Month: May 2022

Visit The Decision Machine on 2 or 3 June, at The Vestibules (Park Street side) City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR 

Thurs 2nd June 10:00 – 19:30 and Fri 3rd June 10:00 – 18:00

FREE ENTRY

The Decision Machine is an interactive installation as the result of an artist residency by Ellie Shipman with Jean Golding Institute at the University of Bristol from June 2021 – February 2022. Ellie is a participatory artist and illustrator living in Bristol and working around the world, spending a year in Vietnam in 2019. Ellie regularly collaborates with researchers and universities to create installations, exhibitions and illustrations as part of public engagement projects.  

Ellie worked with researcher Dr Ben Shreeve to explore his research on decision making in industrial control systems and big data, using a table-top game called Decisions & Disruptions (decisions-disruptions.org). Ellie became particularly interested in the notion of human fallibility in these unfathomably large scale decisions. 

The Decision Machine was created as a playful response to this incredibly vital research – a machine adapted from a vintage writing bureau, inspired just as much by Victoriana steampunk as contraptions invented by Wallace and Gromit. The piece was wonderfully fabricated by Jack Stiling of Stiling’s Workshop. 

The installation invites viewers to reflect on a decision they need to make in their own lives, write it on a card and insert it into the machine then crank the handle to reveal its answer. The machine will give a simple yes or no response, reflecting the binary 0-1 foundations of digital technology as well as highlighting the almost flippant simplicity of potentially huge decisions prompting reflection on the scale and impact of decision making we undertake every day. 

What will The Decision Machine tell you?

Find out more: eleanorshipman.com / ellie@ellieshipman.com / IG: @ellieshipman
Find the event on Facebook: bit.ly/decisionmachine

The Decision Machine was commissioned by Create React, funded by Jean Golding Institute. It will also be exhibited alongside the Decisions & Disruptions game at the Jean Golding Institute’s Bristol Data & AI Showcase 2022 on Tuesday 7th June from 10:00 – 17:00 at the M Shed. Find out more and book tickets at bristol.ac.uk/golding/get-involved/showcase

The Little Library is a new project run from the University’s micro-campus in Barton Hill. It is a small multi-lingual library service co-developed with local residents, open to all every Tuesday 10-5pm.

As part of the Little Library project we are offering a free lunchtime workshop each month that brings academics and artists together with local residents to creatively explore aspects of libraries, archives or literacy. On May 19 we hosted a hands-on workshop with book historian Rhiannon Daniels from the Centre for Material Texts and printmaker Barbara Disney, exploring the materiality of books.

Visit Clouds, a student-initiated exhibition, online and at Bristol Central Library, (College Green,  BS1 5TL) from Tues May 11th to Sun May 15th 

Now in a time when Covid-19 becomes endemic, with no legal requirement to self-isolate, an installation and online presence has been created to bring people together to share perspectives around well-being. Working with healthcare and student communities as well as the general public, the project hopes to raise awareness of the importance of self-care and resilience, highlighting the role of the arts in positive embodiment whilst facing challenging and distressing periods in life.

This installation was co-developed by students of Medicine and Music, with support from South-West Arts & Health practitioners and academics from external universities whose research focusses on the psychological impacts of sound.