Birkbeck, University of London, has launched a new programme, 'Birkbeck Inspires', free online events, activities and resources programme designed to inspire learning, provoke thought, and entertain and excite curious minds.
Led by artists Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr and Nick Tandavanitj, Blast Theory [[ Ссылка ]] draw on popular culture, performance, technology and games, the work often blurring the boundaries between the real and the fictional.
In this recording of a live online event, Blast Theory discuss their recent work and its implications for the current Covid-19 crisis. The event featured two films, not included in this recording, which you can watch separately online.
Watch the interview with Dr Mike Ryan: [ Ссылка ]
Watch Spit Spreads Death – The Parade: [ Ссылка ]
In 2018 Blast Theory were the first ever artists-in-residence at the World Health Organisation (WHO). The work prompted by their residency reflects on contagion and cities, and focuses on moments of uncertainty in public health decision making and the 2003 SARS epidemic. A Cluster of 17 Cases [[ Ссылка ]] was inspired by the story of 17 unsuspecting people who stayed on the 9th floor of a Hong Kong hotel on the night of Feb 21, 2003. Those 17 people were subsequently identified as spreading the SARS virus to at least 546 people around the globe.
Blast Theory’s work on infectious disease continued in 2019 with Spit Spreads Death [[ Ссылка ]], an interactive parade of light and sound designed to remember the individuals who lost their lives and the health workers who put their own lives on the line in Philadelphia in 1918–19, when more than 12,000 people died in the deadliest flu pandemic the world has ever seen.
The event was presented by Birkbeck’s Centre for Museum Cultures [[ Ссылка ]] and the Centre for Medical Humanities [[ Ссылка ]].
Follow Birkbeck, University of London, on Facebook for regular updates on the series: [ Ссылка ] and visit www.bbk.ac.uk/birkbeck-inspires for content as it's released as well as timings of future bookable live events.
