Tim Murray-Browne is an artist, engineer and coder based in Glasgow working across AI, dance and generative audio-visual art. His work explores how technology shapes the way we think–and how we might build it differently–through the lenses of embodiment and human agency. It includes interactive AI systems that translate dance into sound, an ensemble of new musical instruments that is played entirely by its audience, interactive audio-visual sculptures and technologically augmented performances.
Tim holds a Masters in Maths and Computer Science from Oxford University and a PhD in Electronic Engineering from Queen Mary, University of London. His work has been awarded the Sonic Arts Prize, nominated for the Ars Electronica STARTS Prize and shown at venues including Tate Modern (London), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow) and Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology (Milan).
Get to know the artist
We asked Tim Murray-Browne some questions to get to know him and his practice better.
What does the theme ‘Emergence’ mean to you/your practice?
For me, emergence means being open to letting things turn out in unexpected ways. It’s closely related to freedom and complexity. Much of my work emerges from open-ended processes and systems – both at the level of code and what happens when people interact with the work.
What do you love most about being a part of our festival?
I’m excited to be showing my piece inside a shopping mall. I’m hoping it will draw in people who didn’t set out to visit an art installation and give them an unexpected experience in their day.
What would you like the audience to take away from experiencing your work?
With all my work, my main hope is that people will come and have whatever experience they need at that point. For some, maybe the piece will give some insight into what AI is and how it works. For others, it might be a more trippy sensual experience. I’m happy for it to be different for each person.
What message or emotion do you aim to convey through your work?
My process is rooted in making sense of digital technology and exploring how it could be different – to give more freedom and power to those who use it rather than the corporations and governments who design and regulate it. Emergence over design.
For example, the AI in this piece is trained exclusively on my own photos because I was curious how far I could go without appropriating anyone else’s data. There’s something empowering for me in building something weird that’s uniquely mine over something that might be more generally useful.
But then in the actual work itself, I aim for experiences that leave the intellect behind and invite a release into the senses and the body.
Could you describe the feeling you get when you see your art resonating with people?
It’s really important for me. It fuels my passion to create more work. For a given work, there’s usually a small handful of people who seem to connect on a deep level. I love festivals because they’re a chance to meet these people.
Find out more about Tim Murray-Browne
Tim Murray-Browne’s amazing multi-sensory Diffeomorphism will be available to see and hear at the St. Marks shopping centre, Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th from 11am to 9pm, and Sunday 29th from 11am to 6pm.
Visit Tim’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and website to explore his past work and find out more about what you can expect to experience.
