WHAT ROLE WILL TECH PLAY IN THE ARTS FOR YEARS TO COME?
This is our catalyst programme for artists that bridges the gap between traditional performance and new technology.
As technological development accelerates, we ask ourselves what our role as a venue will be in the coming years, and how audiences will want to enjoy the arts in the future. To answer this, we created #TOMtech.
We want to encourage both artists and audiences to embrace the latest developments in Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), Mixed Reality (MR), motion capture, 360-film and more. #TOMtech allows ideas to be seeded and provides a space for those who want to play, take risks, re-invent, and re-imagine what is possible using new technology.
#TOMtech @TOMvenue
#TOMTECH COMMISSIONS INCLUDE…
‘New Worlds’ Immersive Experience
Halina Rice
We asked ourselves, ‘How can we push the boundaries of live performance, and make our events more immersive?’
To answer this question, we created a new immersive experience using 360 visuals and spacial sound, culminating with this performance by electronic music producer and AV artist Halina Rice.
She presented her unique vision to this new experience, translating elements of her show in a way that had never been seen before. The project ran in two ways - as a free-to-view 15-minute daytime installation, and as a live performance followed by a Q&A with Halina. On top of this, we ran a masterclass for female-identifying and gender-expansive music producers/live performers/creators working with performers interested in taking the first steps into building immersive shows. We also ran a Lightform LAB to test out ideas for immersive sensory environments.
A #TOMtech commission
Whilst the rest were sleeping
CiRCA69
What connects a mass disappearance from 1959, the death of an old man in a New York high rise in 2010, an artificial intelligence beating a grand master at chess in 1997 and 8 letters written by an autistic child to his imaginary friend?
Step into the world of CIRCA69 as they attempt to piece together a mystery spanning 60 years. Use your phone to unlock clues hidden in portraits hanging on the wall and don VR headsets to visit worlds within the story.
Using immersive tech hidden across the whole building, live electronic score, cinema and your own inquisition – put the final pieces in place to discover the truth. This premiere performance brings together six of CIRCA69 works, seen all over the world, to tell the story that has obsessed them for years. Do your research. Be prepared. Question everything.
A #TOMtech commission
FROGMAN
curious directive
The Great Barrier Reef, 1995. Meera is eleven. It’s her first sleepover. Strawberry Dunkaroos, Sega Mega Drive and coral fragment analysis descends into torch-lit storytelling from sleeping bags.
Lights off. In the corner, Meera’s aquarium is beginning to glow. Outside over the reef, the Frogman hovers, looking for traces of a missing child. As police search lights refract through the ocean, the annual coral bloom is due, creating an underwater snowstorm. Time is running out.
A coming-of-age, supernatural thriller, this is a ground-breaking theatre experience, experienced in synchronised VR headsets and live theatre from double Fringe First-winners, curious directive.
A curious directive, Hull UK City of Culture 2017, The Deep Aquarium, The Old Market co-production in association with Brisbane Powerhouse
HABITATS
Marshmallow Laser Feast
For two special weeks our venue was turned into a breathtaking digital forest, where nature and technology dramatically collide. Cutting edge London creative studio Marshmallow Laser Feast returned to #TOMtech following their sell-out run of In The Eyes of the Animal as part of vrLAB ’16, filling our space with large-scale installations and unforgettable VR experiences.
Marshmallow Laser Feast are a London-based studio that creates artworks and experiences to immerse and amaze audiences in unexpected ways. Their multidisciplinary approach employs a wealth of creative disciplines from real-time CG & projection, to interactive performance, sculpture, installation and film.
MLF’s creative process is about finding the place at which the emotional or human element of an artwork naturalises a high tech experience. Inspired by emerging technologies – digital and otherwise – their aim is to create experiences that push creative and technical boundaries. The programme brought together three of MLF’s most innovative works which sat alongside a curated programme of VR and 360 experiences throughout the building.
A #TOMtech commission
Talking Posts
Shared Space and Light
Two bespoke storytelling lampposts installed outside The Old Market theatre in Hove, Brighton for 6 nights as part of the 2015 Brighton Digital Festival.
14 documented paranormal tales of Brighton, gathered from over 400 years of history were adapted by screenwriter Sara Clifford to bring the eerie stories to life. Each story was performed by a different person from The Old Market’s network of performers and actors.
By adapting an old optical trick for projection we created the startling illusion of the talking heads tracking the movement of the audience as they walked around the freestanding, self-contained lamposts. Wherever they moved to, the storyteller was always looking directly at them!
The installation was a 50 min continuous loop, allowing the audience to come and go as they please.
A #TOMtech commission supported by Arts Council England
#TOMtech Event Archive
2024 ONWARDS
2023
Dreamy Place: Embodied Realities
BRiGHTBLACK: A CARNiVAL BETWEEN WORLDS
Halina Rice: ‘New Worlds’
2020-2022 - Hiatus
2018
TOM, Make[Real] and Virtual Umbrella: vrLAB 2018
Makropol and TOM: Doom Room
TOM: VR Parlour
Hatsumi VR: NoöSphere
Pop-Up Brighton: BYOBeamer #7
CiRCA69 and TOM: Whilst The Rest Were Sleeping
Wet Picnic: I’d Be Lost Without It
2017
Medea Electronica
REMOTE
ErictheFred
[pain]byte
MACONDO
360º Democracy
StoryHack Conference 2017
vrLAB 2017
Bitcoin: An Introduction
WHIST
WiFi Wars
Cat and Mouse
Frogman
Habitats
2016
Hacked On Classics
SuperEverything*
Pattern Recognition
vrLAB 2016
StoryHack Conference 2016
Electric Youth Ensemble: Visions of the Future
Adam Buxton’s BUG: David Bowie Special
ProjectLAB Sharing Event
Slave to Mortal Rage