PLAYABLE STREETS

Playable Streets (PS) is a participatory arts company creating invitations to play and collaborate in public places. We are a collective of theatre makers, composers, engineers, visual artists and interaction designers at the forefront of contemporary arts practice. We utilise technology, design, dramaturgy and sound to build environments that encourage norm~bending connections.

**Norm~bending connections**

**Norm~bending connections are unexpected moments of play, interaction and creativity. They invite you to become part of a collaborative experience and challenge our social norms (if just for a moment).**

PS is driven to investigate ways of building connection, bridging social gaps and confronting perceived differences through experiments in performance and installation. PS works have toured nationally and internationally, engaging participants of all ages and abilities.

Playable Streets live, work and play on unceded First Nations land.

Playable Streets create interactive art for norm~bending connections…

We create work that invites creative participation in public places.
We develop interactive art for public spaces and workshops that inspire creativity, collaboration and play.
We connect people through surprising, unusual and sensory encounters — whether that’s making music with plants, escaping to a surreal desert island, or turning a car park into an art gallery.
We are dedicated to creating art that is accessible, engaging and sustainable.
We create experiences that leave you saying “well, I didn’t expect to do that today.”

Recent works include: The Plants at Melbourne Recital Centre, Reflection at RISING festival, Islands at ArtPlay, Kidstruments at Melbourne International Jazz Festival & Melbourne Fringe, Tree Hugger at DRIFT festival, Exquisite Stories at the State Library Victoria.

To discuss possible projects and collaborations please email us: hello@playablestreets.com.

THE PS TEAM

PS INTERN PROGRAM

Playable Streets’ intern program allows creative technologists, designers, musicians and artists to get first-hand experience on large scale interactive projects. This role will involve working with artistic director Glen Walton and producer Kate Perman to develop the interactive artworks that Playable Streets create. You will take part in brainstorming sessions and be asked to contribute ideas and solutions. We will work with you to identify your interests and the direction you would like to take with the internship.

If you are interested in becoming a Playable Streets intern please contact us here.

INTERN ALUMNI

TEAM BIOS

glen welcome.png — Glen Walton

Glen is the founder and artistic director of Playable Streets — an interactive arts company that inspires creativity, connection and play.
At the heart of Glen’s work is his passion for norm-bending connection and the democratisation of creativity in the public realm. He’s particularly curious about the way people can be encouraged to interact in public spaces, leading him to create surprising, unusual and sensory installation artworks. These works invite creative participation and question the assumed audience / artist relationship. This interest has also led Glen to undertake his PhD investigating how interactive art and creative facilitation can encourage interpersonal and social connection.
Glen has been working as an independent artist since 2004 in the role of performer, musician, interactive artist, theatre-maker and all-round-spreader-of-joy. Glen’s love for live performance has seen him tour all around the world — from theatre stages in New York and London, music festivals in Auckland and Edinburgh, and arts festivals in Shanghai and South Korea.
Glen lives by the beach with his wife and two young daughters. You can usually spot him playing music, tinkering, dreaming up new ideas, building shelves, and sorting things on said shelves.
What Glen loves most about his job is the people — the artists and soon-to-be artists he gets to connect with along the way. *Click here for a detailed biography.*

Kate Perman

Melbourne based Producer, Kate Perman, has been honing her skills in production management for the past 15 years. Originally an On-Air Creative Producer within television networks such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Discovery Networks in London, where Kate mastered her talent for creative and post production teams and shoot production.
Kate’s passion for travel took her around the world to finally stop in Melbourne which she now calls home. Kate is energised by being immersed in creative environments, which has lead her to evolve her Producer and Creative Services skills to span creative platforms such as Augmented Reality, Mobile Games, Illustration and Design. Kate produced the I HEART ART (2011) series of short films with Nickelodeon and the London National Gallery, winner of various Promax UK and Promax Global Awards and nominated for a Bafta in Children’s Short Form.

Cayn Borthwick

Cayn is a composer whose music is deeply rooted in a sense of place and narrative. Hailing from northern New South Wales, Borthwick has called Melbourne home for the past ten years and worked as a performer and multi-instrumentalist. He plays and writes with some of Melbourne’s most exciting acts including heat-beat aficionado’s No Zu, trop-pop party starters Mighty Duke and the Lords and dream-beat star Sui Zhen. He has toured internationally and performed at Australia’s premier music festivals including Meredith Music Festival, Falls Festival, Dark MOFO and many more. Borthwick has been the recipient of the Cassidy Bequest Scholarship, the Beleura Sir George Talis Award and the Global Atelier Overseas Scholarship. He is currently studying his Master of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Over the past four years Cayn has composed extensively for short film, theatre, advertising, art and contemporary music. Borthwick strives to make music that is both intellectually rigorous and aesthetically pleasing in his practice.

Edie Atkins

Edie is a visual artist, illustrator and potter from Melbourne, Australia. She specialises in observational drawings that quickly convey both pathos and humour. From simple line drawing to complex abstractions, Edwina works between mediums to explore and portray the human condition as seen through her somewhat rose coloured glasses. Her pottery reflects these observations and often incorporates her portraiture into vases, sake jugs and cups. Also a primary school teacher Edwina has taught across Australia and Japan with a strong focus on integrating the arts into education. Edwina recently had a sold out solo show at Schoolhouse Gallery called Quarter Acre that explored themes of aspiration and the ‘Australian Dream’.

Jamie Houge

Jamie draws her expertise from a successful career in digital & film production, and the strategising of marketing and publicity across all forms of media. Beyond her work as a producer of feature film, Jamie produces web, apps, and marketing strategy. She specialises in working with creative industries, new businesses, productions, and other producers, in identifying and engaging audiences for an entity or project from inception through release.

Her feature film work includes Producer on US based feature film SUGAR MOUNTAIN(2016) starring Jason Momoa, Cary Elwes, Anna Hutchison, Haley Webb, Drew Roy and Shane Coffee, THE LOOKALIKE (2013) starring Justin Long, John Corbett, Luiz Guzman & Jerry O'Connell, Associate Producer and Production Coordinator on BLINDER (2012). Jamie is also credited for her work as Production Coordinator on US feature film, MINE GAMES (2011), Production Manager of PERCEPTION (2013, Dir. Miranda Nation) winner of the Dendy Short Film Award at Sydney International Film Festival 2013. Creative Director and Producer of THE WESTBURY FAERY (2016-2017) which won the Shorty Award for best Augmented Reality.

Her work can be found at www.plot.net.au.

Bob Jarvis

Bob Jarvis is an accomplished audio-visual artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Working across live video performance, music, animation and software development, he holds a Bachelor of Music from Adelaide University and a Masters of Computing from RMIT which he applies to the development of tools for live audio-visual performance.Previous artistic output has included a piece for chamber orchestra and live projection, “Concerto for Light Sculpture“, which won The Vice Chancellors Award at The International Space Time Concerto Competition in 2012. Concepts of that piece were extended in the 2013 work “Luminesce“, a collaboration between Robert Jarvis, Gian Slater and her choir Invenio which explored emergence and the visualisation of musical arrangement. Luminesce went on to win in the live category of the International Visual Music Awards in 2015.He has developed software for other artists and audio-visual projects including plugins for controlling the largest instrument in the southern hemisphere and touchscreen applications for orangutans. His work has been exhibited at galleries such as The National Gallery of Victoria, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, The Sydney Royal Botanic Garden and many far-flung places: The Netherlands, Jakarta, New Zealand, Adelaide, Newcastle, Hobart and Sydney.His open source output includes development and maintenance of VIZZable, a suite of open source video performance plugins for Ableton Live with a highly active community of users worldwide as well as supporting the Spout video Framework written by his father Lynn Jarvis.He has produced experimental animated music videos for artists Faux Pas, Agnes Kain and Packwood which have screened at festivals internationally. Bob currently works as a freelance software developer and audio-visual artist as well as lecturing in interactivity and software design at RMIT University, Melbourne.

New Project.png — Bridget Milesi

Bridge is an artist based in Naarm/ Melbourne and Dja Dja Wurrung/ Hepburn Springs. You’ll most likely find her with an open box of Arnott's shapes, making pompoms/ painting/ drawing, all with one eye on BBC's Pride and Prejudice (two eyes for the Mr Darcy scenes). Bridge holds a First Class degree in Production (Design Realisation) at the Victorian College of the Arts in. In 2019 she featured as an emerging artist in First Commissions, A Major Australian Art Concept where her sculpture of a hedgehog formed a commentary on the unjust treatment of asylum seekers. Bridge is currently working as creative producer for Playable Streets and other freelance jobs. Bridge hopes to design the next muppet movie, or better yet play the part of Gonzo. Bridge acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work, and pays respect to their Elders, past present and emerging. If you'd like to check out Bridge's website head over here - www.milesibridget.com And her instagram @bridgetmilesi

Chloë Violette Smith

Chloë is a performing artist, theatre maker, educator and musician based in Naarm (Melbourne) / Gunai Kurnai country (Gippsland). She is passionate about working with young people, enabling their stories to be told through music, visual art and performance.
Chloë holds a Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Performance / Musicology) and Education (Honours) from Monash University. Since 2017, Chloë has gained invaluable experience working as a lead artist for *Barking Spider Visual Theatre*. Her roles for *Barking Spider* have included: sound design, composition, workshop facilitation for children and families in music, puppetry and performance. Chloë has been fortunate to work as a collaborating artist on *Creative Victoria’s* ‘Creative Learning Partnership’ school residency program on three separate occasions.
She has also enjoyed working as a facilitator with *Arena Theatre Company* at *Dream Big Festival* in 2021 and as Education Intern at Malthouse Theatre. Chloë’s experience as primary and secondary teacher has helped inform her passion for encouraging creative play and storytelling in people of all ages.
You can find out more about Chloë and what she’s up to over here → @chloevmusic

INTERN ALUMNI BIOS

Tony Ouyang

Tony is a design student, currently studying a master of design innovation and technology at RMIT.
He has an engineering background, with a bachelor of mechatronics engineering at Monash University.
With over 9 years experience of music producing, Tony is the lead keyboard player in the band Funky More Beatz.
Tony interested in applying technologies to design, especially interactive technologies using sensors, microcontrollers and computer vision. Most of his works explore sound and musical expression. Tony is currently designing unique eurorack modular synthesizer modules. Instagram: @tony_ouyanghongyi

Ayla Ashley

Ayla Ashley Pajevic is a 2019 Graduate from RMIT (Digital Media). She has worked across Virtual Reality, Spatial Installations, and UX/UI Design. Outside of work she spans creative hobbies that include: dancing, music (saxophone), and is a Makeup Artist. She is Kiwi born with a heritage from former Yugoslavija. Ayla is currently an intern at interactive digital arts company Playable Streets where she has helped develop several installations. Ayla hopes to make a break into the creative world and to have a career in making rad things. Find her at ashleyayla.com

Charlotte Minuzzo

Charlotte is design student in her 3rd and final year of her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Design at RMIT. Since working with us, Charlotte has found her passion for large scale installations, mural design and making positive social impact through art. Her creative influencers are David Shrigly and Keith Harring. She is an illustrator, avid movie enthusiast and an expert in all things ‘Friends’ and ‘The Office’. In the future Charlotte intends to live a creative life, fulfilling her passion for illustration and helping young people find happiness through imagination and art. You can see some of her work at https://charlotteminuzzo.myportfolio.com/work