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Teesside artist teams up with international groups for Cork culture event

21 July 2015

 

International artist Simon McKeown will use his expertise in technology to present a live art commission during a major outdoor cultural event in Ireland.

Teesside University School of Computing academic Simon will present his art event during Cork Culture Night 2015, as one of three Ignite commissions representing the largest ever investment in Ireland’s arts and disability sector.

Cork Ignite will showcase a dazzling mix of technologies, with riverside buildings brought to life through projections and an accompanying music score.

Simon, a Reader in Post Production and Animation, will be working with the National Sculpture Factory and Create, along with Cork-based disability organisations Suisha Inclusive Arts at COPE Foundation and SoundOUT, to produce a spectacular event which will dazzle thousands of onlookers on Friday 18 September.

Renowned for his work Motion Disabled, which challenges stereotypes around disability, Simon has seen his work go global in a single day when it was projected on to buildings in 17 countries all over the world.

Commenting on the Ignite commission, Simon said: 'My aim is to create, in collaboration with different groups, a hugely exciting body of work in Cork and for this work to be seen as a fundamental stepping stone in the perception and production of art which touches on, or considers disability. Partnership and collaboration are key to what I do.'

Simon, who has over 25 years of professional creative experience, was awarded his own prestigious Cultural Olympiad/London 2012 Festival commission. He is committed to inclusion and collaboration, working with artists with disabilities as key shapers or co-creators of an artwork.

His work is a reflection of his interest, knowledge and experience of disability and in particular society’s view of ‘normality’ and ‘difference’. Simon also draws from his own personal experience having been born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a condition causing extremely fragile bones.


Find out more about Simon's involvement in Cork Ignite
 
 
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