Christopher Dooks (born in 1971) is a Scotland-based artist, primarily working in the fields of photography, film and audio-art.

Education and television work

Dooks was born in 1971 in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. He studied

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

and film at the Cleveland College of Art and Design from 1989 to 1991, and from 1991 to 1994 film and

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

at the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. In 1994 ITV screened his degree film ''The Sound of Taransay''. Between 1994 and 1998 he directed several works for broadcast television, including

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, a ...

. In 1998 while working on a program for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Dooks became ill with

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory or concentration. T ...

which puts an end to his television career.

Idioholism

After a break, Dooks was able to continue creating his audio-visual art. Researching ways how to work while suffering from ''Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'' he began developing creative strategies, he labeled ''Idioholism'' (a combination of

holism Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...

and

idiosyncrasy An idiosyncrasy is a unique feature of something. The term is often used to express peculiarity. Etymology The term "idiosyncrasy" originates from Greek ', "a peculiar temperament, habit of body" (from ', "one's own", ', "with" and ', "blend o ...

). His extensive research eventually lead to a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

. The central part of his work was a vinyl record trilogy.

Audio work

Dooks has released several

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

and

folktronica Folktronica is a genre of indie electronic music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—deploying hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, and ...

albums for record labels such as Bip-Hop, Highpoint Lowlife and Benbecula Records. He has co-operated with artists like Francis Cazal, Future Pilot, Hibernate, or Rutger Zuydervelt. Dooks also uses the moniker ''Bovine Life'' for audio works.

Visual art

Dooks has produced work for the

Millennium Experience The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millen ...

and created installations and art works, among other for Market Gallery Glasgow, Teesside University, Middlesbrough venue, Gallery Edinburgh, Isis Arts Newcastle, Sandberg Institute Amsterdam, or the Edinburgh College of Art. In 2003 for Stills Gallery Edinburgh, Dooks coined the term ''Polymash'' to describe his "chaotic multi-disciplinary practice" and in 2007, Dooks founded "Polymash Digital Art Projects" which creates bespoke

Psychogeography Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutionar ...

tours, most notably 2009's ''Surreal Steyning''. Dooks had screenings and talks at art spaces like Another Roadside Attraction Gallery, London,

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

, Furtherfield, London, or Image Movement, at festivals like

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International ...

Personal life

He lives with his wife and two children in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

References

External links

* Dooks' homepage
Chris Dooks
Dooks on

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Seven Million Images
Photo Blog of Dooks on Tumblr.
Chris Dooks
Dooks on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Chris Dooks
on furtherfield.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Dooks, Chris 1971 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male artists 21st-century Scottish male artists Electronica musicians Folktronica musicians 20th-century Scottish male musicians 21st-century Scottish male musicians British techno musicians Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art