King's Artists is a unique programme for the university which sees creative practice develop in parallel with academic research. Each residency seeks to provoke new perspectives, answer questions and explore ideas to enhance research and learning through a series of new and distinctive collaborative opportunities.
Leanne Hammacott, Head of Programming | Culture
05 November 2019
Seven collaborations launched as part of King's Artists programme
Throughout the 2019–20 academic year, seven new artists-in-residence will be based in departments across King’s College London.
The King's Artists 2019–20 programme recently launched at an event hosted in the Arcade at Bush House. The event gave the artist-academic teams an opportunity to present their projects and share their vision with the wider King's community.
Each artist will work with a lead academic to develop projects testing new approaches to learning, exploring the many benefits associated with a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to research.
The 19-20 cohort join a prestigious group of previous King’s Artists and build on the university’s long history of hosting and working with artists across its faculties and within its wide range of research areas. The King’s Artists programme provides opportunities for creative practitioners to be resident within faculties across the university.
Over the last decade, more than 35 artist residences have connected academic research with art through a range of media including painting, printing, literature, theatre, music, performance, installation, photography, video, textiles, waxwork modelling, ceramics and fashion. Many of the artists and academics have presented the work and research developed at King’s during residencies on national and international platforms.
Outcomes from the new residencies will be showcased over the upcoming academic year and beyond, within the public facing programme across King’s.
Sivan Rubinstein in the Department of Philosophy
Working in collaboration with Dr Sarah Fine, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Sivan will be working in the Department of Philosophy on a project exploring the human experience of climate change through dance.
Clara Jo in the Departments of Psychology and Culture, Media and Creative Industries
Clara will work in collaboration with Dr Lucia Valmaggia, Head of Virtual Reality Lab at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, and Dr Sarah Atkinson, Head of Department, Culture, Media and Creative Industries, to pursue a project exploring memory, empathy, and embodiment through virtual reality.
Brian Lobel in the Department of Engineering
Working in collaboration with Dr Nishanth Sastry, Senior Lecturer, Brian will be resident in the Department of Engineering working on a project exploring television binge-watching, addiction and mental health.
Maria Teresa Ortoleva in the Department of Informatics
Maria Teresa will be working with Dr Rita Borgo, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, in the Department of Informatics on a project exploring mental health and the visualisation of data through art.
The saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words. The real issue is how to make a good picture, one which will convey not only a thousand words but expand to many more leveraging the experience and knowledge of its recipient. As a scientist and a data visualization researcher I thrive in finding new means to embody information. Artists residencies like King's Artists give researchers like me the opportunity to dive into dimensions which may not come naturally but are yet complementary.
Dr Rita Borgo, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences
Izzy Parker in the Department of Psychosis Studies
Working in collaboration with Dr Gemma Modinos, Sir Henry Dale Fellow and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychosis Studies, Izzy will be working on a project exploring ways in which the experience of psychosis can be communicated through art.
Daksha Patel in the Department of Anatomy
Daksha will be working on a project exploring the relationship between drawing and science image-making practice in collaboration with Dr David Hay, Reader in Higher Education (Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy), and Dr Richard Wingate, Head of the Department of Anatomy.
Inés Cámara Leret in the Department of Geography
Inés will be resident in the Department of Geography, working in collaboration with Dr George Adamson, Lecturer in Geography, on a project exploring different sensory ways that weather can be experienced.
The King’s Climate Research Hub in the Department of Geography explores the multiple ways in which the amorphous concept of climate change manifests in society. The King’s Artist project allows us to make this ‘real’ – to transfer scientific and cultural representations of climate into something that people can touch and feel. It’s a great resource for both staff and students and we very much look forward to working closely with Inés over the next year.
Dr George Adamson, Lecturer in Geography, Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy
King’s Artist partnerships receive up to a £5,000 award to support their work alongside guidance, advice and a practical toolkit to enable residencies to deliver creative research and learning outcomes for each faculty’s staff and students.
Six of the residencies are supported by the Culture team at King's College London. The seventh residency, Daksha Patel in the Department of Anatomy, will be supported directly from the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy.
In this story
Head of Human Centred Computing Group
Reader in Climate and Society
Professor of Screen Media
Senior Lecturer