climate action A personal history of climate change art in 5 moments FF have been making work which is -in some way- about climate change or climate action for fifteen years now. So here’s a very personal history of my journey with climate change art, in five moments.
Public engagement and research. Public engagement: the tricky stuff When I started interviewing public engagement practitioners, I knew it would be interesting. What I - perhaps naively - hadn’t anticipated was the often difficult ethical questions that this work raises. So this is Awkward Corner...
Public engagement and research. The big guide to public engagement and/ for artists In this guide -based on interviews with some brilliant public engagement practitioners- we try to get to grips with what public engagement is, why it matters and how you know when it’s ‘working’. We also talk about what artists can bring to the process.
Public engagement and research. 9 top tips for artists working in public engagement. FF spent some time speaking to top public engagement practitioners, to get their top tips for artists working in public engagement.
Public engagement and research. Case study: The Mayor of Mancunia The Mayor of Mancunia is a narrative game where a single player takes on the role of the ruler of the newly-established Independent Republic of Mancunia, making decisions about Mancunia’s food system. This is a behind-the-scenes about a project which changed a LOT once we started speaking to people.
Public engagement and research. Case study: Life course studies - from mini golf to listening in the dark... At FF, we describe ourselves as a ‘digital story studio’. But sometimes digital isn’t the answer. For us, public engagement projects are always about balancing the needs of the audience with whatever research we’ve been tasked with engaging them with.
Public engagement and research. Case study: The Evidence Chamber The Evidence Chamber was FF’s first collaboration with the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS), at the University of Dundee. Here we talk about how the project came about - and why it worked.
climate action Please stop making claims about how the arts and culture can stop climate change. The arts can tell powerful stories that can shape people’s beliefs and lead them to take action. If I had a tenner for every time I’ve heard that in relation to artworks created about climate change, I’d be almost rich enough to sustain a career in the arts. So let's talk about why it's wrong.
process Interdisciplinary collaboration and good partnership working - reflections on going Wild with Manchester Museum In the first half of 2024, FF worked with Manchester Museum on a digital interactive for their new exhibition, Wild. The process was smooth - and more importantly, fun and interesting. Here we dig into what makes a good collaboration... and what we learned.
process Looking for ‘Looking for Love’ It’s time we all stopped pretending we make perfect work that turns out just as we planned. This is an honest documentation of a process which taught us a lot.
evaluation Measuring up: storytelling, evaluation and what if we admitted that it isn’t working part 2/2 The money, the assumptions and a plea for something different...
evaluation Measuring up: storytelling, evaluation and what if we admitted that it isn’t working part 1/2 The metrics of measurement, the power of stories and the lines they paint on the ground in hospital car parks.
environmental sustainability The Strategy Room 3/3: 5 things we learned From May 2022 to March 2023, Fast Familiar’s main focus was a climate action public engagement project called The Strategy Room. This blog documents the five big lessons we're taking away from the project.
environmental sustainability The Strategy Room 2/3: delivery From May 2022 to March 2023, Fast Familiar’s main focus was a climate action public engagement project called The Strategy Room. This blog documents its structure and delivery context.
environmental sustainability The Strategy Room 1/3: creating a design brief From May 2022 to March 2023, Fast Familiar’s main focus was a climate action public engagement project called The Strategy Room. This blog documents the principles underlying the experience we created.
Making interactive theatre The ‘D’ Word - what is dramaturgy? What does this term even mean, and -if that weren’t complicated enough, what is audience-centric dramaturgy?
Making interactive theatre Theatre without actors: alternative audience interfaces in interactive theatre How to communicate with audiences in different ways - here are some practical exercises to start thinking about alternative sensory channels.
Making interactive theatre Do’s and Don’ts of making audience-centric theatre Here’s some pointers on how to devise theatre and look after the audience while you’re putting them at the centre of what you’re creating.
Making interactive theatre Creating theatre: 10 principles of devising For anyone who’s devising theatre, here’s some principles to make your life easier and your work better.
Making interactive theatre How to make immersive theatre: the 7 big questions to ask yourself Distilled from years of thinking about different types of theatre and how to make them, here are the seven questions that underpin our process.
the ethics of interactive theatre Risk in theatre: self-discovery, not a form to fill in when people go up ladders If you’re asking audiences to take risks in your artworks, building care into your interactive experiences as a creative consideration makes the work better.
the ethics of interactive theatre What is the responsibility of the artist? Audience-centric theatre outside its comfort zone A ‘literature review’ of audience-centric work that sits outside the comfort zone, including artworks by Davis Freeman and Jamal Harewood that are some of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in theatres.
the ethics of interactive theatre Preparing for the worst: the Chaos list (what to do when theatre goes wrong) The Chaos List is a way of preparing for theatre going wrong - and having a plan for when it does. Like every scout knows, the key is to Be Prepared.
the ethics of interactive theatre With great power comes great responsibility: the ethics of interactive theatre How should we care for audiences, what are theatre companies responsible for, and what do we discover when we start asking questions about the ethics of interactive theatre?
Role of the audience The future of immersive theatre: 2022 and beyond Commercialisation, neoliberalism and immersive technologies, what will immersive theatre look like in 20 years?
