The RUN! RUN! RUN! International Body for Research was founded in 2014 by Dr Kai Syng Tan to run solo and collaborative work. A cross-disciplinary artist, as well as a curator, educator, researcher and advisor with a 20-year international portfolio, Kai says: ‘Running = autonomy, one step at a time.’ She has completed a few races, including the London Marathon 2011. Kai is supported by a team of experts from a wide range of fields based in or having come from different parts of the world including artists Dr Carali McCall (London/Canada), Annie Grove-White (Cardiff), composer Philbeat/Philip Tan (Singapore), academics Professor Mattias Qvistrom (Uppsala/Sweden), Dr Andrew Filmer (Aberystwyth/Australia), filmmaker Michael Larsson (Sweden) Place Alliance (Bartlett, UCL), and community engagement expert Richard Wright (Manchester/Canada).
Dr Alan Latham, who is the Co-Director of RUN! RUN! RUN! Alan is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Geography at University College London. He says: ‘I have been doing research on running for a number of years. I am currently working on a book on the history of running and aerobic exercise.’ Apart from being a highly-accomplished runner who regularly participates in marathons, Alan is a walking, or rather, running encyclopaedia on running, well-versed in not the scientific, social scientific, and cultural dimensions of running. [ppmaccordion]
[ppmtoggle title=”Music Director”]Mr Philip Tan (Creative director, composer and sound designer, Philbeat, Singapore.)
‘I have directed several multimedia events include the Opening of the Gardens by the Bay, 20th World Orchid Conference, SEA Games Closing Ceremony 2013 and the Garden Rhapsody Light and Sound show. I have a zest for the exploration of new formats, technologies, ideas and multi-media story-telling. My works have been showcased in more than 30 countries. I have worked with Kai in several films, installations and large-scale shows.'[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”Advisory Board”]
Senior advisory board member Professor Mattias Qviström
Mattias is a Landscape architect, Professor in Landscape Planning (Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences) and recreational runner. ‘One of my research themes is recreational running, as an everyday practice in the urban landscape, and as a topic within planning’.
Senior advisory board member Dr Andrew Filmer
Sydney-born Andrew is an expert in the study of how contemporary artists are using running as a mode of aesthetic enquiry and expression to explore ideas of subjectivity, agency, collectivity and mobility. He also explores how running functions as contemporary performance and as social action, and what theatre and performance studies might gain by engaging with the aesthetics of sporting activity. Andrew is Curriculum Leader for Drama, Theatre and Performance at Aberystwyth University where he has pioneered innovative approaches to the use of running as a student-centred, research inquiry-based approach. Through this radical framework, Filmer is training a new generation of practitioners who are activating running as a creative resource. Like Tan and Latham, Andrew is a member of the Running Cultures Research Group (which was set up upon the success of the #r3fest). Together they have collaborated on major research grant bids. In addition, Filmer is a co-convenor (with Dr Juliet Rufford) of the Fédération Internationale pour la Recherche de Théâtre / International Federation of Theatre Research (FIRT / IFTR) Theatre Architecture Working Group (2012 to the present), and has organised the Working Group meetings at the Barcelona (2013), Warwick (2014) and Hyderabad (2015) IFTR conferences.
‘My professional experience relates to knowledge and information management in institutional contexts (academic libraries and museums). I have also worked as an editor on national newspapers and book publications. My undergraduate degree was in Fine Art & Critical Theory, in which I explored applications of technology in visual representation. I hold an Engineering Doctorate from UCL.’
Krisztina is Project Coordinator for the National Alliance for Museums, Health & Wellbeing. Krisztina holds a Museum Studies degree from the University of Leicester and has been working as a ‘boundary spanner’ between museums, libraries and academia for the past ten years. She led the Histories of Home Subject Specialist Network at the Geffrye Museum and has worked on a number of community outreach programmes including sessions for over 65s with dementia in day centres and care homes in London. Her focus in recent years has been working with the rich university collections at University College London in roles facilitating object-based learning, collections-based research and interdisciplinary collaborative projects
Mr Richard Wright (Independent Community Involvement Consultant)
Wright was in Kai’s Communications team for the highly-successful Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 8th ASEAN Para Games (December 2015 Singapore), which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has described as ‘spectacular’. Wright’s subscription to the revolutionary work of the 19th Century English visionary William Morris is translated into 20 years of community work in the charitable and voluntary sectors. He has managed teams in social housing, helping residents build community and influence housing services, such as working as Engagement Manager at Johnnie Johnson Housing Association (Manchester) for several years. Wright is a keen voluntary guide too, having authored and run several popular tours in London, including for the Bloomsbury Festival, Val Martin Memorial Walks and London Tree Week. Wright is currently an independent community engagement consultant and Creative Associate of Philbeat (Singapore).
[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”Research Associates”]*RUN! RUN! RUN! is recruiting Research Associates. Call now to apply now.*
Performance-based artist and tutor in London who explores movement and the role of the body in drawing by using the runner as a drawing device. Marking territory and making lines through the landscape, she considers the camera as ‘viewer’ and experiments with ways to record, document and present the body as both subject and object. Recent exhibitions and presentations of work include: Performing Site, Falmouth University 2014, Draw to Perform, Performance Space, London, 2013 and Again and Again and Again: Serial Formats and Repetitive Actions, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada, 2012.
Photo and video artist and lecturer based in Cardiff, Wales, who looks at the female aging body socially and culturally, and in her video ‘Breath / Mind / Muscle’ uses running as a starting point that draws out a range of complex and sometimes conflicting moments. Currently, she is working with nine other artists exploring a variety of issues around the decommissioning of the last remaining Magnox nuclear power station in the UK at Wylfa in Anglesey, north Wales. Power in the Land will be exhibited in late 2015-2016. She is a ‘Photovoice’ facilitator and will be running participatory photographic projects around the experience of running during the residency period. (Photovoice is a participative methodology where participants use photography and co-create an outcome that gives voice to their concerns.)
Art history teacher, writer and researcher who is affiliated with several institutions, including SIM University and the National Institute of Education in Singapore. ‘I run several times a week.’
Michael Larsson (Filmmaker, artist)
Sweden-based Michael is a Director of Photography, Colorist and Visual artist. At the forefront of artistic and technical development in moving images, Michael creates music videos, short films, documentaries and commercials. Commissions and clients have included Sony Music, Warner, Singapore Telecoms, ASEAN Para Games, Nuit Blanche (Paris) and Onassis Cultural Centre (Athens). Michael’s works are characterised by a distinct aesthetic sensitivity, technical proficiency and a unique poetic vernacular. Michael is a member of the Association for Independent Filmmakers (OFF) in Sweden, Associate Member of Colorist Society International and Member of the Medeaelectronique Artist Collective.
Mr Simon Cook (PhD candidate, Social and Cultural Geography, RHUL)
‘I am a geographer and a runner who studies the geographies of running. My PhD seeks to explore the movements, meanings and experiences of running.’
Ms Katy Kennedy (PhD candidate, University of Surrey, Psychology)
‘My current research is looking at beginner running groups and how beginners feel when they run. A former analytical chemist, I decided to study psychology through the OU when my kids were young. A lifelong love of exercise led me to an interest in exercise psychology. Currently doing my PhD part-time to fit round my family, I also love running, exercise classes, reading and travelling.
‘I am an activist, writer, performer (Radio 4, Glastonbury), musician (Radio 1, Latitude, Wireless), producer and gadget freak. My interests include sprinting, Open Access, repositories, accessibility, interoperability, digital libraries and information-seeking behaviour.’
[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”Research Interns”]*RUN! RUN! RUN! is recruiting Research Interns. Call now to apply now.*
Mr Lou Vickery (Retired management director, baking enthusiast)
‘My first degree was in astrophysics (1975 Oxford, First Class Honours). After making a killing in hedge fund, I devoted myself to charitable work. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with inspiring forerunners and community leaders in different parts of the world. I feel proud to be a part of RUN! RUN! RUN!.’
Ms Nico Herzog (MA History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art)
‘Working at RUN! RUN! RUN! with a team of running researchers is challenging, mad and energising. I am picking up important transferable skills in communication, research, and management that will last me a lifetime. I have also gained a new awareness about art, running, and how I relate to my everyday environment.'[/ppmtoggle][/ppmaccordion]