Mike Blow is an artist and academic whose interests and practice lie at the intersection of creativity and technology. His artistic practice spans sound art, interactive art and performance, and is a ongoing exploration of his interests in electronic creativity, the study and modelling of natural processes and the artistic possibilities offered by intermedia spaces.
He describes his practice,
‘Sound is a consistent element in all my work. I love its physical, vital energy, its quality of appearing simultaneously present and absent, its enormous dynamic range and its capacity for shifting our perception of the environment. As a musician I have always had an interest in sound, but within the context of artistic practice this has broadened into experimental performance and installations using homemade instruments and interactive interfaces.
I see teaching as a natural extension of the making and ideas-generation process, and attempt to facilitate students’ self-exploration and encourage and guide their personal research and engagement. I am a firm believer in experiential learning, and the Immaculate Heart College Art Department rules, especially number 4: “Consider everything an experiment”.’
He has been awarded a PhD from the Sonic Art Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University under Ray Lee (DoS) and Professor Paul Whitty, and he currently holds the position of Programme Lead and Lecturer in Interaction Design for the BA/BSc Digital Art and Technology course at Plymouth University. Blow’s current research projects include ‘democratic electronic music’ – a practical investigation of the possibilities of DIY electronics and fablab culture to create instruments that anyone can play; and the AGAST project with Eric White and John Twycross of Oxford Brookes, creating modern responses to the ideas of the futurists.
