The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
NEON Digital Arts Festival
Various venues, Dundee, November 4 to 10
Ten years on from the NEON (North East of North) Digital Arts Festival’s inception courtesy of director Donna Holford Lovell in 2009, its presence has never been more relevant to Dundee – now that the city’s recognised expertise in digital arts and technology has been augmented by the presence of V&A Dundee, and the strong focus on art and design that brings.
Yet NEON is its own thing, and it has built a loyal audience and a strong track record for inviting that audience to think about technology in new and inventive ways. Among this year’s list of events will be a screening of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic (and increasingly relevant speculative tale of how exactly Artificial Intelligence might develop) Blade Runner at the V&A.
There will also be two exhibitions at Generator Projects which look at the ways narrative can be shaped and created by technology, and the Re:make/ Re:sist display of thought-provoking digital art at the Wellgate Centre, courtesy of Abertay’s Weave group.
Indie band Field Music explore the political and protest elements of their music at the closing NEON at Night party, while there will also be a new three-day symposium named Re@ct: Social Change Art Technology happening across the city.
“We have a really interesting group of speakers at the symposium,” says Joseph De Lappe, a professor of games and tactical media at Abertay University, who is also associate curator of NEON.
He co-chairs the Re@ct symposium, which will take place at four venues, including the V&A and the West Church.
“Everything from a discussion about food in relation to social justice and digital technology, and one about issues surrounding digital activism and climate change.”
There will also, he says, be talks around the use of drone technology, folk art, the manufacture of birth control devices and much more.
“When we had the idea for the symposium we realised we didn’t want to focus on just one issue, like climate change or Brexit,” he says.
“We wanted to create a context for artists to come to us and tell us what they’re passionate about.”
There will be 25 speakers, keynote and otherwise, in all.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that almost everything aside from the final party, is free to get into, and only then so we can pay the artists’ fees,” says De Lappe.
“NEON is a festival for Dundee, for Scotland and for international audiences, at a time of the year when there aren’t a lot of conflicting cultural events going on. We’re really trying to connect with a different audience.”