Sean Clark

I am a Director of Web companies Cuttlefish Multimedia Ltd and Calico Interactive Ltd and arts organisation Cuttlefish Digital Arts.

My broad interest is in the creative uses of digital technology. In my commercial work I am interested in social networking, mobile multimedia, Web 2.0, collaborative computing and location-aware information systems. In my arts work I am interested in systems theory, emergence and representations of flow and connectedness.

I have had a varied career which has seen me work in academia, commerce and the arts, and I am comfortably able to move my focus between the three.

I have written many research papers and magazine articles, and currently document my creative activities in the Cuttlefish Blog. I can be contacted by e-mail at seanclark@gmail.com or by telephone on +44 7939 587231.

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My Web Sites

My Career History

LUTCHI Research Centre, Loughborough University (1989 - 1994)

After graduating from Loughborough University in 1988 with a degree in Computer Studies I spent a year working for a large computer company. I then returned to Loughborough in 1989 to work with Dr. Stephen Scrivener on a University research project in the LUTCHI Research Centre that was looking at the uses of multimedia communications in "creative collaborations". The project was called 'ROCOCO' and the field of research was formally called "Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW)".

My interest in research had started whilst I was an undergraduate and my first research paper, 'Knowledge-based Drawing Interpretation Using a Focus of Attention Strategy', was published shortly after my graduation.

1990

One of my first developments as a researcher was a collaborative sketching tool called the ROCOCO Sketchpad. This allowed people using computers connected by a network to share a drawing surface. Similar software is now commonplace, but at the time was fairly unique. In one set of experiments we set up communication links between product designers based in the UK and Australia in order to allow collaborative design sessions to take place. Again, such links are now common via the Internet.

1991

I became an Internet user in 1991 when the UK's JANET academic computer network was upgraded to support IP services. I began by creating an FTP server to distribute research publications, then added Gopher and WAIS servers, before adopting the newly released World World Web standard in 1992.

In 1991 my first son was born.

1992

My first Web site in 1992 was devoted to the subject of Virtual Reality and it received a substantial number of hits over it's three year history. Indeed, if you were a UK Internet user in the early 1990s there is a fair chance you visited it - there wasn't a great deal else around at the time!

As part of the ROCOCO project I also helped develop a novel video-conferencing and drawing system called the 'LookingGlass'. This system mixed a drawing surface and video link on a single screen and went on to be the subject of a paper in 'The Encylopedia of Computer Science and Technology'.

1993

In 1993 interest in the Internet in the UK grew rapidly. This was due to a combination of non-academic Internet access becoming possible (mostly through Demon Internet) and the release of the NCSA Mosaic Web browser. My Virtual Reality site brought me to the attention of Colin Angus and my second major Web project was the creation of the Nemeton Web site for his band The Shamen.

Nemeton went live in late-1993 and attracted widespread press interest throughout 1994 and 1995. We organised on-line singles and albums, arranged video links, ran an on-line community and generally experimented with new media up until The Shamen split in 1998.

My research career had been progressing well and I was regularly publishing work and academic publications. In 1993 I also presented a paper on sketching and drawing behaviour at the first Creativity and Cognition conference in Loughborough. This was later republished in the French journal 'Revue Sciences et Techniques de la Conception'.

In September 1993 I organised an exhibition of 'Virtual Reality' technologies at the British Computer Society's HCI'93 conference. At this exhibition I co-launched the UK Virtual Reality Special Interest Group (UK VR-SIG). This organisation existed for over six years and rose to some prominence within the VR industry.

I personally jumped off the VR bandwagon in 1995, preferring instead to explore Mark Weiser's vision of Ubiquitous Computing. Whilst VR has since faded away, Weiser accurately described The Computer for the 21st Century.

in 1993 and 1994 I was also an invited speaker, together with Dr. Scrivener, at the summer conference of the Polish Computer Society.

Design Research Centre, Derby University (1994 - 1995)

In 1994 I moved with (now) Professor Scrivener from Loughborough University to the Design Research Centre in the School of Art and Design at Derby University. It was here that I developed an interest in the use of multimedia technology in the arts.

Together with other members of the Design Research Centre I began to organise arts/technology events and create on-line galleries. Much of this work was as part of the Resonance digital arts group. Later, I also became involved in the Oscillate electronic music club in Birmingham.

One of the most interesting projects I was involved in with Oscillate was 1997's 'Birmingham Frequencies' live event and CD-ROM that featured a collaboration between electronic musicians Higher Intelligence Agency and Biosphere.

I also began to speak about my work at conferences, including at the first LoveBytes festival in Sheffield.

In 1994 my second son was born.

DRC Internet / Freelance Writer (1995 - 1996)

In 1995, with the support of Derby University, I established 'DRC Internet' an early commercial Web design company. I also began writing freelance for the newly-formed UK Internet press and was editor/contributor for a number of newsstand magazines, such as NetUser, Total Internet and Internet Today.

During my editorship of NetUser magazine (for 18 monthly issues) I saw the monthly readership grow to over 20,000 and can happily claim to have introduced many thousands of people in the UK to the joys of the Internet.

I also created a Web site for computer artist William Latham's new company Computer Artworks, as well as a Latham inspired screen-saver for distribution with Harvey's Bristol Cream sherry! Both the site and the screensaver proved popular.

Around this time I began doing Web/multimedia work with the electronic dub band Zion Train. A working relationship and friendship that has continued to this day.

Headland Multimedia (1996 - 2000)

Whilst running DRC Internet I was approached by Nottingham company Headland Communications to build a Web site for one of their clients. This lead to an offer in 1996 to help start a new Web design company, Headland Multimedia.

During my five years at Headland I built Websites for a wide range of clients, including, S4C, 3i, Raleigh Bikes, Alliance and Leicester, Girobank, Cornhill Direct, Sony and Pace Micro Technology. In 2000 I collected the Times/New Media Age award for Best E-commerce Website for the 'British Magazines' Website. I also became a regular speaker at conferences and seminars around the UK on the subject of the Internet and New Media in general.

2000

One major piece of work I undertook at Headland was the system design and programming of the Girobank (Alliance and Leicester) 'BillPay' electronic payments system. This system is still going strong to this day and has since gone on to process many tens of millions of pounds.

Another client was Jeff Wayne, who's musical version of 'The War of the Worlds' is regarded as a modern classic and features the voice of Richard Burton.

I continued to develop my creative interests whilst working at Headland and started to exhibit my own digital artwork. This included work at the first three Now Festivals in Nottingham and 'Flow' at the Q Gallery in Derby.

In 2000 my final research paper with Professor Stephen Scrivener, entitled 'Uncertainty and Sketching Behaviour', appeared in the respected journal 'Design Studies'.