Internationally-acclaimed media artists and students have been exploring public interaction with technology and pushing the boundaries of digital art thanks to the advanced facilities in the ‘Egg’ space at our MediaCityUK building.

The first in a series of ambitious art residencies, ScreenLab MediaCityUK 0x01 involved artists Memo Akten (Turkey/UK) creating unique responses to the theme ‘Future of Broadcast’ during a week-long intensive period of experimentation and innovation.

The artists worked with a team of students to create two unique pieces of digital artwork. James's work, Spectacle of Change, was inspired by the influence of technology on seven Salford-based artists and resulted in the creation of hybrid virtual and real video and audio portraits.

Memo's response to the brief was an  interactive visualisation, capturing and tracking the movement of people in a space and streaming that data live onto the web. While people are interacting in the installation space, internet viewers around the globe can see a skeleton representation of the visitors to the 'Egg' space.

The technology available for the project included an 8k ultra-high resolution bank of 120 separate screens which can display video as one large image or in sections. James said: “I would never usually have had the opportunity to use a large high resolution screen in a public space and yet be able to freeform and experiment with it, so it was a really wonderful opportunity.”

Salford students were also impressed with the experience and knowledge gained from ScreenLab. Third year Visual Art student Rebecca Kevell said: “It was inspirational as I want to integrate these interactive elements within my own practice. It’s great to see these artists at the University and it gives you loads of ideas about what you can do with these platforms.”

ScreenLab MediaCityUK 0x01 has now been featured on the website of influential international creative media network The Creators Project, with Global Editor Julia Kaganskiy saying: “We’re looking forward to seeing what other projects come out of this media tech wonderland in the coming months and hope to see more universities with digital media departments and fancy screens initiating creative research residencies of this kind.”