How Art Programs Drive Innovation at Thoughtworks
“Artists working with emerging technologies frequently generate new insights on the future of culture, industry and society. At Thoughtworks we regularly engage with artists, collaborating on cutting edge technology projects, and enriching the perspectives we bring to our clients…
In 2014, Thoughtworks Arts launched it’s second program, named Art-A-Hack…
Art-A-Hack curates and facilitates the creation of prototypes via team-based art practice. We ‘collide’ professionals of varied backgrounds into teams, enabling collaboration between people who otherwise might not have the opportunity to work together.
We then curate projects and incubate teams in the development of a prototype or other exhibitable outcome…
Each season we publish an Open Call, asking applicants to list their skills, backgrounds and any project proposals they may have. Based on the submissions, we build teams around the strongest ideas that can be achieved given the resources, skill sets and time available. In an average season we might support 30 participants over eight or nine teams, working to bring their ideas into reality.
Our partnerships with institutions such as Microsoft, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, the Metropolitan Museum Media Lab, the Human Impacts Institute and CyberFest help infuse the program with a wide array of influences. The program is also popular with Thoughtworks employees, who regularly lead or support teams…
Using OpenBCI’s hardware, the Dual Brains team explored human empathy via touch, projecting their brainwaves in live performances. Thoughtworks employee Julien Deswaef developed this codebase for our recent exhibition of this performance at New York’s SPRING/BREAK art fair, as part of Armory Week in 2018.
This kind of cross-pollination demonstrates the reinforcing effect of maintaining a suite of related initiatives. Communities, individuals, and ideas flow from one program to another, often producing surprising results.
With many and varied participants in short and impactful collaborations, Art-A-Hack bubbles with energy, producing prototypes and insights in multiple domains each season. To build on this program, we created an arts residency, which fosters deep and sustained collaborations between artists and our employees…”
—Andrew McWilliams
Thoughtworks
Published July 17, 2018