Joe Strickland is a prolific theatre maker, digital producer, and creative technologist with great energy and passion. He’s the artistic director for Chronic Insanity, the creative force behind the Data Driven Arts Festival, Puncture The Screen. We got in touch to find out more…
STARBURST: What is a Data Driven art festival?
Joe Strickland: Exactly what it says on the tin! A festival full of art that is driven by data, either inspired by data or that uses data in the way in which audiences interact with it. Work in the festival uses one of three kinds of data: Scientific or census data, the artist’s own data, the audience’s data, either volunteered personal data or behaviour data collected from the audience in real-time.
How did the Puncture The Screen come about?
I was undertaking a PhD about the value of personal data at the University of Nottingham and wanted to find examples of data being used in artworks, specifically audience personal data, but found it difficult to find examples. Given that I was interested in making this sort of artwork and performance myself, I decided to run the festival to give myself and other artists an outlet to experiment with this sort of emerging creative practice, as well as give audiences a platform to understand data, and data driven art, in more interesting ways than news reports and spreadsheets
What’s new, and what have you kept from previous festivals?
This year we have three new commissions – a play about private companies using NHS data to predict people’s deaths called Lifetimes by Lotty Holder; an interactive audio experience where a magic creature teaches you how to cook called Stewed by myself and Natalie Patuzzo; and a virtual reality hologram system where a short play can take place on a tabletop in your room, called Fabula.
What are you looking forward to the most with the festival?
Getting a chance to dedicate some time to creating and exhibiting data-driven work, and to really push the boundaries of what digital theatre can, and should be, moving forwards
What’s been the most interesting challenge so far, when it comes to the festival?
Trying to explain to people what data-driven work is, and also getting people to trust that data-driven work can be entertaining and not scary. Normally, when we hear about personal data, it’s in the context of some sort of security breach or mass manipulation of the public by a large corporation or government, but data is a neutral tool, and there can be entertaining and educational uses for it as an artistic material, especially to inform people about data and how to use it responsibly or creatively
Why Data Driven?
It’s one thing to write a play or create an artwork based on some fact or figure using data, but it’s a whole other thing to create an artwork that is alive with data, powered by it. A work that has data running through its core, that is driven by data, is so much more evocative and engaging than an artwork that merely reports on data or talks about it. Why talk about it when we can harness it and show it to audiences within the artwork in a way that is so much more informative and enlightening?
If I can’t make it to the Festival, what’s the next best thing?
Almost everything in the festival can be accessed online until December 17th, including recordings of our in-person events and workshops, plus all the digital artwork and educational videos from previous festivals that are being re-exhibited
What’s the next big thing you are working on that you want to tell the world about?
Chronic Insanity has been around since 2019 and has almost reached 100 shows in that handful of years. I think the next thing we’re working on might just be having a break!
You can learn more about PUNCTURE THE SCREEN 2023 (and purchase tickets) here.
