ICC Lab: Expanding practice-led capability in the Creative Arts

The Institute for Creative Cultures is a newly created specialist research facility in the Arts & Humanities at Coventry University. It brings together a vibrant academic community devoted to practice-led research in the visual arts, dance, curation, the moving image, creative AI, and photography, together with technologists supporting research and development activities and artists engaging in post-studio work with communities.

"ICC Lab: Expanding practice-led capability in the Creative Arts" is building on the pioneering work of our academic community operating at the intersection of the creative arts and technology. The Institute, designed as an experimental 21st century research lab for the Creative Arts, integrates in a single bespoke building R&D facilities, performance studios, labs and exhibition areas for its academic community to work together both to overcome disciplinary boundaries and experiment with advanced digital technologies. This novel approach to practice-led research has already produced significant new outputs. Nonetheless, it requires continuous investment in ICC's equipment and digital infrastructure for practice-led research to maintain its current momentum while also expanding its contribution to the study of complex contemporary issues.

In a recent infrastructure review, the Institute has identified significant vulnerabilities in its existing production and display equipment provision including: (1) rapid obsolescence of key systems and devices restricting the breadth of our experimentation; (2) lack of interoperability of the equipment purchased through funded research; (3) gaps in the equipment and software needed to support emerging areas for research, with our transdisciplinary collaborations particularly affected.

This application to renew and upgrade ICC's production and display equipment aims to bring about a step-change in our capabilities, future proofing our research infrastructure with state-of-the-art equipment. This will allow us to:

(1) Extend our transdisciplinary collaborations and enhance our ability to produce and display high-quality practice-led research in the Arts & Humanities in order to provide solutions to contemporary societal problems through experimentation with new digital technologies.
(2) Deepen our engagement with artists, digital practitioners and diverse communities in both Coventry and the wider region, in partnership with Coventry Biennial. Thus, building on the legacy of the Coventry City of Culture 2021 while also attracting visiting scholars and artists.

The upgraded equipment and digital infrastructure will generate new research opportunities for the Institute for Creative Cultures. It will help us to explore new ways to remix and reuse our outputs, experiment across a range of different mediums, formats and genres, develop transdisciplinary methodologies based on the research ethos of the Creative Arts, and expand our collaborations with the creative and cultural economy.

Finally, the proposed upgrade of our research facilities will help us fulfil our goal of making our Arts & Humanities research public. Equipping the ICC with state-of-the-art technologies for production and display will increase our visibility as a forward-thinking and innovative Institute for the Creative Arts, providing the conditions to widen our engagement with the local communities while also supporting our efforts to grow our footprint nationally and internationally.