Future Art and Culture is delighted to announce that UK studio Hatsumi’s project SOUL PAINT has won the XR experience competition at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
Hatsumi is a design studio that explores how the arts, our brains and bodies collide. Soul Paint exists at the nexus of immersive technology, neuroaesthetics and healthcare to explore the richness of the embodied human experience. Audiences are taken on an embodied journey to explore and creatively express feelings of emotion and sensations in the body.
Through the process of 3D drawing and movement, you are invited to reveal your unique inner reality, and observe the creations of others. Soul Paint is designed to transform the way we communicate lived experience with others, remove the stigma around mental health, and trigger impactful conversations by creating a shared experience in public spaces worldwide. Soul Paint will ultimately provide a tool that will be brought into health and social care settings to empower patients to communicate, track and understand their own experience.
Soul Paint, which was written by Hatsumi founder Sarah Ticho, directed by Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit and produced by Anna Firbank with Liz Rosenthal as Executive Producer, was presented as part of the UK’s 2024 Future Art and Culture programme within the international festival of tech and innovation, South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW).
The eighth annual showcase of world-leading British talent focusing on work that explores the boundaries of art and technology, Future Art and Culture is presented by British Underground and Arts Council England, with ongoing support from the British Council.
From SXSW Jury: “Soul Paint is epic and intimate in its scope and potential. This finely-tuned experience gives XR new possibilities for its application across disciplines and research that explores and interrogates the human experience. This piece encourages us to engage in creative play while also inspiring us to actively discover and share our innermost feelings without judgement.”
Crispin Parry, Founder, British Underground says: “We are delighted to have presented the world premiere of Hatsumi’s innovative project Soul Paint at South by Southwest this year, and even more delighted that its innovation and future potential has been recognised through the 2024 XR Experience Special Jury Award. From AI to Quantum Computing, art leads the way in helping us understand the power and potential of new digital technologies. Thanks to the continued support of Arts Council England and partnership from the British Council, we have been able to showcase a significant number of UK artists, producers and participants as part of the Future Art and Culture programme this year. We are so proud to have this pioneering project recognised on the world stage.”
Sarah Ticho says: “Words cannot express how overjoyed we are to have been presented with this award. Soul Paint was inspired by my personal experience of grief and navigating to the mental health system. It feels worlds apart from where we are now. It’s been a privilege to work with such an incredible team, including Liz Rosenthal, Anna Firbank, Niki Smit and Rosario Dawson, who deeply understood the goals of the experience. She created the perfect warm and protective voice to guide people through. We’re so pleased to have had our work premiered at SXSW and to have been acknowledged in this way – this is such a huge step in the Soul Paint journey, and just the beginning of what we have planned.”
Niki Smit says: “VR offers a unique medium for artists to craft immersive stories, which are crucial in a world overwhelmed by stimuli that neglect our physical selves. It’s vital to relearn how to feel human in a world that goes too fast to keep up. VR and new embodied experiences could serve as a vital bridge in this journey towards a deeper reconnection.”
Liz Rosenthal says: We’re so pleased to have received the XR Experience Competition Special Jury Award at SXSW. Through blending technology, wellbeing and storytelling, our hope with Soul Paint was to create a new and beautiful form of self-expression, to create a way to better understand ourselves and to express complex emotions when words are not enough. It’s such a privilege to see the work succeed as it debuts on the world stage.
