ABOUT
C.V.
I am an artist, born in Exeter (England, UK) in 1966. I studied Fine Art at undergraduate-level in Cardiff (Wales, UK) ) from 1988-91, and have a practice-led DPhil in Fine Art from the University of Oxford (2012-15).
In 2003 I represented Wales at their inaugural exhibition at the Venice Biennale of Fine Art, and was awarded a NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and Art) Fellowship from 2002-05, to explore the social modalities of walking as art. I was a member of the seminal net.art group I/O/D (1992-99), whose The Web Stalker won a Webby Award in 2000, and was, more recently, included in Rhizome’s media art exhibition at the New Museum, New York in 2017.
My recent artworks are practical experiments with how we negotiate human social relations in a more-than-human world. This work is always participatory and collective, and often done through conversational events or written correspondence, and results in the collaborative production of artefacts such songs, sculptures, or paintings. It grapples with art’s practical and theoretical engagement with areas of interest that are shared across disciplines, such as ecological thinking, and more-than-human social relationships; as as result, much of my work is made through interdisciplinary collaboration, often with researchers in academic institutions.
EDUCATION
2012-15 D.Phil (PhD) in Fine Art. Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. Title: ‘Who Else Takes Part? Admitting the more-than-human into participatory art’. Supervisors: Dr. Anthony Gardner & Prof. Daria Martin.
1988-91 BA (Hons) Fine Art. South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
SELECT SOLO-EXHIBITIONS and COMMISSIONS
2019-20 Here's To Thee: wassailing the microbial ecology of cider-making. Commission by Arts & Culture at the University of Exeter, and RAMM, Exeter (UK).
2019-20 Here's To Thee: wassailing the microbial ecology of cider-making. University of Toronto, Canada.
2017-18 Discussion Island – post-doctoral project. Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.
2016 et al. Solo-exhibition, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK.
2015 A Splendid Kindred Soul. Solo-exhibition, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK.
2014 The Outlier. Solo-exhibition, Scarborough Museums Trust, UK.
2014 Primary Agents of a Social World. Solo-exhibition, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
2014 A Song, A Dance and A New Stannary Parliament. Offsite Commission, Spacex, Exeter, UK.
2013 Wheels of Peacock Blue, Gaslight Blue. Participatory performance, The White Building, London, UK.
2013 Forward Back Together, commission for Vivid, Birmingham, UK.
2013 The Long Walk Home, performance for Walk On, PM Gallery, London, UK.
2012- The Dialogic, participatory event, Danielle Arnaud, London, UK; Ruskin School of Art, Oxford; Loughborough University; Coventry School of Art.
2012 What Cannot Be Turned Aside—solo-exhibition, Yorkshire Sculpture Park & Danielle Arnaud, London, UK.
2010 A Common Third, solo-exhibition, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK.
2009 Memory Marathon: Commissioned by ODA/ACE. Produced by Film & Video Umbrella, London. screenings at John Hansard City Space, Southampton, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Whitechapel Gallery, (2012) and ICA, London (2013); SVA, New York (2011)
2009 Carved from Memory. solo-exhibition, Spacex, Exeter, UK.
2009 Mountains & Lacunae, event at Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London and 47, Toronto, Canada. (with Sarah Cullen)
2006 Gallery Space Recall. solo-exhibition, Chapter, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
2005-7 Charade. BBC/ACE commission. Birmingham & Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK.
2001-2 Art for Networks, (as curator) National Touring exhibition: Chapter, Cardiff; Fruitmarket, Edinburgh; Turnpike Gallery, Leigh; Reg Vardy gallery, Sunderland UK
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 The Outlier in Jessica Potter's Rocks & Weeds at UCA Canterbury, England.
2018 Winter Island at Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, Canada.
2016 The Gift in Head Above Water, national touring exhibition, UK.
2016 Postcards Home (with Sarah Cullen) at The Mountain Arts Festival Penrith, UK.
2015 The Outlier in Alternativa 2015, Gdansk, Poland.
2014 Forward Back Together at Geographies of Co-Production in the Arts: Artists, Communities and the City at RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with Institute of British Geographers (IBG) London, UK
2013-15 A Common Third in WALK ON, National touring group exhibition, Plymouth Arts Centre, NGCA Sunderland, MAC Birmingham, Pitshanger Manor Gallery, London UK.
2007-8 The Memorial Walks commissioned for Waterlog at Norwich Castle Gallery and Lincoln Museum & Art Gallery, UK.
2008-9 Negotiating Picu Cuturruau commissioned for There Is No Road. LABoral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial, Asturias, Spain.
2008 Painting From Memory, commission for Tatton Park Biennale, UK.
2005 The Web Stalker at ArtBase 101, New Museum, New York, (as I/O/D).
2005 Between Where We Are And Where We Want to Be in The Distance Between Us, Birmingham, UK
2004 1 Metre of Sky above an undisclosed location for Ain't No Love In The Heart of The City, CBAT, Cardiff UK
2003 Ambulant Science Studio in Further: Wales. Commission for Wales at the 50th Venice Biennale of Art, Ex Birreria, Giudecca, Venice.
2002 The Web Stalker in Leonardo/New York Digital Salon, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, (as I/O/D), New York, USA.
2001 Ice Cream for Everyone (with Mark Greco) in A Fair Place, Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul.
2001 The Web Stalker in Idea Line, Whitney Museum, (as I/O/D) NYC, USA.
2000 Into The Web (as I/O/D)—software installation commissioned for The Office Of Zaha Hadid for The Mind Zone at the Millennium Dome, London, UK
1999 Ice Cream for Everyone (with Mark Greco) in Crash! , ICA London, UK.
1999 The Web Stalker in Net_Condition, ZKM, Graz, Austria (as I/O/D).
1999 The Web Stalker in Arts Electronica, Linz, Austria (as I/O/D).
1998 The Web Stalker in Beyond Interface, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA. (as I/O/D).
1997 Words. software-artwork for Laurie Anderson. Commissioned by Ellipsis for Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK.
CURATORIAL WORK
2002-3 Art for Networks, national touring exhibition, England, Scotland, Wales, UK
2000-1 Art for Networks, produced for BBC Online, London, UK
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
2019-20 Researcher, University of Toronto, Canada.
2019-20 Eccles Centre Visiting Fellow, British Library, London UK
2017-18 Post-doctoral researcher, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
2017, '20, '21 Sessional lecturer. OCAD U School of Liberal Studies, Toronto, Canada.
2015-17 Artist Fellow. Queen Mary, University of London, UK.
2014 Higher Education Academy Teaching Fellowship qualification
2014-15 Associate Research Fellow. Birkbeck, University of London, UK.
2015- Visiting Faculty, MFA & PhD supervisor—University of Plymouth/Transart, New York City & Berlin.
2010-14 External Examiner MFA and MA Fine Art, University of Plymouth, UK.
2005-10 Reader in Fine Art and MFA & MA Fine Art programme director, chair of Fine Art research committee. Cardiff School of Art & Design, Wales, UK
2002-5 Fellowship awardee. National Endowment for Art, Technology and the Arts, UK.
2002-9 Research Associate & Lecturer. Transmedia, Hogeschool Sint Lukas, Brussels, Belgium.
2000-5 Senior Lecturer & Programme Director. BA/BSc(Hons) Interactive Media, UWIC, Cardiff, UK.
1991- Various invitations as visiting artist including: Royal College of Art, London; Goldsmiths, UCLA &, CalArts (as I/O/D), Tisch School NYU.
RECENT & FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
Pope, S. (2019) ‘Forward Back Together, and the Materialities of Taking Part’, in Boyd, C. and Edwardes, C. (eds) Non-Representational Theory and the Creative Arts. London: Springer.
Pope, Simon (2019) ‘It was meant 2 b gr8: reneging on the participatory ethos of software culture in the 2003 Venice Biennale’, Page: Journal of the Computer Arts Society. (SpringerBriefs in Cultural Computing Series).
Pope, S., Viader-Knowles, R. and Lowry, G. (2019) ‘Correspondence’, in Loveless, N., Knowings and Knots: Methodologies and Ecologies in Research-Creation. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
Pope, S. (2017) ‘You Asked About Validity’, OAR: The Oxford Artistic and Practice Based Research Platform, (2). Available at: http://www.oarplatform.com/asked-validity/
Pope, S. (2015) ‘Walking Transformed: The Dialogics of Art and Walking’, C Magazine.
Pope, Simon and Warren, S. (2014) ‘Performing public art and geography in Simon Pope’s Forward Back Together’, in. LUDUS, University of Leeds.
Pope, S. and Fernie, J. (2012) ‘Keeping to the Path: Maintaining “Core Purpose” in Participatory Art Under Conditions of Contemporary Patronage’, Engage, (29: Art and the Olympics).
RESIDENCIES
2018 Artists’ residency (with Sarah Cullen) Nordisk Kunstnarsenter Dale, Norway
2018 International resident, Winter Island, Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto
2012-14 Pitheads residency for National Museum of Wales, UK.
2013 University of Woolongong, (with Julian Priest) NSW, Australia.
2013 Netwalking (as lead artist) Whanganui, Wellington, Christchurch, Aukland (NZ) & Sydney (Australia)
2013 Artists’ residency, Nordisk Kunstnarsenter Dale, Norway
2013 Tate Art Maps: Several Displacements ,Tate Artmaps residency, Tate Modern, London, UK.
2007&8 Almost Perfect (as mentor) Locative Media residency, Banff New Media Centre, Alberta, Canada.
2011-12 Artists’ residency, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK.
2010 Storycube residency. Proboscis, London, UK.
2008 NES Artist Residency (with Sarah Cullen), Skagaströnd Iceland
2008 Dialogue with André Cadere residency at Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
2003 Walking Artists—residency/co-production project for Banff New Media Institute, Canada.
2000 (as I/O/D) CalArts & UCLA, Los Angeles USA.
SELECT CONFERENCES & PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
2020 Here's To Thee public presentation for Centre For Rural Policy Research, University of Exeter, UK
2013 We Are In This Together public presentation for André Cadere exhibition at Modern Art Oxford, UK
2008 The Memorial Walks performance at Waterlog conference, Tate Britain, London, UK
2008 Walking Together presentation at Where Do They Walk Today? Hart MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, Germany
2007 Charade presentation at Computers in Art History conference, Tate Britain, London, UK
2005 Walking Here & There (with Dr. Vaughan Bell) presentation at Goldsmiths University of London, UK
2005 Walking Here & There, interdisciplinary collaborations presentation at University of Newcastle, UK
2003 Self-Historicizing through Art for Networks presentation at Computers in Art History conference, Birkbeck University of London, UK
2001 Ice Cream for Everyone presentation at Jonctions conference, Bruxelles, Belgium
2000 London Walking public presentation at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA
2000 I/O/D (with Matthew Fuller) presentation at Design Department, UCLA, California, USA
1999 The Web Stalker in panel discussion, at MILIA, Cannes, France
1999 I/O/D public presentation at Architectural Association, London, UK
1998 The Web Stalker public presentation at Guggenheim Downtown, New York City, USA
1998 I/O/D, panel presentation at Banff New Media Institute, Alberta, Canada
1996 I/O/D at Terminal Futures, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
MEDIA APPEARANCES & REVIEWS
2014 A Song A Dance... on Countryfile, BBC One, UK (feature)
2007 The Memorial Walks on BBC Front Row, UK (review)
2007 The Memorial Walks in The Guardian newspaper, UK (feature)
2006 Gallery Space Recall on BBC Radio 4 Today programme; and Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, UK (interview)
2006 Charade on Robert Elms Show, BBC Radio London (interview)
2003 Wales at the Venice Biennale, BBC Front Row (interview)
2002 Art for Networks in Art Safari BBC Four, UK (interview)
2001 Ice Cream for Everyone in Libération, France (interview)
2001 London Walking on Robert Elms Show, BBC Radio London (interview)
AWARDS
2020-21 Arts & Culture arts commission, University of Exeter & RAMM, UK
2019 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant with Dr. Sue Ruddick, University of Toronto, Canada.
2019 Eccles Fellowship, British Library, London, UK
2012-15 Ruskin Scholarship, University of Oxford, UK
2002-5 National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts Fellowship award.
2000 Webby Award for New Media Art (as I/O/D)—San Francisco, USA.
1999 Silver Award for Interaction Design—I.D. Magazine, NYC, USA.
1999 Paul Hamlyn Award nominee. London, UK
1998 Honorary Mention, Prix Ars Electronica, Austria.
COLLECTIONS
Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales (UK), Rhizome (USA), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (UK), Tatton Park, (UK), Laboral Ciudad de la Cultura (Spain).