4iP in Scotland's first major project: Central Station

In today's Sunday Herald comes a 'reveal' on my first first major project with 4iP in Scotland, being produced by independent interactive designers ISO. Central Station is a place to share your art and find new talent, be mentored by some of the art world's best names and be entertained by and engaged in the making of a web fiction. The action starts this April.

In August last year I left Learning and Teaching Scotland (still not had my card and chocs :-( and a slew of speaking and consultancy work, to take up some creative and business challenges with Channel 4's new digital online-only non-telly arm, 4iP. It might seem ironic, therefore, that Edd McCracken's piece concentrates mostly on the web fiction element of the arts platform. It is to be filmed in and around Glasgow School of Art, one of many partners in the project (it wasn't, as the caption on the printed piece suggests, chosen by me as a backdrop but was one of many partners already in place thanks to the prep work of ISO and Mr C on the project).

But far from being "telly on the web", something 4iP's not interested in, the web fiction elements will in themselves reflect the art, artists and techniques being talked about by communities of artists aggregated in and around Central Station; as Damien Smith of ISO put it in our planning meeting last November, they will be "of the medium".

Amateur artists aspiring and those already making moves in art schools around the country will also find a place where they can share their artwork, with the chance to win regular prizes that, really, money cannot buy. The final award after nearly a year of frenzied publishing will be a major cash art prize, we think, the world's biggest for social media creativity. As well as finding the next Banksy, the hope is that online creativity among young people, something long romanticised but in reality little realised, is spun into orbit. Watch this space.

Dive in a take a peek at the article, and also at our new featured group this fortnight, covering the company with whom we have the pleasure of developing this artistic beast: ISO.

Cross-posted at 38minutes

Comments

[Laurie O'Donnell]

Ewan,
I missed this in the Sunday Herald - it sounds like a great project. Glad to see you are still having fun at C4.

Will be in touch soon to arrange for your LTS card to handed over before the chocs go past their eat by date.

Laurie