curriculum vitae
Nikki Pugh (UK, 1977).
Download an abridged version of this CV (PDF format, updated 01/2012). For an overview of individual works, please see the projects page.
Statement
I work in the grey areas between and across Art, Science and Technology, instigating enquiry-led processes that are often participatory in nature.
I’m primarily interested in issues around interaction: how we interact with spaces and landscapes; how we interact with each other; and how we interact with objects. Typically I will instigate a starting point and a mechanism to support exploration and criticism.
My practice encompasses locative and digital media, walking, performative actions in public spaces (in turn including pervasive games), installation, physical computing and collaboration. I rarely work in isolation, preferring instead to work in response to a particular location, context or conversation.
I co-founded BARG (pervasive games network) and fizzPOP (hackspace – creative use and abuse of technology) to feed the ecosystem within which I operate, working extensively to establish networks, develop audiences and manage events.
Work is currently being guided by the (evolving) Splacist manifesto.
Education:
| 09/2012 – present | University of the West of England, Bristol. MA Art, Media and Design by Project (part time). |
| 09/2000 – 06/2006 | Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, University of Central England in Birmingham. B.A. Art and Design (by Negotiated Study) First Class (Hons). Foundation diploma in Art and Design, Distinction. |
| 09/2004 – 06/2005 | Dudley College of Technology. Professional Development Certificate in Sculpture. |
| 09/1997 – 06/2000 | University of Birmingham. B. Eng Materials Science and Technology, First Class (Hons). |
Residencies:
| 09/2012 | Artspace Research Commissions (ARC) HIJACK, residency at Coventry Artspace |
| 05/2012 | Residency and commissions for Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, near Corby. |
| 03/2012 | Residency at the Phoenix film and digital media centre, Leicester. |
| 02/2011 | Ministry of Rules with City Gallery at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. |
| 01-16/05/2010 | fizzPOP residency at The Lombard Method, Birmingham. |
| 30/10 – 01/12/2008 | Almost Perfect, Banff New Media Institute, Canada. |
| 11/2005 – 07/2006 | Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of Birmingham. Supported by VIVID’s Interdisciplinary Support Programme. |
Grants:
| 09/2011 | Artists Access to Art Colleges, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. |
| 08/2011 | Grants for the Arts, Professional development activities. |
| Spring 2011 | Platinum 2. Professional development scheme run by Fierce. |
| 06/2010 | Grant from Hide&Seek to develop sonar goggles and The Bloop game. |
| 10/2009 | Hello Digital fringe event: fizzPOP Howduino hackday. |
| 10/2008 | Grants for the Arts, Almost Perfect residency. |
| 07/2008 | Grants for the Arts, Emergent Game in Japan. |
| 06/2007 | Grants for the Arts, Research trip to Japan. |
| 07/2006 | Springhill Institute Project Development Grant. |
| 08/2005 | Interdisciplinary Support Programme: R&D grant for collaborative research and cross-disciplinary activity through risk-taking and experimentation. |
Solo Exhibitions:
| 03/12 | Documentation of residency, Phoenix Square film and digital media centre, Leicester. |
| 10/2009 | Documentation of Invigilator: Malvern, collaboration with Paul Conneally, commissioned and exhibited by Malvern Exhibition of Contemporary Art. |
| 06/2006 – present | Day Science/Night Science: site-specific installation at the University of Birmingham. (Now in the University’s permanent collection.) |
Group Exhibitions:
| 26/04 – 11/05/2012 | And Miles to go Before I Sleep…, ARTicle, Birmingham. |
| 02/06/2011 | Fierce’s Platinum showcase, Birmingham. |
| 14/05/10 | Territorial Play, part of Radiator’s Tracing Mobility programme, Nottingham. |
| 06/03 – 02/05/2010 | West Midlands Open, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. |
| 07-11/07/2009 | Pieces of Eight, City Gallery, Leicester |
| 07/2009 | BNMI exhibition at Botega Gallery, Banff, Canada |
| 07/2008 – 04/2009 | 2°. Weather, Climate, Man, Stiftung Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden, Germany. Selection of items from theweatherproject. |
| 28/06/2008 | GOODS In, Birmingham. Curated by Harminder Judge and Charlotte Levine. One day exhibition in a disused warehouse. |
| 03 – 15/12/2007 | Artgos, artsparkle/theartmarket, Leeds. Artists working with multiples. |
| 05 – 31/03/2007 | c.art.ed in Ansdell: 14 artists’ interventions in Ansdell, Lancashire. |
| 01/09/2006 | Volume 0 for the Peer-to-Peer Sketchbooks project, Springhill Institute, Birmingham. |
| 06 – 12/2006 | Open, MILL-WORKERS, Manchester. |
| 12 – 17/06/2006 | Degree show, International Project Space, Birmingham. |
| 12 – 14/03/2004 | threshold, exhibition in a vacant shop space, Birmingham. |
Publications:
| 07/2012 | Using Games to Enhance Learning and Teaching: A Beginner’s Guide. Nicola Whitton (Editor), Alex Moseley (Editor), Routledge. Interview. |
| 12/2010 | Uncertain Eastside – Document One: 2009. Project documentation. |
| 09/03/2011 | Interview by Nina Simon about Ministry of Rules for Museum 2.0 |
| 08/07/2010 | Coverage of The Bloop, Lyn Gardner, The Guardian |
| 12/2010 | Uncertain Eastside – Document One: 2009. |
| In development | Pathways to Becoming an Engineer. Publication relating to Day Science/Night Science, including essay by Sadie Plant. |
| 10/2008 | Half A Brick In A Carrier Bag, Conneally and Pugh /seconds issue 9: vanishing point, the vicious and virtuous circle |
| 07/2008 | ContentsMayVary Issue 2. Artists’ publication. |
| 09/2006 | ANTI TALENT ZONE: Curated space within the TEN4 Magazine. |
Professional Experience:
| Spring 2012 | Project Management, Still Walking festival, Birmingham (15th March – 1st April 2012). |
| 08/02/12 | Speaker, The Sanitised City: How public is public space?, Birmingham Salon. |
| 17/11/11 | Panel member for Mobile, Location and Games, Hello Culture conference, Birmingham. |
| 09-10/2011 | Research and production trip to New York City, USA. |
| 07-08/2011 | Project Management, Routes, Roles & Rules, The City Gallery, Leicester |
| 09/06/2011 | Consultancy for The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum |
| 10/05/2011 | Own this City presentation at Pecha Kucha Night, Volume 4, Coventry. |
| 29/08/2010 | Enter the Arena: games event commissioned by the Midlands Arts Centre. |
| 15/08/2010 | Taste the Game: games event commissioned by the Midlands Arts Centre. |
| 09-11/07/2010 | Delivery of The Bloop game at Hide & Seek Weekender, National Theatre, London. |
| 26/06/2010 | Playtesting The Bloop at H&S Sandpit, Warwick Arts Centre, in partnership with Fierce! |
| 22-23/10/2009 | Attendee and workshop leader, MuseumNext: innovative ways to create more engaging experiences for museum and gallery visitors. |
| 13/10/2009 | Arts+Media Cre8us Creative Partnerships Event. |
| 28/06/2009 | Presentation and participatory game at Mozcamp, Moseley, Birmingham |
| 22/05/2009 | Presentation at Post Digital event, Fazeley Studios, Birmingham |
| 04/2009 – 10/2010 | Core member of the fizzPOP hackerspce: oganising events and regularly contributing to www.fizzPOP.org.uk |
| 12/2008 | Co-founder (with pindec) of BARG: pervasive and social games network. Organising meetings, events and games through until October 2010 |
| 09/2008 | Call and Return workshops in Japan and participating in Dislocate08 |
| Throughout 2008 | Mentoring programme with Eastside Projects, Birmingham. |
| 10/2007 – 05/2008 | Creative Apprentices training scheme run by Aliss and Creative Partnerships. Developing workshops for educational environments. |
| 06/2007 – 07/2007 | Research trip to Japan and attendance at Dislocate07 symposium. |
| 04/2006 – 2009 | Member of the Self-Service planning group, artist-led activities and criticism. |
| 06/2006 – 04/2007 | Regular participant in 100 Verses for 3 Estates for Alec Finlay and Gavin Wade: shared writing to document a community. 6 workshops in total. |
| 09/2006 – 11/2006 | Research trip to Japan. |
| 06/2005 – 08/2005 | Student Exchange Programme, Joshibi University of Art and Design, Japan |
| 12/2004 – 06/2005 | Internship Programme/ Professional Development Scheme: project management of a touring exhibition. |
Schools and Workshops:
| 25/08/2012 | GPS Orchestra, workshop for Octopus Collective, Barrow-in-Furness. |
| Summer 2012 | Various education projects for IKON Gallery, Birmingham. |
| 10/05/2012 | Gretton Explorers, Gretton Primary School, near Corby. |
| 31/11/2011 | What are the Splacists? Professional development day for MADE, Birmingham. |
| 19/11/2011 | Easy Circuit Bending, workshop for GLI.TC/H BIRM festival, Birmingham. |
| 09/07/2011 | Circuit bending 101, workshop at STATIC Trading Co., Liverpool. |
| Spring term 2011 | Creative Partnerships project, Wyvern Primary School, Leicester. |
| February half term 2011 | Ministry of Rules, emergent activities for the Play Ground exhibition curated by The City Gallery, Leicester. |
| 27/11/2010 | Circuit bending 101, workshop at Meshed Media, Birmingham. |
| 06/11/2010 | Circuit bending 101, workshop at Nottingham Hackspace, Nottingham. |
| Autumn term 2010 | Creative Partnerships project, Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Leicester. |
| Summer term 2010 | Creative Partnerships project, Mowmacre Hill Primary School, Leicester. |
| Summer term 2010 | Creative Partnerships project, Breedon Hancock’s C of E First School, Tewkesbury. |
| Spring term 2010 | Active learning in Maths project, Whitmore Park Primary School, Coventry. |
| Spring 2010 | Flexible learning day planning and delivery, including design of a pervasive game, Cardinal Wiseman Secondary School, Coventry. |
| Spring term 2010 | Come Alive with Science programme, King Edward VII Science & Sport College, Coalville, Leicestershire. |
| 04/12/2009 | Creative Learning Day at Mowmacre Hill Primary School, Leicester. |
| 10/10/2009 | Maps and Mechanics for Interacting with Space, day-long workshop for Joshibi Summer School, Birmingham City University |
| 01/08/2009 | Emergent Game at the Hide&Seek Weekender Festival, London |
| 24/06/2009 | Emergent Game at Sandpit 13, Royal Festival Hall, London |
| Summer term 2009 | WOW! A song for Skatz, Linden Primary School, Leicestershire. |
| Spring term 2009 | Come Alive with Science, Babington Community Technology College, Leicestershire. |
| 19-21/09/2008 | Call and Return at igfest (Interesting Games Festival), Bristol |
| 13/09/2008 | Call and Return workshop at Dislocate08, Yokohama. |
| 08/09/2008 | Call and Return workshop at hanare project, Kyoto |
| 05/08-07/08 | Our Discovery Project, Hawthorn School, Birmingham. |
| 05/08-06/08 | Where have the trees gone? Christ Church School, Birmingham. |
| 04/2008 | The Cocoon Project. Imperial Avenue School, Leicester. |
| 10/2007 – 12/2009 | Children’s Science Presenter, Mad Science West Midlands. Hands-on science experiments and demonstrations for children aged 3 to 12. |