Image and introduction
Lecturer
Wales Institute of Science and Art (WISA)
Tel: 01792 481046
Email: becky.williams@uwtsd.ac.uk
Role in the University
- Specialist Fine Art and Visual Studies Lecturing
- Lecturer and Personal Tutor on Cert HE Art and Design Foundation.
- Specialist tutoring in Fine Art and Visual Studies, covering Fine Art practice such as Drawing and Painting, Video, Light and Sound Installation, Live A\V work and Performance Art.
Background
Becky is a practicing artist forming one half of collaborative duo Jason&Becky, whose work encompasses a range of approaches including sound, video projection-mapping and live performance. Producing work for galleries and museums as well as socially-engaged community-based projects, they have undertaken residencies and exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Venice, Colorado, China and Japan.
They have previously worked with organisations such as Disney and Universal Studios, and have provided technical support in the installation of various art exhibitions in the UK, including audio-visual installations featuring multi-screen projections and sound, as well as creative solutions for the housing or display of visual and sculptural works.
Their current fine art practice explores new methods of engagement with art in the public realm, following two practice-based PhDs researching the encounter and wellbeing in relation to participant experience.
In 2022 Jason&Becky were nominated for the Arts Foundation Futures Awards UK 2022 for Digital Art by contemporary installation artist, Haroon Mirza.
Selected shows and residencies include:
- Responsive Artefacts – Research and development project promoting and enabling participant autonomy through physically connecting immersive experiences, with UWTSD & G39 Gallery (2022) Funded by the Arts Council of Wales Cardiff / Swansea
- Tibro Yalp – Interactive, participatory, audio-visual (A/V) gallery installation at G39 Gallery, Cardiff (2022)
- Under the Counter Culture – Exploring night culture as a social practice with tactileBOSH and IAFT (2019) Tokyo / Kyoto, Japan
- Museum Lates: SPACE – An event curated in collaboration with Tactile Bosch and Blue Honey and in partnership with FOR, blurring the lines between museums, art, club culture & learning (2019) National Museum Wales, Cardiff
- Viscositecture – Two-month long evolving, immersive light and sound installation at Mission Gallery (2016) Swansea
- CIVIC in Venice – a month-long residency at the Casa Del’Ospitalita, Cannaregio (2016) Venice
- From Here and There: Clara Hatton Gallery – An international gallery/university exchange visit featuring artists from Elysium Gallery (2014) Colorado State University, USA
- DIY :11 Cabin Fervour – An opportunity for artists working in Live Art to provide training and professional development for other artists (2014) Live Arts International, Cardiff
- CIVIC 2014 – Considering the City, Architecture, Art and the Urban Environment, with Bella Kerr & Mission Gallery (2014) Swansea
As well as technical exhibition and installation support for various artists and galleries including:
Thibault Brunet Soleil Noir (2019)
Clare Barclay Deep Spoils (2018)
Fiona Banner Buoys Boys (2018)
Elysium Gallery, Glynn Vivian Gallery, Mission Gallery in Swansea and g39 in Cardiff.
Academic Interests
Becky was recently awarded a PhD in the field of Arts and Health. Her thesis ‘Preach what you practice: Unreported failure in participatory arts evaluation and its impact on artist wellbeing’ goes beyond assessing the benefits of arts for health and wellbeing in terms of outcomes, instead identifying a gap in the literature on the reporting of such projects, recognising there exists a reluctance to report ‘failure’ in the evaluation of participatory arts, asking why this reluctance exists, and going some way to exploring its consequences on the wellbeing of artists and the development of best practice frameworks.
As such, her academic interests reflect a desire to inspire risk-taking and speak openly about outcomes, perceptions and assumptions in the production and reception of art and design practice, in order to establish both the maker and participant voice as equally valid, verbalising – as opposed to internalising – what might be thought of as minority perspectives.
Research Interests
Jason and Becky are collaborative artists based in Swansea. Their practice responds to current socio-political conditions using a range of media and experiential formats to immerse participants in ambiguous, individually interpretable spaces in which they may encounter and question pre-existing categorisations, definitions and boundaries.
They are currently exploring new ways to creatively engage in the public realm, with a particular interest in working within the ‘no-man’s-land’ between the perceived, conflicting, binary factions of ‘high’ and ‘popular’ culture.
Current practice-based research interests include the integration of live TouchOSC data (human movement, sound, weather patterns etc) in responsive projection mapping, as part of live performative audio/visual sets and installations in which participants are invited to make choices and question their own perceptions and tendencies.
Expertise
As a working collaborative artist, my professional practice feeds into my lecturing at UWTSD, offering students the opportunity to get involved with Jason&Becky’s live projects as they develop and to experience first-hand knowledge relating to the day-to-day activities of a creative practitioner. This allows students some insight into the types of practice a career in the field of art and design might provide, including the conception and production of art-based exhibitions and projects within the public realm, the delivery of artist workshops and talks for a broad age range, technical support for galleries and artists, as well as graphic design, website design, video editing and sound production.