Black Country Digital Firsts: Olivia James
Selected artists from the Black Country are harnessing digital skills and mentoring through Black Country Digital Firsts; a partnership between Creative Black Country and The Space. We’ve been working with our first group of creatives during 2024 and will be rolling out a second cohort in 2025 (more details coming soon). For this series of blog posts we are introducing the folks who have joined us on the first round of mentoring sessions and workshops as they begin to develop their digital commissions.
Olivia blends analogue and digital techniques to explore hidden nature in the Black Country, crafting a bold project that redefines how we see and connect with the world around us.
What inspired you to apply for Black Country Digital Firsts and how did you hope it would impact your creative practice?
For a long time, I have tinkered as a hobbyist on-and-off over the years with eco-friendly and cameraless photography processes and also have experience with 16mm filmmaking. When Black Country Digital Firsts appeared I thought it was a great opportunity for me to explore how I could combine the analogue processes I've been working with alongside digital editing skills I have to create something for a wider audience (other than for my own amusement at home). I also wanted to expand my network and work more professionally with my practice, as previously I have mentored and helped others to do, neglecting my own skills and potential.
Can you share a little about the project you are working on and why you feel it’s particularly bold or imaginative?
The project I'm working on will be exploring the amazing nature that lives among us in the Black Country but many people don't know or notice is there. I will be taking analogue film photographs and developing them using plants you can find locally and also creating a short film inspired by another resident many people neither see or know about; the fastest-known animal in the world - the Peregrine Falcon. Everything will be digitised and edited digitally and presented in a mix of digital and in-person distribution and exhibition. I feel it's particularly bold because so often we use and treat nature as a commodity and something we access when we feel we need to. Accessing nature is also often seen as something for the privileged few but I want to show that if you stop, wherever you are, you can find the most amazing nature in the world living among us in our towns in the Black Country - and you don't have to leave your house!
How do you believe fostering digital creativity can contribute to the cultural landscape of the Black Country?
I believe fostering digital creativity can contribute to the cultural landscape of the Black Country because the Black Country can conversely contribute so much more back to the digital creativity landscape.
One way is that people who cannot or do not leave home for whatever reason have the same or similar cultural access as those who visit places to see works. Also, cultural works can reach those who may not have been seeking them out and potentially reach a wider audience. Digital creativity can also allow people to do things they didn't think they could because they don't have the money or they don't have the skills. There are so many tools to help you realise what's in your head and your imagination now. Digital works can help raise the platform of the Black Country and the amazing creatives and works that hail from here.
What has been the most valuable lesson or insight you've gained from the mentoring and advice sessions provided through Black Country Digital Firsts?
The most valuable learnings from the mentoring and advice sessions provided through Black Country Digital Firsts has been around producing film work that doesn't have to be a standard linear structure. It can be more playful, experimental and conceptual and less strict than a 'traditional' filmmaking process and still be as engaging. Embracing the mistakes is often what makes a project.
In what ways do you think Black Country Digital Firsts can amplify diverse voices and perspectives within the Black Country?
Black Country Digital Firsts can amplify diverse voices and perspectives within the Black Country because it allows the freedom and facilitates mentorship to explore and develop ideas as well as skills to realise a project without an onerous application process that takes a huge amount of time without a guaranteed outcome. Many application processes for creative projects still aren't accessible to a wide array of people and many don't offer enough finance to cover what the brief/funder wants. Black Country Digital Firsts has the balance right, I feel, of providing enough finance and expertise to realise a creative project properly and in a way that also respects the creative and their skillset.
How do you now envision the role of technology in enhancing your creative practice going forward?
I envision the role of technology enabling me to continue to experiment and play and produce works that invite people to interact and connect with. I want to use technology to bring people together and this could be in-person (with interactive screens, for example) and online in ways I don't know exist yet.
What advice would you give to other creatives in the region who are considering applying for the second round of Black Country Digital Firsts?
The advice I would give is don't be afraid to go big with your ideas and your heart. If you're successful you will get help to realise your idea as much as possible and restricting yourself initially can mean you have little flexibility, which can be super important when you're working with mentors and collaborators. Also, embrace the happy mistakes, accept failure and turn it into a positive.
Black Country Digital Firsts is a unique partnership between Creative Black Country and The Space that aims to build digital creative confidence, inspire excellence in the area, foster digital creativity, commission artists, and offer creative support via mentoring and advice sessions.