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Shane Walter is the co-founder of onedotzero, the innovative digital arts organisation he started in 1996 when he was 27. Since then, onedotzero has grown into a renowned international network and every year they travel around the world, appearing at their own festivals and partnering with many others.
When and how did you first know you wanted to be involved in digital arts?
I don’t think I woke up one day and thought I will be involved in this digital art area. It’s something that happened very organically I was and am driven by a passion and interest in art, design and entertainment. I have being working in the digital area approaching 20 years. No one ever understood what I did, and I have never had a CV. Now it is a little more understandable in today’s hybrid creative culture.
Since touring onedotzero to over 50 cities, which has been your favourite experience?
The whole thing has been an adventure, many, many highs and thankfully relatively few lows. Off the top of my head… surviving earthquakes and typhoons across Asia, 50,000 attending our Buenos Aires festival and Girls knickers thrown at me in Taipei..
In regard to onedotzero is there anything you wish you could have done differently?
Well there are always creators we wanted to work with, projects we could not get financed and festivals in cities that were dropped due to funding and sponsors falling through. All these things could have shaped or changed our future to some degree. But I don’t think I would have done anything different or could have done much more over the years. I can honestly say I have worked my butt off – so in some respects maybe having been more successful at having holidays!
What is your next big project after the adventures in motion festival at the BFI southbank?
After the London event, onedotzero_adventures in motion festival embarks on an international tour – visiting around 60 cities.
Who’s work do you most admire at this point in time?
So many names, so many disciplines, we showcase about 200 works from people i admire each year. There are many we don’t have the fortune of being involved with as well. A short burst… cross disciplinary designers Trokia, architect / designer Thomas Heatherwick, music promo directors Canada, animator David O’Reilly and coding genius Karsten Schmidt.
Which technological discovery has most influenced your work?
The Internet allowed onedotzero to be truly international. To reach new creators about what we and they were doing, research work, connect people and communicate to our partners allowed us to have this global network of events in the real world. This international perspective is vital and part of our DNA.
Which piece/installation most speaks to you or excites you and why?
Monolith from UVA I still find an exciting piece of work. Why it still excited me is how they used a fairly hard, imposing piece of LED technology and made it appear alive. It responded to your movement and proximity with sound and light – very simply. And to me it is the holy grail of interaction – it draws you in and needs no instructions, you intuitively know how to related to it and form an immediate dialogue.
What app could you never live without?
I do use many day to day to like Instagram, Echofon for twitter, etc but I can live without apps completely to be honest. What I would find hard to live without would be my notebook.
What’sthe next step for digital?
I have seen the rise of a new kind of creative force – that of the Coder. Coders or programmers were always relegated to the back room geek dens and not considered to be ‘creative’ types. Now code is in its purest form is a new raw material that artists and designers can shape and sculpt in a myriad ways to create interactive art, generative designs and stunning motion sequences.
Who is your hero and why?
Leonardo Da Vinci – the true Renaissance man. I love his hybrid practice, the idea of convergence across so many areas from art to technical innovation. His craft, skill and multi-talent are still awesomely impressive to me. His mix of art, commerce, tech, entertainment, science, invention and exploration is staggeringly inspiring. No one has come close to his achievements in any era.
Finally, any words of wisdom for our readers?
The best advice I can give is to never stop looking. A lot of people can see but never look around them. Here are a few things I have personally learned along my journey, which may or may not be useful [in no particular order]:
Trust your instinct
Be open, never stop looking
Start from a position of trust
Be honest, be yourself, don’t try to be someone else
Make friends not just contacts
Become a tourist – travel is good for you
Enjoy the journey not just the destination
Don’t stop learning, share your knowledge
Talking is good, doing is better
Learn to operate out of your comfort zone
Be interested rather than trying to be interesting
Keep a notebook
Collaboration can achieve bigger things
onedotzero_adventures in motion festival will take place on the 23 – 27 Nov 2011 at BFI Southbank
http://www.bfi.org.uk/onedotzero/
www.onedotzero.com / www.facebook.com/onedotzero / www.twitter.com/#!/onedotzero / www.bfi.org.uk/onedotzero
