Blast Theory is a Brighton-based artists’ group, whose work mixes interactive media

Interactive media

Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, etc.-Terminology:...

, digital broadcasting

Digital broadcasting

Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital data rather than analogue waveforms to carry broadcasts over television channels or assigned radio frequency bands...

 and live performance

Live performance

live performance may refer to:*A play or musical*A concert, a live performance before an audience*A dance performance, dance performed for an audience.*Live radio, radio broadcast without delay...

.

Biography

The group was founded in 1991 by Matt Adams, Niki Jewett, Will Kittow and Ju Row Farr. The group is currently led by Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr and Nick Tandavanitj. Other members include the film maker John Hardwick and performer Jamie Iddon. Over its history, Blast Theory’s work has explored interactivity and the social and political aspects of technology through a multitude of forms – using performance

Performance

A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...

, installation

Installation art

Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...

, video

Video

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

, mobile

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

 and online technologies.

Currently based at their studios in Portslade

Portslade

Portslade is the name of an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century...

, UK, Blast Theory tours nationally and internationally, working with a number of Associate Artists on different projects. The group has collaborated with The University of Nottingham

University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

’s Mixed Reality Lab since 1998. Works created collaboratively with the MRL include Desert Rain (1999), Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....

 (2001) and Rider Spoke

Rider Spoke

Rider Spoke developed by Blast Theory in collaboration with the was first staged at the Barbican, London in October 2007. Created for cyclists, it combines elements of theatre, performance, game play and state of the art technology....

 (2007).
Blast Theory’s work has been shown at NTT InterCommunication Center

NTT InterCommunication Center

NTT InterCommunication Center is a media art gallery in Tokyo Opera City Tower in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It was established by NTT to commemorate the 100th anniversary of telephone service in Japan and opened in 1997...

 (ICC) in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Biennale, National Museum in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, Hebbel Theater in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 Art Fair, Dutch Electronic Arts Festival, Sónar

Sónar

Sónar is an annual three-day music festival held in Barcelona, Spain. It is described officially as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Music is by far the main aspect of the festival....

 Festival in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, and Palestine International Video Festival. Recent commissions include You Get Me (2008) at the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

, Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

, for Deloitte Ignite ‘08, and Ulrike and Eamon Compliant

Ulrike and Eamon Compliant

Ulrike and Eamon Compliant is a work by Blast Theory that premiered at the 53rd Venice Biennale in June 2009, commissioned by the De La Warr Pavilion and supported by Arts Council England....

 (2009) for the De La Warr Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...

.

Approach

Blast Theory’s artists describe their work as collaborative and interdisciplinary. With early works such as Gunmen Kill Three (1991) and Chemical Wedding (1994) fitting more in the category of live and performance art

Performance art

In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

, Desert Rain (1999) saw a shift towards work that aims to question performativity, site and presence.
Works such as Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....

 (2001), a game of chase through real and virtual city streets, have seen Blast Theory mix video games and performance, with Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....

 and You Get Me (2008) being open to a worldwide audience via the internet.
Recent work uses mobile technologies such as text messaging, MMS messaging and 3G

3G

3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...

 phones with the aim of “exploring how technology might be considered to create new cultural spaces in which the work is customised and personalised for each participant”.

Selected works

2009

• Urike and Eamon Compliant
• Flypad

2008

• You Get Me

2007

• Rider Spoke
  Rider Spoke
  Rider Spoke developed by Blast Theory in collaboration with the was first staged at the Barbican, London in October 2007. Created for cyclists, it combines elements of theatre, performance, game play and state of the art technology....
  
  

2006

• Soft Message
• Day Of The Figurines

2005

• Single Story Building, Tate Online

2004

• Energy Gallery, The Science Museum
• Light Square
• I Like Frank

2003

• Uncle Roy All Around You

2001

• Can You See Me Now? - Installation

2002

• Stay Home Read
• Single Story Building
• TRUCOLD

2001

• Viewfinder
• Can You See Me Now?
• An Explicit Volume

2000

• Choreographic Cops In A Complicated World
• Sidetracks : Light Sleeper & Body Chemistry IV

1999

• Desert Rain
• 10 Backwards
• Route 12:36

• 1998
• Kidnap
• Architecture Foundation
• Atomic Installation

1997

• Safehouse
• Invisible Bullets (video)
• Atomic Performance
• Blipvert
• C'mon Baby, Fight! Fight! Fight!
• Ultrapure

1996

• Something American
• Internal Ammunition

1995

• The Gilt Remake

1994

• Invisible Bullets
• Stampede

1992

• Chemical Wedding

1991

• Gunmen Kill Three

Awards

• 2008 - Winner of The Digital Collaboration Award at DiMA:S
• 2007 - Honorary Mention, Prix Ars Electronica for Day Of The Figurines
• 2006 - Winner of The Hospital Award for Interactive Media
• 2005 - Winner of the Maverick Award, Game Developers Choice Awards, USA
• 2005 - Interactive Arts BAFTA Award, nominated for Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You is an urban game by Blast Theory from 2003. Street Players use handheld computers to search for Uncle Roy using the map and incoming messages to move through the city. Online Players cruise through a virtual map of the same area, searching for Street Players to help them...
  
  in two categories: Interactive Arts and Technical & Social Innovation
• 2004 - Net Art Award, the Webby Awards, nominated for Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You is an urban game by Blast Theory from 2003. Street Players use handheld computers to search for Uncle Roy using the map and incoming messages to move through the city. Online Players cruise through a virtual map of the same area, searching for Street Players to help them...
  
  
• 2003 - Winner of the Prix Ars Electronica ‘Golden Nica’ for Interactive Art for Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....
  
  
• 2003 - VIPER Basel International Award, nominated for Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....
  
  
• 2002 - Interactive Arts BAFTA Award, nominated for Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now?
  Can You See Me Now? is an urban chase game developed by and the . Performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online players who move their avatars through a virtual model of the same town....
  
  
• 2002 - International Fellowship Award, Arts Council England
• 2002 - Innovation Award, Arts and Humanities Research Board, awarded for Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You
  Uncle Roy All Around You is an urban game by Blast Theory from 2003. Street Players use handheld computers to search for Uncle Roy using the map and incoming messages to move through the city. Online Players cruise through a virtual map of the same area, searching for Street Players to help them...
  
  
• 2001 - International Media Art Award, ZKM Centre for Arts and Media, Karlsruhe, nominated for Kidnap
• 2001 - Transmediale Awards, Berlin, Honorary Mention for Desert Rain
• 2000 - Interactive Arts BAFTA Award, nominated for Desert Rain
• 2000 - Breakthrough Award for Innovation, nominated, Arts Council England
• 1999 - The 18 Creative Freedom Awards, nominated for Kidnap
• 1996 - Winner of the Barclays New Stages Award, for Something American

Key Reading

• Steve Benford, Rob Anastasi, Martin Flintham, Adam Drozd, Andy Crabtree, Chris Greenhalgh, Nick Tandavanitj, Matt Adams, Ju Row-Farr, ‘Can You See Me Now?’, Pervasive Computing, No.3, Volume 2, July/September 2003, pp. 49–51
• Blast Theory, Desert Rain (A Virtual Reality Game/Installation), 2002, pp.1-36 (Blast Theory, London)
• Dixon, Steve ‘Digital Performance, A history of new media in theatre, dance, performance art, and installation’, 2007, pp. 616-621 (The MIT Press, Cambridge, UK)
• Giannachi, Gabriella ‘About War and Inaction: Blast Theory's Desert Rain’, Virtual Theatres: An Introduction, 2004, pp.115-122 (Routledge, London)
• Emma Govan, Helen Nicholson and Katie Normington ‘Making a Performance, Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices’, 2008, pp. 179 – 187 (Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London)

External links

• Arts Council England: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/
• Blast Theory on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/blasttheory
• Blast Theory on Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/blasttheory
• IPerG – Integrated Project of Pervasive Games: http://www.pervasive-gaming.org/index.php
• Mixed Reality Lab, Nottingham: http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/