Hello - an introduction

[Richard Ashrowan]

Hi all,   I've been lurking for a while in this group - time for a (not so) brief introduction (after having been politely prompted!).   I've lived in the Scottish Borders for about two years now - my main interests are interactive video-art, sound, zen, taoism, writing and meditation.   Leaving London two years ago, I left behind a big career that has taken in a string of senior new media/television positions, plus an earlier career in Chinese medicine, and working with people with mental health problems. I was involved in the web from its outset and was responsible for the first dedicated creative arts webzine (The Muse) on the web. Also involved in an experimental ambient/house band called 'Shen' and ran London club night called 'Elemental', where I experimented with visual and soundscape environments in the early days of club culture. I was deeply involved in establishing the Edinburgh based web agency 'Realise', which started in the back room of Cyberia cybercafe on Hanover Street, and subsequently went all over the country working on various web ventures, a journey that I called an end to after working two years for Rapido TV in London (Eurotrash/Passengers/Fortean TV/The Girlie Show) etc...   So, for the last two years I've been doing a lot of research and one or two creative projects with Alexander Hamilton. We've been exploring, among other things, the process of entering and engaging with spaces themselves, along with the concept of how fixed spaces can be 'augmented' with layers of digital information, imagery and interactivity. I'm greatly interested in immersive enviroments, extending enviroments beyond their physical space, plus a host of vaguer concepts involving human feeling and non-verbal interaction. I've a small rural studio at home where I play with this stuff - filming, editing, surround sound recording and mixing.   Having said all that, I have no formal arts training, so I'm both a bit shy and a bit cynical about some of what I see within the 'arts world'.   So that's who I am, what I've done and what I'm interested in now. Platitudes aside, I always welcome discourse with singular individuals...    Richard Ashrowan