TOMtech: a new creative reality
James Turnbull from The Old Market shares some of the areas his team thought about when developing their successful funding application for a creative media project.
The Old Market is an independent venue in Brighton & Hove. With support from The National Lottery through Arts Council England, it developed TOMtech - a creative catalyst that supports theatre makers who use immersive technology (such as virtual and augmented reality) to tell their stories.
Our idea
We wanted to support artists’ use of emerging technology – like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). The main idea was to explore how artists could master these technologies and look at what the audience experience might be as a result.
Our approach
We presented a season of events that showcased some of the most impressive immersive artistic experiences. Our activity included a series of live public events, artist labs and artist training.
Whilst we are one of the leading venues for creative VR, we are learning as much as the next. And so, very early one we decided that we needed to go out and establish strong partnerships. This resulted in an exciting new partnership with Make [Real], one of the UKs leading immersive tech developers, which has been a driving force for our arts VR work.
As we were applying to the Arts Council for funding, it was essential that we considered the arts’ role in the creative industries. We identified areas of collaboration. In addition to strengthening our application, it also led us to new opportunities for funding and support that wasn’t primarily focused on the arts.
Our learning
Show your working
It was always going to be hard to say what the output of our labs would be. But by focusing our aims and setting out clear lines of enquiry we could build the Arts Council’s confidence in our project. For example, we looked at:
- Is the sense of ‘liveness’ only achievable if you are actually there?
- How does a physical theatre company translate comedy into a motion capture experience?
- How do you mix real world and digital ‘presence’?
Don’t assume your work will only appeal to a specific audience
Around 4,500 people came through our 2017 TOMtech season to experience VR-led events. It was incredibly powerful to see so many new audiences that we hadn’t seen before come through the door. People brought their families (both young and old) and friendship groups, many of whom wouldn’t normally consider us for a night out.
Don’t be a silo!
Make sure you explore how partnerships could add to your project. They could bring new expertise, new funding or new audiences. And by understanding our artistic assets as individual skillsets, we also found it easier to find common ground with technologists.
