CornCCoB day 2

Today I've spent the day at Falmouth University - Tremough campus meeting up with colleagues here in Falmouth who are either involved in CornCCoB or working on relevant research. First up I talked with Isabelle Rishner who is working on a 2 year project called "Supercrafted" which is exploring how crafts practitioners engage with the web.

Her research forms part of a wider activity at Falmouth, Autonomatic, projects which explore the use of digital manufacturing technologies in the creative process of design: http://www.autonomatic.org.uk/. One fun example is work by Katie Bunnell in which people are able to design their own chinaware via a website: http://www.autochina.me.uk I had a lot of fun with the site.

After a catch up and lunch with colleagues Mike Wilson and Phil Stenton, I was lucky enough to find two resident creative practitioners to interview in the afternoon. First I spoke with a photographer who has built a successful photography agency which also supports recent graduates in giving them experience in industry, as well as working on a number of community projects. I learnt that for this business web is essential as a means of marketing, selling images, engaging with a community of professionals and clients and also receiving completed work from their photographers working all over the globe. This business is lucky enough to already access superfast broadband and is therefore able to transfer large files (and lots of them) very quickly online. In the second interview I spoke with a couple who have developed a forward thinking theatre company with incredibly interactive performances. These performances, which utilise technology in their delivery result in a completely unique experience for each person taking part. Audience members engage with characters on a number of levels including online platforms such as Twitter. I was impressed both in the way that they are using digital tools to enhance the experience of audience members but also how this has resulted in stronger ongoing connections between them and their audience, as well as between members of the audience who had not previously met (often leading to friendships in the offline world). I was a bit disappointed that their production wasn't happening here and now as I would have loved to experience this for myself. Tomorrow brings another busy day in Redruth.