, Russell Square or Chancery Lane.

• imaging.dundee.ac.uk/people/njohnson/

Nigel Johnson's individual research and practice since 1978 has been focused within the domain of small and large scale, "real-time" interactive installations, whilst attempting to bring clarity, insight and new understanding where the art - science boundaries meet and overlap.

Recent projects include: "G-Vision", a Scottish Enterprise funded project in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Computing in the development of a vision-based, gesture recognition software application for interactive installations and performance scenarios. Another project, "A-Life", is a large-scale, real-time, interactive computer installation paying retrospective homage to the early work of John Conway's "Game of Life", incorporating elements of artificial life and gaming. It recently won a major award at the Shrewsbury International Exhibition 2007, Batteries Not Included: Mind as Machine in association with the Darwin Summer Symposium. A-Life is currently showing at the CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow) until September 13th as part of the Alt-w: New Directions in Scottish Digital Culture exhibition. Current collaborative activities include research into the latest developments in "cognitive" software, interactive installations based on RSS data and participating in the European Mobile Lab for Interactive Artists.

Nigel Johnson is a practising artist, researcher and teacher who studied Fine Art at Liverpool Polytechnic from 1976-1979 and Experimental Media at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London from 1979-1981. From 1983 – 1987 he was Lecturer in Fine Art (Sculpture) at Grays School of Art (The Robert Gordon University), Aberdeen. Since 1987 he has held academic positions at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, including Senior Lecturer in Computer Imaging and was appointed Reader in Digital Arts in 2000. Since 1996 he has been running the practice-led PhD programme within the School of Media Arts and Imaging and appointed Professor and Chair of Interactive Arts in 2007. Nigel exhibits his work widely, both nationally and internationally at galleries and festivals throughout the U.K., Europe, Asia, Australasia and the United States amongst others.