Writer-in-Residence
As a writer, I spend time in the studio with artists as they make their work; I'm interested in sharing stories about the process, about the discoveries made in the studio and the connections with what's going on in the world.
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In the press and mainstream media we often only get to read about works when they are finished and they're often described in alienating and verbose marketing speak. Some of the artists I have written about include: Uchenna Dance, Mamoru Iriguchi, Marc Brew, H2Dance and Dickson Mbi.
"I very much appreciated Ian's totally non-distracting yet quietly positive presence while he was observing the creative team's discussion, rehearsal and performance. This enabled all the collaborators to comfortably focus on what we were trying to achieve. His written observation of the days was truthful and insightful which sometimes felt even more real than video documentation. His analysis of the project, often accompanied by his broad and in-depth knowledge in diverse fields, made us aware of the potential future development on the piece itself as well as our collaborative practice. All in all, involving his physical presence and his written reflection felt very much like a new kind of collaboration." Mamoru Iriguchi
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Sat alongside this work in the studio I've been invited to international festivals to be in residence, to watch work, interview artists and make a creative response to the festival as a whole. Some of the festivals include: Attakkalari India Biennial (India), RISE (Scotland) and Regards Hybride (Canada).
My invitation to Regards Hybride was to be GIF reviewer in residence; since the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival I have been creating GIF reviews of some of the live work I've seen, here are a few examples. The GIF Review was created by the brilliant Megan Vaughan.