The process of making Locked World – BOPs disabled-centred digital arts platform.

Visit Locked World

Contents of this page: The Origins (2019); The Digital Shift (2020); Creatives Involved

The Origins (2019)

September 2019: The pilot cohort of BOP Young Artists had decided that they wanted to make some creative work as part of their time with BOP. With the opportunity to share a ‘work in progress’ that December, the group members started creating solo pieces of work (supported by Morna (Development Officer).

January 2020: After the ‘work in progress’ event, the group discussed the work – identifying elements/ideas they experienced in others’ work, which they may want to explore further. There was a clear collective interest in finding out more about one anothers’ experiences of the world.

One day, we sat down with a big piece of paper and wrote down all of the ideas that group members wanted to communicate through the work.

One group member talked about how, as an autistic person in a neurotypical world, they felt like the world was ‘locked’.

This description stirred different reactions through the group:

Someone spoke about feeling that some doors could be opened, some doors could be opened one day and then be locked another day with no clear way of finding the key, while some doors would be locked indefinitely.

Another person spoke about feeling like sometimes it was better just to lock themselves inside their own world.

Further conversations were had about experiences belonging to each person, and that those experiences don’t require to be ‘unlocked’ and understood in order to be valid and lived.

With so many divergent ideas with vastly varying styles in the space, one individual (with experience of directing and producing theatre) asked the question about form. What form could this work take?

The group landed on an idea where all of the pieces of performance, everyone’s individual experiences could be held together, could exist interdependently.

February 2020: The idea of an immersive promenade installation solidified.

March 2020: Elements were being created and rehearsed, and access being carefully considered. The programme had been created. Costumes and pieces of set were being built.

National lockdown.

The Digital Shift (2020)

April 2020: After a few weeks of adjusting to being in lockdown, the group met up on video call. It was a pretty surreal experience. The live version of Locked World felt a long way off, so what could the group do in the meantime? Morna wondered if there was a digital shift to share the work they had created so far?

Chatting with Morna, the group decided that they definitely didn’t want to record performances of pieces which were intended to be experienced live. They wanted to create something truly organic and responsive to the current situation, without necessarily being about covid-19.

A space to share re-imagined versions of the work they had been making, but also, a space for the amplification of the voices of other disabled people.

The group wanted to stay with the idea of a larger piece of work with multiple different parts created by different artists. They wanted to stay with the central image of the brain and the sense of the work as being “creative manifestations of individual neural / medical / physical / sensorial / societal experience which challenge perceptions of disability and neurodivergence.”

In our collective atypical play space, these structures seemed to fit rather beautifully together- the artworks created could be associated with a different area of the brain! The research commenced.

Over the next few months, Morna worked with the group, exploring what they wanted this platform to be – and what they really didn’t want it to be. The group generated the following list:

“What it is, and is not

• The space is a platform
  • It hosts several different artworks in a coherent whole;
  • Is also open for contributions;
• As well asbeing a space where we are showing our work, it is also a space for other people to exist in and contribute to. And so, it becomes about collective experiences.

• Often there will be preconceived notions [of] what it is – useful to talk about what it is not:
  • It’s not an explanation created solely for non-disabled people to understand.

• The title will mean different things to different people – it means different things to each of us:
  • It could be assumed that it is an attempt to unlock that world. There is power in recognising that your world is locked – it is not necessarily about unlocking;
  • Each piece offers a different experience / perspective.

• The space is a scaffolding for the pieces to sit within – inherently conencted through the mechanism of the platform, but not ‘linked’ by ‘narrative’.”

August 2020: BOP recruited digital arts consultant Leonie Rae-Gasson, who worked with the Young Artists to solidify the structure and intentions of Locked World – what functions the website would have and what the experience would be for people visiting Locked World.

Leo led the group through an activity of ‘What if…’ to expand the group’s dreams for the platform, before then getting really specific about how it could achieve these things! Leo’s key instruction was “be specific and be practical” while also not worrying about whether or not it would be technically possible!

September 2020: Through Creative Scotland’s Digital Pivot programme, BOP worked with digital producer and consultant Suzy Glass to really interrogate the intentions and potential of Locked World in a digital space.

As people who were used to making and producing live performance in in-person contexts, this re-focus on digital working, accompanied by someone who was incredibly knowledgable about the digital arts landscape was utterly invaluable. Suzy profiled BOP and Locked World in her Digital Pivot Report (linked below) on pages 26-27, which will provide further insight into this process. This document also contains case studies of other arts orgnaisations who were supported by the Digital Pivot Programme.

There are three things that stand out
about BOP: their uncompromising
approach to access and inclusion,
their rigorous attention to target
audience needs and wants, and their
desire to learn. These attributes
combine to mean that the company
has embraced digital technology
with determination that they will
find ways to apply their unique
perspective and drive to new
environments. Perhaps because
of their ongoing relationship with
barriers that can hinder or prevent
participation, they have a positive
relationship with change. They
are using Agile principles to drive
exploration and experimentation,
and as a result their first major
online project will no doubt
become a significant milestone
for the company.

Suzy Glass, Digital Pivot Report, Creative Scotland

October 2020: During this time, one of the young artists suggested we get in contact with a neurologist for some consultancy on our proposed creative structuring – different artworks resonating with different brain areas and functions. They had recently heard Reubs J. Walsh (PhD candidate in Developmental Neuropsychology) on the popular podcast ‘The Guilty Feminist – The New Normal’ [part one; part two] and suggested that BOP get in touch…

December 2020: Leonie produced a brief document for the creation of Locked World, with input and feedback from the BOP Young Artists. This brief document was then used to recruit the Web Designer for Locked World.

BOP recruited further digital consultancy in Suzy Glass (digital producing) and Dalton Weir (digital accessibility) in order to find the right fit for the Web Designer role.

Creatives Involved

BOP Young Artists – live performance inception of Locked World

Emily Beaney

Jonathan Carlton

Ink Asher Hemp

Emily Ingram

Robert McIntosh

Andrew Robertson

Instigators of Locked World

Emily Beaney

Ink Asher Hemp

Emily Ingram

Andrew Robertson

Production

Morna McGeoch Fergus Arnott	Project Lead, BOP Development Officer
Mairi Taylor	Producer, BOP Executive Director
Callum W. Madge	Producer, Former BOP Engagement & Office Manager

Web Design and Development

Colin Leonard	Project Supervisor, Fine Day Studio Founder
Jack Murray-Brown	Developer, Fine Day Studio New Media Developer
Frieder Reuter	Designer, Fine Day Studio UX & Digital Lead
Tuesday Stevenson	Designer, Fine Day Studio Creative Director

Consultants

Max Alexander	Creative Access Consultant (Sensory Space)
Juliana Capes	Creative Access Consultant (Audio Description)
Trudi Collier	Creative Access Consultant (BSL content; website testing)
Leonie Rae-Gasson	Digital Arts Consultant
Suzy Glass	Digital Producing Consultant
Hannah Yaya Hassan	Creative Access Consultant (website testing)
Amy Helena	Creative Access Consultant (BSL content)
Amy McAinsh	Creative Access Consultant (website testing)
Sorcha Pringle	Creative Access Consultant (Audio Description, visual access; website testing)
Lewis Teckkam	Creative Access Consultant (website testing)
Reubs Walsh	Creative Consultant on Neuroscience
Dalton Weir	Digital Access Consultant
Karis Williamson	Creative Access Consultant (website testing)

Voice and BSL Performers for Locked World Website

Amy Conachan	Voiceover (Onboarding; Offboarding)
Lloyd Darko	Voiceover (Homepage)
Amy Helena	BSL Performer (Onboarding; Offboarding)
Jack Hunter	Voiceover (Library)
Morna McGeoch Fergus Arnott	Voiceover (Collective User Manual)
EJ Raymond	BSL Performer (Library; Collective User Manual; Sensory Space; Context)
Andrew Robertson	Voiceover (Sensory Space)

Additional Digital Content

Jamie MacDonald	Animation and Creative Captioning (Onboarding; Offboarding; Context)
Conor O’Toole	Camera Operator for BSL content (Onboarding; Offboarding)
EJ Raymond	Camera Operator for BSL content (Library; Collective User Manual; Sensory Space; Context)