Head of SODA, Jill Griffiths, and Research and Innovation Lead at SODA, Professor Kirsty Fairclough, have recently represented SODA and Manchester Met at SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

The School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Met has taken part in South by Southwest (SXSW) for the first time as part of the Manchester delegation to represent the city as thriving place for growth and creativity. The university illustrated cutting-edge digital and creative innovation to promote the city of Manchester to a global audience as part of a wider Manchester delegation led by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council. 

Running from March 7th to the 15th, SXSW is a significant event on the global calendar as thousands from all over the world attend to showcase music, film and interactive media. Manchester took part once again as it gains global recognition for its excellent research institutions, business models and, of course, a vibrant and iconic cultural scene which has spanned generations. Jill Griffiths and Professor Kirsty Fairclough, presented at the festival as part of the UK House Northern takeover to highlight SODA as a leading voice within the city’s creative and innovative growth.

Head of SODA, Jill Griffiths said: “I was absolutely delighted to represent SODA and the university at the renowned SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas. Manchester and Austin have reputations for being radical, socially conscious and champions of equality and justice. As the fastest-growing cities in the UK and US both are also important creative and economic hubs and magnets of diverse talent, innovators and business leaders that are changing the fabric of our cities. The signing of a Friendship Cities Agreement with Austin Mayor, Kirk Watson sets Manchester on the path to becoming formal sister-cities and it’s hugely important to showcase the work of SODA on this international stage. I’m looking forward to developing and deepening relationships as we move forward. My congratulations to colleagues whose work we presented and my thanks to Lisa Durrant, MIDAS Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and Marketing Manchester for making it happen.”

Professor Kirsty Fairclough, who also spoke on a panel which addressed Manchester’s status as the UK’s second city and its cultural and musical heritage, said: “We are thrilled to be showcasing SODA’s moving image-based research at SXSW. It’s a fantastic opportunity to present our work on a global stage”.

SXSW panel

Also featuring at SXSW was Dead Already, a multidisciplinary project which focuses on the power of generative storytelling and time-travel.  It is a co-creation led by SODA lecturers Damon Bannister, Micheal England, and John Lloyd. The project focuses on the band Dead Already who have been lost to history. Using generative AI as a conduit, it allows the audience to explore the origins and fate of the band, upcycling now dead and redundant technologies; and exploring the fallibility of myth and lore in a post-truth world.

John Lloyd said: “SXSW is the perfect venue to share some of the prototype work we’ve been working on, it’s a dangerous thing raising the dead but someone has to do it!”

SODA also featured in the SXSW Mini-cine series, displaying innovative films worked on by SODA staff in a range of roles. These films included:

HFGL by composer / SODA lecturer Lois Macdonald and artist Adam Cain.

HFGL  is an excerpt from Patience XI, a visual album and collaborative experiment exploring Gen AI in the context of human identity and reimagined future narratives. Central to its thematic core is the elusive concept of the singularity—a nebulous juncture fraught with possibilities, and the potential to propel us toward a future imbued with transhumanist ideologies. 

Is there anybody there? by Chris Daniels

Daniels has sourced 70 different films from the North-West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University. Guided by the unseen presence of a disembodied voice, the artist’s fictional script is accompanied with an original musical score composed by Graham Massey (808 State, Massonix).

Requital by Babar Suleman

The masculine and phallic physical structure of the lighthouse is combined digitally with the typically female and mythical figure of the siren through moving image.

HOW PERFECT IS THIS HOW BLESSED ARE WE

The film is narrated, however, in the register of an address to an absent lover. A personal history and a lover’s yearning doubles as a critique of violent and exclusive histories.

Republic by Rose Reed Hillman

Three women across the city choose a daily act of care to be filmed that represents their experience of motherhood. These vignettes offer a glimpse into the many repetitive and ordinary actions that comprise the labour of modern motherhood. 

Battledress by Rachel Genn, Debbie Ballin and Human Studio.

Ballin and Genn’s immersive work entwines a soundscape of personal testimony and music with archive footage and stills. The film investigates working class women’s histories of fashion, fighting and allegiance in the North of England in the 1980’s.

Ghostcode by Toby Heys, Jess Edwards, Steve Goodman (Kode9) and Defasten

Based on the Ghostcode book by AUDINT, the Ghostcode animation is set in 2056 when Corporations and Nation states have fused into single economic and political entities.