North East of North

This year’s Neon Digital Arts Festival will be themed around collaboration and legacy promising ‘a distinct Nordic flavour.’

The festival will introduce Nordic and technology driven arts, moving image, performance, and music to Dundee, where a symbiosis of digital art exchange will be set in motion.

Curatorial director of the festival Donna Holford-Lovell, sought Scandinavian collaboration after happening across Copenhagen based arts group N55.

Holford-Lovell’s  interest in the group has led it to Dundee, where a commission to set up a sort-of portable make-your-own-bike-factory was agreed.

The group works collaboratively, always using low-fi equipment. Here a ‘spaceframe’ vehicle is proposed – a tricycle, with trailer, which will become a workshop to produce more bikes.

The collaboration is N55 and the people of Dundee; the legacy, usable bikes, which Holford-Lovell says may be given to local community groups.

Elsewhere Dago Bloom, video maker – known for his Franz Ferdinand videos  – has been teamed up with Dundee based gaming company  Denki for a 3D installation.

Ever looked at an exhaust and thought, ‘my that would make a lovely bassoon’, or, ‘why have I never seen the percussive potential of a set of Le Creuset ramekin dishes’?

Probably not, but London-based Dirty Electronics have, and will be bringing a heap of wiring, circuit boards and expertise to fashion digital instruments from found objects. Design Week quite fancies a teapot saxophone.

Instruments will be made, rehearsed with, and then ‘performed as an ensemble’ says Holford-Lovell, who points out that legacy will be upheld as people get to keep their creations. Lets hope it’s better then proto-dustbin-hippie-musical Stomp.

Talks come from augmented reality specialist James Alliban  – as seen at Alpha-ville – and installation and product designer Tom Metcalf, who will be talking an audience though a collaborative lighting installation made for the V&A.

Japanese designer and illustrator Akinori Oishi worked up an illustration for the festival last year. This year, his design is being made into a boxed toy sold by Neon.

The toy will feature a character developed by Oishi atop the Law hill of Dundee, which used to be a volcano.

Neon Digital Arts Festival will run from 5-13 November  at multiple venues across Dundee. For more information visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/