Professor Anil Seth

Two scientists from the University of Sussex, Dr David Schwartzman and Professor Anil Seth are part of a creative / interdisciplinary team who have been commissioned to take their ground-breaking project into full production for next year’s Festival UK* 2022, it was announced today.

The project is a collaboration between Turner Prize winning collective, Assemble, scientists and philosophers from the Universities of Sussex and Glasgow, Grammy-nominated Composer Jon Hopkins and a freelance team comprising sound designer, digital producer and technologist and director.

A joint statement from the team: “This is an amazing opportunity to bring together a multi-disciplinary team from the arts, science and technology, to realise a project on a unique scale, exploring the wonder of how each one of us perceives and creates the world around us. Our project is hugely ambitious, but beautifully simple, and will engage mass audiences across the UK and beyond.”

Details about the commission will be announced when Festival UK*2022 reveal their full programme later this year.

The team comprises many freelancers, many of whom have lost significant amounts of work due to the pandemic.
The team members are: Assemble, composer: Jon Hopkins; freelance director: Jennifer Crook; University of Sussex: Prof Anil Seth, Dr David Schwartzman; freelance technologist: Dev Joshi; freelance sound designer: Christopher Shutt; freelance digital producer: Michelle Feuerlicht; Centre for Study of Perceptual Experience, University of Glasgow: Prof Fiona Macpherson.

Festival UK* 2022 is a UK-wide festival of creativity and innovation, commissioning 10 major public engagement projects designed to reach millions, bring people together and showcase the UK’s creativity globally. It is backed by £120 million of new investment from the UK Government, including funding to the Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales devolved administrations. The festival will take place in 2022 and each project will bring new opportunities for creative people in sectors that have been significantly impacted by COVID-19.