Each year, through the Pervasive Media Studio, we offer funded Residencies to help incredible artists get ideas off the ground. They always go on to do brilliant stuff. With themes of air politics, Brexit, artificial intelligence, conspiracy theories, food futures and more, residents from the past couple of years are no exception. So what have they been up to?

Magz Hall and Victoria Melody joined our Winter Residencies programme last autumn. Recently diagnosed with ADHD, Victoria Melody explored the effect of laughter on the brain and developed a comedy show about trying to become a comedian. She presented a work-in-progress show at the V&A in April which went down a storm. She is currently fundraising to develop Professional Stranger further - so watch this space!

Victoria Melody working on her show with fellow Pervasive Media Studio resident, Edson Burton. Photo by Jon Aitken

Sound and radio artist Magz Hall has continued developing Skyport, a radio inspired installation exploring Heathrow’s airspace. Skyport will be exhibited at the Watermans Art Centre in October as part of Air Matters: Learning from Heathrow, an exhibition exploring the politics of air.

Rachel Smith joined us in Spring to develop Sentiment Honk, a project exploring the social impact of the hidden decision making processes found in artificial intelligence. We’re chuffed that she has gone on to develop her ideas further as a South West Creative Technology Network Automation Fellow.

Deaf artist Jonny Cotsen believes people are disabled by the barriers of society and not by their disability. This is at the heart of Hearing Hearing Aids (HHA), a project conceived during his residency in 2018. Supported by Unlimited, Jonny will be chatting about the work at Newport’s Big Splash later in July. You can also catch his phenomenal show Louder is Not Always Clearer in Edinburgh this summer. Not to be missed!

In 2017 David Lisser joined us to explore CleanMeat and challenges of global food production. We’re super excited that his latest forays into the topic are part of MIMA’s current exhibition Fragile Earth: seeds, weeds, plastic crust, on show until 26th September. Check it out!

In 2018, Action Hero’s Residency culminated in a 32,000km journey across 33 European countries to collect love songs from people they met along the way. The songs are part of Oh Europa, an ever growing work that re-imagines how we think about Europe. In 2019 more songs have been added and in May they launched RadiOh Europa, an 8-hour performance, collective listening experience and pan-European broadcast of voices from across the continent. Performed so far from Leeds, Madrid, Paris and London, their journey continues.

Oh Europa collecting songs at the Grand Voisins, Paris. Photo by Mark Domage.

We’re looking forward to supporting many more artists throughout 2019. If you have an idea - here's how you can get involved:

• In partnership with MAYK, our funded Winter Residency programme is open for applications NOW! We’re looking for ideas exploring technology and climate breakdown. Deadline: Wednesday 24th July, 10am.
• If you already have funding or other means to support your practice, you can apply anytime to join the Pervasive Media Studio community.
• Or, you can join us weekly at Pervasive Media Studio for Open Studio Fridays, all welcome! Please email us to find out more.

Our Residency programmes are made possible with the kind support of Arts Council England.

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