Sparks fly with transmedia pioneers. Find out what makes Artangel’s Michael Morris tick…

In the next in our series of interviews with members of The Pixel Pitch Jury 2012, we spoke to Michael Morris, co-director of Artangel. Michael, who will be participating in October’s Cross-Media Forum for the third time, shares his insights and perspectives on art and the avant-garde, audience participation, and the new generation of producers who are steering cross-media innovation. The greatest asset a Pixel Pitch juror can bring, he believes, is an open mind.

How the juror will judge…

I’ll be on the look-out for a spark of originality; projects where form and content are so enmeshed that it would be hard to imagine a different way of realising them. Sometimes with transmedia ideas you have the feeling that different platforms are somewhat bolted on. What I’m looking for is a project which could only work as a cross-breed of different formats, something where there’s an original connection between form and content; something which excites – that has the potential to extend different media, stretched and explored in a way that is unprecedented.

I’m also interested in new ways to tell stories. The best kinds of projects seem to adopt the narrative impulse; it’s almost like each platform is telling something in a different way and adding to the richness and depth of the story.

On openness…

Over the past couple of decades, Artangel has produced work in so many different ways. We have worked with the written word, the spoken word, film, documentary, video, feature, sculpture, installation – many varied forms of expression. I hope that the most important thing I’ll be bringing is an openness to what is possible. Artangel works from the ground up; we don’t bring preconceptions from past projects, so that we can construct each project in the way that is required, rather than putting a template on it. Openness is about seeing the spark of something, the potential. You need to develop an instinct for that potential – to go to places that really map uncharted territory.

On participation…

The kinds of projects that can exist and be shaped by different platforms are finally given their identity by the participant, the user, the audience – by what people bring to them. That’s always in a way the biggest question mark. In everything Artangel’s ever done the final ingredient is how people respond to what has been produced. In a way participants bring another layer of creativity. When Olafur Eliasson recreated the sun in his Weather Project at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, people were lying down to look up at it: no-one had really imagined it would be used by the public in the way that it was. It is important to understand that the participants have a huge role to play in developing a new project within new media.

On art and the cutting edge…

It’s all about ideas; it’s all about the quality of an idea. People will be looking for that originality, that vision, at The Pixel Market. There needs to be a desire to communicate something, to express something, to captivate an audience.

Artists are at the vanguard of creative expression and their ideas get co-opted by industry, by advertising, by media, by commerce – that’s always been the case in the last 50 or 70 years. Perhaps it’s happening quicker now. There is a shorter timelag between an artist trying something out and then it getting adopted in the broader world because of communications technology. There’s more potential for things to be combined, co-opted and adopted between the art world and industry.

On The Pixel Pitch Prize…

Prizes seem to focus the energy of people trying to get things off the ground. Success during The Pixel Market events can be a vital stepping stone towards something being realised. I have always found there is a generosity in jurors who really want to give very constructive support to each of the ideas. There is a generosity within the sessions – everyone is there to help. This is still a developing area, you don’t want to stifle something at birth, so it feels quite pioneering and that creates a supportive atmosphere.

It feels important that a new kind of producer can feel valued and validated and to get the sense that they are not alone in what they are thinking about. This is the third time I have been involved in The Pixel Pitch Jury and each year there are leaps and bounds. The ideas have become more sophisticated – and more competitive – but there’s still this very positive generosity of spirit that is empowering.

Hear more from Michael at The Pixel Pitch competition on 17 October. Buy your ticket here.