Reimagining our digital interactions
Fostering a greater critical understanding of contemporary culture within the context of today’s digital and technology-driven, diversely complex society.
About NEoN
Creating greater critical understanding of digital and technology driven art.
NEoN Digital Arts (SCIO) is a charitable organisation aiming to advance the understanding and accessibility of digital and technology-driven art forms and encourage high quality within this medium’s production. These aims are accomplished through many platforms, including festivals, exhibitions, workshops, talks, conferences, live performances, and public discussions. As part of its mission, NEoN commissions new work and nurtures the development of ongoing projects.
In recognising the profound connection between contemporary culture and digital technology, NEoN believes in addressing digital poverty and promoting digital detox as integral aspects of its mission. Through a collaborative programme, NEoN seeks to not only enhance critical understanding but also make digital art more accessible, acknowledging the impact of technology on society today.
New Approaches
NEoN has changed from a festival-based organisation to an organisation capable of taking up the continuous demands of caring for audiences and workers of the current technological, environmental, economic and social conditions.
We live in a neoliberal world that requires high productivity in a short period of time, which has the effect of isolating employees and creating work conditions so unrealistic and stressful that burnout is commonplace. This often adversely affects audiences too. For high-quality, fruitful creative experiences, you need time: time for engaging, innovating, experimenting, organising, evaluating, and inspiring.
NEoN is developing a feminist ethics of care approach that challenges these working conditions and provides a feminist digital infrastructure. We aim to develop and implement new strategies that emphasise collaborative, collective, and communal approaches. By slowing down and claiming time for collective action informed by feminist theory, we are exploring alternatives to neoliberal models that are fast-paced and metric-oriented.
In order to achieve a balanced art creation and leadership system within the arts, NEoN acknowledges the urgent need to address historical power imbalances. In particular, we will support artists and practitioners experiencing systemic oppression and discrimination, those who sit at the intersections of several minority identities, and those from economically marginalised communities.
Going Forward
Reflecting the diversity and complexity of the digital and technology-driven art scene is a core value of NEoN. We believe the arts can be a powerful platform for social change, and we strive to include a multitude of voices and perspectives in the planning and implementation of our artistic work and operations. Bringing together like-minded emerging artists and well-established artists, we aim to influence and reshape the genre with an organisation founded on feminist values.
NEoN creates opportunities for collaboration and spontaneity and will always push beyond expectations. Our program of international and regional artistic exchanges aims to nurture diverse grass-roots art of the region whilst drawing in the art world’s most interesting talent.
Going forward, we will continue to foster a greater critical understanding of contemporary culture within the context of today’s technology-driven, diversely complex society.
Reports & Accounts
NEoN Digital Arts SCIO, is a charity registered in Scotland (SC043355) regulated by OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator.
Meet
the Team
Our small NEoN team work collectively to plan and drive the programme. Team members work from home and in the office. The small size of our team means that we share responsibilities for tasks between us, such as social media updates, bookkeeping, cleaning and fundraising.
As a charitable organisation, we hire freelance artists, gallery technicians, technologists and others to help us accomplish and deliver what we’re trying to do. Here are details about the current trustees and team.
Donna Holford-Lovell
DIRECTOR
Donna has been with NEoN since its conception in 2009. She is a passionate advocate of digital (social) change, working with digital art makers to change the binary systems which parallel the heteronormative structures of the patriarchy. She champions digital art practices that aim to be nonhierarchical and inclusive and use tools to bypass this patriarchy. Under the umbrella of new digital change feminisms, many artists are changing the technology paradigms, metaphorically and literally rewriting the code. It is here that she works and makes a difference. “After years of conformity, I am now dreaming in the ruins of Big Tech”.
Sabrina Logan
DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Sabrina is an experienced community development officer interested in expanding the accessibility to the arts. She has been involved in the charity sector in Dundee for over a decade, continually building networks and community outreach. After graduating with a degree in Computer Arts, she continued to be involved with the Bengali Arts community, working for the Dudhope Multicultural Centre and with Amina MWRC. Sabrina co-authored and ran the Trainee Tour Guide Programme in partnership with V&A Dundee, a project instigated for their official opening. V&A Dundee and Amina partnered to recruit and train Muslim, Black & Minority Ethnic community members to become Tour Guides for the V&A Dundee.
Majsko Sekula
PROGRAMME ASSISTANT
Majsko is a visual artist and illustrator, Computer Arts graduate at Abertay University from 2021. Their honours project was awarded by NEoN for "the best consideration of addressing issues relating to gender, identity or accessibility". Their primary interests are queer-feminist movements and storytelling in their artistic practice and beyond.
Elaine Dusk
SOCIAL MEDIA STORYTELLER
An Avatar, keeping fellow humans safe from the toxicity of Big Tech.
Beatrix Elizabeth Livesey-Stephens
ACCESSIBILITY OFFICER (FREELANCE)
Beatrix (Bea) is an undergraduate studying Language & Linguistics at the University of Aberdeen. A member of the Artificial Womb feminist arts collective, and an ambassador for the student-led TABOU Disability Magazine. Last year Be was on the steering committee for the WayWORD cross-arts festival, and this year acting as a legacy committee member and disability and accessibility consultant.
Bilyana Palankasova
(PHD STUDENT)
Bilyana is a researcher and curator of art and technology who holds the SGSAH Collaborative Doctoral Award with NEoN: Valuing festivals as incubators of digital creativity – capturing the process of commissioning and presenting digital art. Her PhD is supervised at the University of Glasgow by Prof. Sarah Cook, who from 2013 to 2019 was a co-curator of NEoN and founder and chair of NEoN’s annual symposium.
The
Trustees
Eleanor Whitby
Being a part of the NEoN team for the last 10 years has helped to develop many of my ideas and allows me to bring those thoughts to the table in a safe environment. As a trustee, my strengths are event planning, organisational skills, bookkeeping, policy, note taking, chairing meetings, action taker, and generally bringing smiles to the zoom room! I like to bring good people together for great conversation, and I can honestly say I enjoy every single minute.
Andy Robertson
Andy is a community worker, designer and artist living in Dundee. Working as Creative Arts Lead for Hot Chocolate Trust, a charity that engages, builds relationships with, and grows community with young people, supporting them on their terms. His role includes partnering with the creative and cultural sectors to bring high-quality opportunities to those often marginalised and face significant barriers and using the arts to support young people around mental health and trauma. As an artist, Andy is interested in the spaces between possibility and impossibility, reality and imagination, known and unknown, ordinary and extraordinary. https://www.hotchocolate.org.uk
Jen Southern
Jen is an artist, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art & New Media at Lancaster University, and an Associate Director at the Centre for Mobilities Research. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally for over 25 years and specialises in Art, Technology and Mobilities Research. www.theportable.tv www.lancaster.ac.uk...jen-southern
Jessica Armstrong
Jessica is a Project Manager and Creative Producer. She works as a freelance agent based in Edinburgh, working with clients and partners from the creative industries and academia; working with themes of digital, data, research and technology; and with micro-businesses, SMEs and corporates. She strives to enable, empower and mentor growth and leadership. Jessica is also an active contributor at Creative Edinburgh, supporting the CE team, the organisation and its members as the chair of its Steering Group. https://jessicaarmstrongpro.com
Natallia Nenarokamava
Natallia is a Digital Account Manager at Cast From Clay, a London-based agency that works with NGOs, think tanks and policy experts to shape conversations that strengthen democracy. She previously worked as a campaigns editor at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and as a freelance curator. In the past, Natallia has developed and implemented strategic digital campaigns on various topics, including politics, human rights, climate, science, education, art and culture.
Quintana Beattie
Quintana Beattie - Quin is currently in education. They decided to become a NEoN trustee member because they felt it would be a great opportunity for them to get a real insight into how a business works. Catch Qin's excellent Pecha Kucha talk here.
Rebecca Rodgers
Rebecca has worked in the Events Industry for over a decade, focusing on large-scale, high-profile cultural and sporting events. Rebecca has an extensive operational background, creating and delivering key logistical and resourcing plans for events such as the opening of V&A Dundee, Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, and the launch of Event Scotland’s ‘Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design’, Hinterland (NVA) Rebecca currently works at Dundee City Council as the Events Officer, delivering key council events including public Fireworks Displays and Christmas Light Nights, as well as welcoming and facilitating event organisers who use Dundee’s parks and public spaces.
Zoyander Street
Artist-researcher and critic working at the fringes of indie video games for almost a decade. Their practice focuses on video games but also involves other forms of media art and (mis) uses of technology. Led by ethnographic and historical research, creating lo-fi glitchy games and custom hardware for festivals, galleries, and museums, using interaction design to harness the expressive potential of audience participation. After becoming increasingly sensitive to the limitations of linear text, their work began exploring interactive and tactile mediums of communication to surface ambiguity and allow the mess to stay messy. https://zoy.itch.io