Interactive Tayside - NEoN 2010
Opens in Dundee today with "character" the theme.
Thecountry’s biggest international digital arts festival, NEoN, starts in Dundee today, bringing a full line up of international artists and speakers throughout the week.
Reaffirming Dundee’s position at the forefront of digital arts, NEoN (North East of North) is a week-long event that aims to take discussion beyond the region’s successful games developers and investigate how technology can be used across the arts.
Now in its second year, NEoN has a growing reputation in the industry as a groundbreaker in showcasing some of the world’s best digital arts and has expanded to a weeklong event to showcase this year’s talent.
The festival’s 2010 theme is ‘character’, and a series of talks, workshops, exhibitions, commissions, screenings and performance will take place across the city explore how visual art, information technology and media production can combine to expand development and knowledge.
Donna Fordyce, Project Manager, Interactive Tayside: “Dundee has a reputation as a pioneer in terms of digital output. NEoN is not only celebrating the phenomenal talent that already exists in the city but its ability to draw international artists and speakers. We see NEoN emerging as a huge annual presence on the international digital media stage. Now only in its second year, the festival has a programme of events that has expanded enormously on last year’s showcase.”
The festival includes a two-day conference which features a cross sector of influential speakers including Ian Livingston from games giant, Eidos, Chris Van der Kuyl of Bright Solid, Ian Anderson from Designers Republic and artist and entrepreneur, Lars Denicke.
A series of master classes will take place including hosts such as animator Fraser Maclean, who worked on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ and Ken Perlin, behind the Perlin Noise software program.
Dundee College will also stage the UK’s first AppJam, which is part of a three day app conference. The event is attracting businesses from across Europe to discuss and learn about one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Ten teams will take part in the 48 hour challenge to produce the next killer app, which will be judged by some of the top names in the industry. The AppJam is part-funded by the Interreg Creative City Challenge project.
In 2010 NEoN will take over a multi storey car park later in the week, for an evening event of digital-based music and art, including the appropriately staged ‘Van Art’, displaying a series of digital installations in the back of a van and a bike generated ‘Solar Disco’.
Further information and the full line up of speakers and delegates involved with the NEoN conference can be found on the NEoN website.
The NEoN conference will take place in the Centre of Excellence, University of Abertay, Dundee on Thursday, 11 November and Friday, 12 November, between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm and tickets are available for booking now at http://www.northeastofnorth.com/tickets/ .
Ends 8 November 2010
Press Contact:
Stephanie Robertson, Weber Shandwick
T: 0131 556 6649
E: srobertson@webershandwick.com
Notes to Editors:
North East of North (NEoN) is an international digital arts festival featuring moving image, performance, music and technology-driven arts. The over-arching theme for 2010 is Character. Through this focused dimension NEoN intends to explore the notion of collaboration between visual art, information communication, media production and gaming that will expand digital development and knowledge. ( www.northeastofnorth.com)
NEoN was created by Interactive Tayside ( www.interactivetayside.com).
Interactive Tayside is a partnership between public, private and academic sectors to develop and promote Tayside's digital media industry.
NEoN is sponsored by: Angus & Dundee City Council, Event Scotland, National Lottery Awards for All, The Japan Foundation, Creative City Challenge, Scottish Enterprise & the North Sea Screen Partnership.
Partners include: Interactive Tayside, Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre (DCA), Dundee City Council, The University of Abertay, Dundee College, Hungry Boy, Realtime Worlds, Revolver PR, Red Pepper Events, Sooper Double D.