Julie Freeman (born 1972 in Halton, UK) is an artist whose work spans visual, audio and digital art forms and explores the relationship between science, nature and how humans interact with it.

Biography

Freeman's work has focused on using electronic technologies to ‘translate nature’ – whether it is through the sound of torrential rain dripping on a giant rhubarb leaf, a pair of mobile concrete speakers who lurk in galleries haranguing passersby with fractured sonic samples, or by providing an interactive platform from which to view the flap, twitch and prick of dogs' ears. In 2005 she launched her most known digital artwork, 'The Lake', which used hydrophones, custom software and advanced technology to track electronically tagged fish and translate their movement into an audio-visual experience. The work was developed over eighteen months, was exhibited at Tingrith Coarse Fishery and supported by a two-year arts fellowship from the

National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation. Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...

(NESTA). It was exhibited at the Tingrith Fishery in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. She was artist-in-residence at the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Centre at

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

(2007-9) where, with Professor Jeremy J. Ramsden, she created works that aimed to increase public understanding of self-assembly and organising processes at the nanoscale, and their potential social impacts and consequences. In 2009, Freeman's Dogs' Ears artwork gave rise to 'twoofing' (dogs tweeting) in the early days of Twitter art. Freeman is a graduate of the MA in Digital Arts at the Centre for Electronic Arts,

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

, London and board member of nonprofit collective MzTEK (which encourages women artists to pick up technical skills). She earned a PhD from

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

for her thesis 'Defining Data as an Art Material', which was one of Leonardo's highest-ranking abstracts of 2021. She was a

Nesta Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation. Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...

Arts Fellow and is the recipient of a

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

, Arts Council award. Additionally, she is a TED senior fellow. She has been featured on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

programme ''The Science Hour'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s online ''Tech Weekly'' podcast. Freeman co-founded the ''Data as Culture'' art programme at the

Open Data Institute The Open Data Institute (ODI) is a non-profit private company limited by guarantee, based in the United Kingdom. Founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt in 2012, the ODI's mission is to connect, equip and inspire people around the ...

References

External links

* http://www.translatingnature.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Julie 1972 births Living people 21st-century English women artists People from Chiltern District Academics of Cranfield University Alumni of Middlesex University British digital artists Women digital artists British new media artists