Gregory Sporton is the new Professor of Digital Creativity at the School of Art, BIAD. As Director of the Visualisation Research Unit, he has been involved with the development of new technologies and their application in the Visual and Performing Arts for some years and has long-standing creative links with the Birmingham Conservatoire.

To mark his elevation to the Professorship, Professor Sporton gave a public lecture and performance in the Recital Hall at the Birmingham Conservatoire. The evening included his Inaugural Professorial Lecture, ’From Things to Bits’, introduced by Fred Inglis, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick. Also in the programme was some of Professor Sporton’s choreography and a performance created by VRU researchers with the dancers from dna3d that includes live electronics and a demonstration of the body-based sound and visuals generating developed by sound designers Jonathan Green and Tychonas Michailidis, focussing on the physical performers as also the players of sounds.

The lecture, ’From Things to Bits’, focusses on the darker side of technology and what impact this has on the creative process and on artists themselves. How did digital technology become ubiquitous without us noticing? How does this change what we mean by creativity, intelligence or humanity? What are the obligations and contributions that artists can make in this environment? You can read a PDF version here.

The evening included the premiere of ’Never Talk to Strangers’, a new work developed with Sound Designers Jonathan Green and Tychonas Michailidis and Scenographer Katerina Pushkin. Dancers are Shanelle Clemenson, Alicia Meehan, Laura Nand, Joanne Klijn and Christa Collard.

Video of the Performances from the Sporton Inaugural
(special thanks to Tychonas Michailidis for the video)