Jim Byford Wants To Meet You

Artist and innovator Jim Byford has been involved in local, national and international collaborative projects for more than 20 years. Following an MA in Applied Imagination at Central Saint Martins and major research projects for Brighton Fuse and FuseBox24*, Jim is now based in and mostly working out of Eastbourne. He is an active member of the Devonshire Collective, thrilled to be exhibiting for the first time as part of the first members’ show at DC1 gallery until 9 April. He will be joined by Blue Monkey artist Lucy Dean to talk about their recent collaboration.

Jim will tell us more about his collaborative creative work, his arts, technology and business research practice and how this informs his plans to create a twenty-first century art school experience for innovators, from Eastbourne.

His boundary crossing adventures have led him through many chapters. From commercial creative collaborations, such as launching the Daily Mirror online in 24 hours back in the 90s and through numerous UK and US creative tech start-ups, including founding and selling a pioneering design agency with a hatful of industry awards for work with Gorillaz, Channel 4 and others, to a deep interest in learning, play and making games via the Creative Partnerships programme, his MA research, his researcher-in-residence role at the FuseBox and most recently as the Director of virtual reality business Make Real.

Whilst digital technologies feature heavily in much of his work, identifying and facilitating the growth of people lies at the heart of his motivation. Seeking out interests and latent talents, casting and supporting personalities and teams to deliver sometimes audacious projects with complex commercial, creative and cultural imperatives underpins much of the success of the collaborations he’s been involved with.

His latest chapter commenced in early 2017 with a social enterprise Star People award from UnLtd, which is seed funding and support to enable him to establish the Institute for Adventures and Wisdom. Jim is keen to share his insights and aspirations and inspire you to collaborate with and through the Institute.

www.jamesbyford.co.uk / @rockjimford
Image credit: John Pratty
6-8pm £5.00 or FREE to Blue Monkey Network members.

*FuseBox24 was a radical programme of start-up business support hosted by Wired Sussex at the FuseBox in Brighton. Focusing on the innovator rather than the innovation, this pioneering approach has subsequently informed programmes in London, Manchester and Nottingham, funded jointly by the Arts Council and Innovate UK (formerly the government’s Technology Strategy Board). It has also informed programmes run by Barclays Eagle Labs in a number of other UK locations.

For more information visit http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/event/jim-byford-wants-meet-you/