Jon Adams is a Research Fellow and Artist in Residence at the University of Portsmouth and an Associate Artist for the New Theatre Royal’s Creative Lab programme.
Jon Adam’s contemporary art uses a variety of platforms including sound, drawn image, poetry, photography and ‘art in public’, and references his Aspergers and Dyslexia to weave fragments of autobiography, science and hidden metaphor into his artwork.
Through the support of New Theatre Royal, Jon has successfully drawn on and incorporated his neurodiversity into his work, enabling him to act as lead artist on a number of projects in a range of disciplines.
His latest innovative project is a digital public artwork celebrating the UK’s democratic heritage using user-generated content via an app.
‘Democracy Street’ is set to launch on March 26 and will invite members of the public to highlight UK roads that have been named after somebody or have a connection with UK Parliament.
Users will also be able to find out more information on each of the roads, which will be accompanied by a portrait of the person from the National Portrait Gallery to help educate users on the history of democracy in their area.
Jon will create a series of images and maps from the data that will then be showcased in an exhibition celebrating the long history of UK Parliamentary democracy. The exhibition will take place from 16 November to coincide with Parliament Week 2015.
The project is supported by a £41,000 award through Arts Council England’s National Lottery funded ‘Grants for the arts’ programme, as well as The Speaker’s Art Fund and is the first digital art project that the Speakers Art Fund has commissioned.
Coinciding with the 750th anniversary of the Montfort Parliament, the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta and the 2015 General Election, the project sets out to use a digital channel to develop participants’ creative skills and view their local communities in a wider context, inspiring a greater interest in today’s democratic processes.
The project has also received funding from the Houses of Parliament, as part of Parliament’s 2015 Historic Anniversaries programme ‘Parliament in the Making’.
Read more about Associate Artist Jon Adams here