Chris Follows

College:

Lead on the embedding of emerging technologies in curricular and extracurricular learning experiences across the colleges, ensure a technology enhanced student experience is consistently accessible and deliverable.

The first point of contact for technology partners to support and facilitate engagement in research and knowledge exchange projects and partnerships across the colleges, help maintain the colleges at the foreground of emergent technologies through the facilitation of both formal and informal collaborations. Support the work of academic colleagues in their engagement with and use of emerging technologies in learning and teaching.

Help establish a range of internal and external formal and informal networks and contacts to facilitate the exchange of information representing CCW interests, liaising with key technology focused staff within CCW, central UAL and specialist professional bodies and organisations.

Interests in digital making:

Exploring new technologies in arts practice and how traditional & new evolve together. I'm continually exploring new technologies and its relationships to my traditional painting/media practice.

Contribution to the Collective:

I help facilitate the day-to-day workings of the Collective, from its conception in May 2015 when the Digital Maker Collective seed was planted at the Chelsea Jam 2015 event. This was the beginning of our journey and events in 2016 like Digital Maker Week and Mozilla Festival helped further establish the core community. Read more about the Early Beginnings of the Digital Maker Collective captured in new book 'The Creative Stance'

Since then, the Digital Maker Collective continue to raise the bar with high profile arts & technology events like the 'Digital Making Art School' (2017) where 150 members of the Collective took over the 5^th Floor of Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, delivering four days of events which were a huge success and engaged with over 2,000 public visitors. Please see video below for more about Tate 2017 events:

The Digital Maker Collective are currently preparing and co-creating a week-long residency at Tate Modern. 'Arts Work of the Future' 6-11 March 2018 at Tate Exchange, Tate Modern will invite the public to get hands on with exploring the role of technology in the arts and to join us in questioning and re-thinking its impact on our lives.

What you get from the Collective:

If there was ever a time to explore and make the most of arts & technology through collaboration & co-creation, now is it. The rapidly changing field of new technologies provides an endless need for knowledge/practice exchange and open sharing. 

The Digital Maker Collective is the most impactful and rewarding initiative I have been involved in to date at UAL. 

Events like the Tate Exchange are really important to the development of the collective as it encourages weekly student led meet-ups which support new forms of participatory practice and co-creation throughout the year. The introduction of new CCW student led #CCWMakerSpace are a great example of how UAL can support student led experimental activities and collaboration outside the formal curricula/college structures.

Anyone can get involved in the Digital Maker Collective, although be mindful it’s not a service, all contributions are voluntary and must be mutually beneficial, visit the Get Involved page on digitalmakercollective.org to find out more.

Your website:

Mostly share work activity here: http://digitalmakercollective.org

Arts practice: - http://www.chrisfollows.com/

Social media links:

https://twitter.com/chrisfollowsart

#digitalmakercollective

#artsDMC

@CCWDigital