Dr. Christian Nold

christian@softhook.com

Dr. Christian Nold is an artist, designer and academic researcher building participatory technologies for collective representation. In the last decades he created innovative large-scale public art projects such as the widely acclaimed 'Bio Mapping' and 'Emotion Mapping' that have been staged with thousands of participants across sixteen countries. He developed experimental currencies: 'Bijlmer Euro' in Holland and the 'Suomenlinna Kuula' in Finland. He has written 'Mobile Vulgus', 'Emotional Cartography: Technologies of the Self', 'The Internet of People for a Post-Oil World' and 'Autopsy of an Island Currency'. He has given keynotes and public lectures across the world and been a teacher at Plymouth University, South Bank University and The Bartlett. Currently, he is a postdoctoral research associate in the Geography Department at UCL working on European citizen science projects.

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Education

2011 - 2017

PhD - Device Studies of Participatory Sensing: Ontological Politics and Design Interventions (No Corrections), UCL, London

Multi-year ethnography and design interventions into the public practices of environmental pollution sensing. Supervisors: Professor Haklay (UCL) and Professor Gabrys (Goldsmiths).

2002 - 2004

MA - Interaction Design (Distinction), Royal College of Art, London

1996 - 1999

BA - Fine Art Intermedia (First Class), Kingston University, London

Academic Posts and Employment

2019 - now

Postdoctoral Research Associate UCL, London

Researcher for the 'EU.Citizen-Science' H2020 project. eu-citizen.science

2016 - 2019

Postdoctoral Research Associate UCL, London

Project coordination and ethnography of the 'Doing It Together Science' H2020 project. www.togetherscience.eu

2011 - 2015

Research Associate UCL, London

Researcher for the 'EveryAware' FP7 project. www.everyaware.eu

2007 - 2012

Founder & Creative Director Softhook Design, London

Directing a team of freelancers to create large-scale public art projects.

2005 - 2012

University Teacher The Bartlett - UCL, London

Directing the 'Electronics Clinic' for physical computing and interactive programming for architects.

2005 - 2006

Part-Time Lecturer South Bank University, London

Teaching new media history to BA students.

2004 - 2005

Part-Time Lecturer IDAT - Plymouth University, UK

Teaching interactive programming (MEDA 121) and new media theory and practice (MEDA 125) to BA students.

2004 - now

Visiting Lecturer

Keynotes, lecturer and workshops at MIT, Yale, Stanford, Royal College of Art, Westminster University, UCL, Goldsmiths, TU Delft, Aalborg, KaosPilots, Middlesex, Turku, Nottingham, Birmingham, John Moore and Kingston University.

2000 - 2001

Interaction Designer Lowe Broadway, London

Monographs, Maps and Edited Books

Nold, C., Aubret, N. and Jaschko, S. (2014) Autopsy of an Island Currency. Edited by S. Jaschko. Warsaw: Pixelache.
Nold, C. and van Kranenburg, R. (2011) The Internet of People for a Post-Oil World. New York: The Architectural League of New York.
Nold, C. (2011) Rennes Emotion Map. Rennes: Les Bouillants.
Nold, C. (ed.) (2009) Emotional Cartography: Technologies of the Self. London: Softhook.
Nold, C. (2008) East Paris Emotion Map. Paris: Galerie Ars Longa.
Nold, C. and Boraschi, D. (2007) Stockport Emotion Map. Southampton: Softhook.
Nold, C. (2007) San Francisco Emotion Map. San Francisco: Southern Exposure.
Nold, C. (2006) Greenwich Emotion Map. Southampton, Independent Photography.
Nold, C. (2001) Mobile Vulgus. London, Bookworks.

Co-Edited Journal Special Issue

Skarlatidou, A., Ponti, M., Sprinks, J., Nold, C., Haklay, M., Kanjo, E., (2019). ‘User experience of digital technologies in citizen science’, Journal of Science Communication. 18(01), pp.1–8.

Journal Publications

Skarlatidou, A. et al. (2019) ‘The Value of Stakeholder Mapping to Enhance Co-Creation in Citizen Science Initiatives’, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4(1), pp. 1–10.
Nold, C. (2018) ‘Practice-based ontological design for multiplying realities’, Strategic Design Research Journal, 11(2), pp. 58–64. doi: 10.4013/sdrj.2018.112.02.
Nold, C. (2018) ‘Bio Mapping: How can we use emotion to articulate cities?’, Livingmaps Review, (4), pp. 1–16.
Blok, A. et al. (2017) ‘Data Platforms and Cities’, Tecnoscienza, 8(2), pp. 175–219.
Nold, C. (2015) ‘Micro/macro prototyping’, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Elsevier, 81(C), pp. 72–80. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2015.02.004.
Crabtree, L. et al. (2011) ‘Transport mapping: emotional cartography, mobility and the body politics of place’, Global Media Journal - Australian Edition, 5(2).
Nold, C. et al. (2011) ‘Biotagging Manchester: Interdisciplinary Exploration of Biodiversity’, Leonardo, 44(1), pp. 66–67.

Book Chapters

Nold, C. (2018) ‘Turning Controversies into Questions of Design: Prototyping Alternative Metrics for Heathrow Airport’, in Marres, N., Guggenheim, M., and Wilkie, A. (eds) Inventing the Social. Manchester: Mattering Press, pp. 94–124.
Nold, C. (2016) ‘Metrics of Unrest: Building Social and Technical Networks for Heathrow Noise’, in Callard, F., Staines, K., and Wilkes, J. (eds) The Restless Compendium: Interdisciplinary Investigations of Rest and Its Opposites. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 149–156. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-45264-7_18.
Nold, C. and Francis, L. (2016) ‘Participatory Sensing: Recruiting Bipedal Platforms or Building Issue-centred Projects?’, in Loreto, V. et al. (eds) Participatory Sensing, Opinions and Collective Awareness. Springer International Publishing, pp. 213–235.
Nold, C. (2014) ‘Devices for articulate propositions’, in Thomson, M. (ed.) Stressed Out. Eindhoven, the Netherlands: Design Academy Eindhoven, pp. 34–39.
Nold, C. (2005) ‘Legible Mob’, in Latour, B. and Weibel, P. (eds) Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy. Karlsruhe and Cambridge: ZKM Center for Art and Media with the MIT Press, pp. 846–853.

Conference Proceedings

Nold, C. (2013) ‘Mapping Disagreement around Smart City devices’, in Charitos, D. et al. (eds) Subtle Revolution 2nd International Hybrid City Conference. Athens: University Research Institute of Applied Communications, pp. 133–140.

Publications in Press

Göbel, C., Nold, C., Berditchevskaia A. and Haklay, M. (2019) ‘How Does Citizen Science 'Do' Governance? Reflections from the DITOs Project’, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.
Nold, C. (2020) ‘A Taxonomy of Neo-Environmental Practices in Smart Cities’, Willis K and Aurigin A. (eds) Routledge Companion to Smart Cities.
Nold, C. and Sobecka, K. (2020) ‘Aesthetic Strategies for Engaging with Environmental Governance’, in Rogers, H. S. et al. (eds) Routledge Handbook of Art, Science & Technology Studies.
Nold, C. (2020) ‘How should we use Emotion in Urbanism?’, in Kluitenberg, E. and Garcia, D. (eds) Tactical Media Anthology. MIT Press.
Fagg, G., Nold, C. and Haklay, M. (2020) ‘Exploring the Temporal Typologies of Participatory Research’, in Judge, E. F., Solomun, S., & Bush, D. (eds) Cities, Citizens and Locational Technology: Mapping Power and Justice.

Publications in Review

Nold, C. (2020) ‘Insurrection Training for Post-Human Politics’, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
Nold, C. (2020) ‘Calibration Chamber as Methodographic Switch for Narrating the Agency of Methods’, Science & Technology Studies.

Academic Editorship, Reviewership and Memberships

Editor at large - Living Maps Review Journal, 2015, London
Council Member of the IoT Council, 2015-19, Think Tank for the Internet of Things
Reviewer for JCOM journal 2018, Seoul, South Korea
Reviewer for Internet of Things 2015, Seoul, South Korea
Reviewer for Leonardo Journal, 2015, USA
Reviewer for Mobilities Journal, 2013, Lancaster University, UK
Panel Convenor - More-than-Human Participation, 30 Aug 2013, Royal Geographical Society, London
Member of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology
Member of the Royal Geographical Society

Successful Funding Bids

2018 DoomsDay BlockChain Co-wrote bid. Budget £20,000.
2018 Beacon Bursary Wrote bid. Budget £2,000.
2016 DITOs Co-wrote bid. Total budget €4M. Named researcher value to me: £100,000. Funded by EU H2020.
2014 Hubbub Named collaborator value to me: £10,000 supported by Wellcome Trust.
2012 Inclusion Award Principal investigator value: £15,000 supported by UCL.
2011 Money Lab Co-investigator. Value to me £46,000 supported by City of Helsinki and Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and British Council.
2010 Spatialities and practices of sharing Named Collaborator value: £8,000 supported Western Sydney University.
2009 The Bijlmer Euro Co-investigator value to me £37,000 supported by Mondrian Foundation and Stichtung Doen.
2009 Sensory Journeys Co-investigator value to me £45,000 supported by Arts Council England
2009 Sensing the Future of Hedehusene Principal investigator value to me: £65,000 supported by Copenhagen International Theatre.
2007 Mapping Change for Sustainable Communities Named collaborator value to me: £15,000 supported by Higher Education Funding Council for England.
2007 Creative Mapping Named collaborator value to me: £6,000 supported by Arts Council England.
2006 Bio Mapping Principal investigator value: £15,000 supported by Wellcome Trust.

Large-scale Public Art Commissions

2018 - 2019 DoomsDay Blockchain, Collusion, Cambridge

Artistic research exploring blockchain insertions.
2014 - 2016 Hubbub, Wellcome Trust, London

Artistic research exploring the effects of stress at Heathrow.
2011 - 2014 Money Lab, Pixelache, Helsinki, Finland

Three-year local currency in Finland.
2010 - 2011 Rennes Emotion Map, Les Bouillants, Rennes, France
2010 Control Maps, Impakt Festival, Utrecht, Arnheim & Enschede, Holland

Participatory mapping project for three Dutch cities.
2009 - 2010 The Bijlmer Euro, Imagine IC, Amsterdam, Holland

15-month local currencies in Holland
2009 - 2010 Sensory Journeys, Sustrans, Bristol, UK

Participatory mapping for children.
2009 Sensing the Future of Hedehusene, Copenhagen International Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark

Town-scale sensor voting network.
2009 BioTagging Manchester, Futuresonic, Manchester, UK

Citizen Science collaboration with Natural History Museum and Meteorological Office.
2009 Bethlehem Biopsy, Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, USA

Participatory mapping involving hundred residents and local government to create urban visualisation.
2008 Complexity Maps, World Design Capital, Turin, Italy
Summer school visualising heroin trade networks.
2008 Strange Weather, Studio for Urban Projects, Berkeley Art Museum, USA
Winner of the Eyebeam EcoViz competition.
2008 Emotional Tourism?, Santiago de Compostela Council, Spain
2007 Networked Identity, BBC Blast, Serpentine Gallery & Science Museum, London
2007 Bio Mapping, Hayward Gallery Projects, Brixton & Clapham, London
2006 - 2007 Bio Mapping, Wellcome Trust Sciart R&D Grant, London
2008 The Brentford Biopsy, Watermans Gallery, London
2008 Emotion Map East Paris, Arslonga Gallery, Paris, France
2007 - 2008 Creative Mapping, Iniva, London
2007 Stockport Emotion Map, Stockport Council & Lendlease, Stockport, UK
2007 San Francisco Emotion Map, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, USA
2006 - 2007 Mapping Fulham, Fulham NDC, London
2005 - 2006 Greenwich Emotion Map, Independent Photography, London

Selected Group Exhibitions

2014 EmotionMaps, Cities Methodologies, UCL, London
2013 Suomenlinna Kuula, Pixelache Festival, Helsinki, Finland
2012 EmotionMaps, Sensing Place. Meditizing the Urban Landscape House of Electronic Arts, Basel, CH
2011 Bijlmer Euro, Mal au Pixel, Paris, France
2011 Bio Mapping, Re-Drawing Boundaries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
2011 Bio Mapping, You Are Here, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK
2009 Bio Tagging, Futuresonic Festival, Manchester, UK
2008 The Brentford Biopsy, Watermans Gallery, Brentford, UK
2008 RFID Map, Surveillance and Discipline, Pristina, Kosovo
2008 Community Metrics, The Big Draw, UCL, London
2008 Community Metrics, Radiator Festival, Nottingham, UK
2008 Man in the Crowd, Close to the Surface, Camberwell College, London
2008 Man in the Crowd, Close to the Surface, ICA, London
2008 Bio Mapping, W(e are) here, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, USA
2008 Strange Weather, Eco-Vis Eyebeam Gallery, New York, USA
2008 Bio Mapping, Zoom +/-, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2007 Bio Mapping, Emotional Systems, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
2007 Bio Mapping, Dislocate, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Bio Mapping, Zoom +/-, Area 1, Santa Monica, USA
2006 Bio Mapping, Fete Promise, CCC, Tours, France
2006 Bio Mapping, CrashtestDummy, Munich, Germany
2006 Bio Mapping, CrashtestDummy, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2006 Bio Mapping, Always On, Sonar, Barcelona, Spain
2006 Bio Mapping, ITTACA, Marcel Hicter Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Bio Mapping, The Information, London Gallery West, London
2006 Bio Mapping, City Breaks? Art and Culture in Times of Expediency, Liverpool Biennial, UK
2006 Bio Mapping, Day to Day Data, Danielle Arnaud, London
2005 Bio Mapping, State of Mind, Bios LSE, London
2005 Bio Mapping, Day to Day Data, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2005 Bio Mapping, Day to Day Data, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK
2005 Crowd Compiler, Making Things Public, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
2004 Bio Mapping, Tactical Urban Map Hack, Deaf 04, Rotterdam, Holland
2004 Bio Mapping, Sienna Design project, Sienna, Italy
2004 Bio Mapping, The Show, Royal College of Art, London

Selected Public and Keynote Lectures

Ontological Design for New Politics at Heathrow, 9th Nov 2019, The Politics of Air, Watermans Arts Centre, London
Mirroring and Irritant Synthesis, 6th Sep 2019, 4S Conference, New Orleans, US
What Post-Anarchist Ontology can bring to Environmental Justice, 30th Aug 2019, RGS Conference, London
-Keynote- How can we Re-specify the Digital?, 27th Jun 2019, CIM Conference, Warwick
Ontological Design for Intervening in Everyday Realities, 31st Aug 2018, RGS Conference, Cardiff
Ontological Switches of Smart Cities, 29th Aug 2018, RGS Conference, Cardiff
Intervening in Data Infrastructure using Ontological Switches, 27th Jul 2018, EASST Conference, Lancaster
Neo-Environmental Sensing: Ontological approaches to Public Data, 15th May 2018, Toxic Expertise (In)visibility and Pollution workshop, Warwick University
A Personal History of Locative Media, 15th Mar 2018, Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge
A Personal History of Locative Media, 5th Mar 2018, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
Pollution as Ontological Design Problem, 22nd Jan 2018, Citizen Science Lab: Air Pollution, Lorentz Center Leiden
The Politics of Maker Prototypes: Scientific Governance or Anarchist Prefiguration?, 23rd Nov 2017, STS and Politics workshop, Copenhagen University
Ontological Design, 16th May 2017, Interactivos?'17, Medialab Prado Madrid
-Keynote- Art and Education, 4th Nov 2016, II CULTURE FORUM Burgos, Spain
-Keynote- How can we Design Meaningful and Political Data?, 21st April 2016, Design & the City, Amsterdam
Humans as bipedal sensor platforms?, 12th May 2015, Understanding Participants, British Ecological Society, London
Sensing the Smart City, 12th Mar 2015, IOT Summit 2015, London
Smart Cities Case Study - Bijlmer Euro, 30th Nov 2014, Could Cambridge be a smarter city?, Collusion, Cambridge, UK
Towards a Design based Ethnographic Method for Environmental Controversies, 18th Sep 2014, EASST Conference, Torun, Poland
What does Citizen Science Allow?, 2nd Jul 2014, Citizen Science: Fit for the Future?, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, UK
Recruitment for Environmental Monitoring, 21st Feb 2014, Citizen Cyberscience Summit, UCL, London
Citizen Science as a Device Practice, 28th Jan 2014, The data practices of citizen science, Goldsmiths University, London
What is Being Mapped and to What Ends?, 14th Jan 2014 Living Maps Seminars, The Young Foundation, London
More-Than-Human Participatory Research, 12th Dec 2013, Birmingham, UK
What does Mapping, Map?, 25th Nov 2013, In the midst of things, Royal College of Art, London
Mapping Emotional Change, 25th Jun 2013, Prince's Trust Geography Summer School, Cambridge, UK
Environmental Monitoring?, 12th Oct 2012, Birmingham School of Architecture, UK
What is Being Mapped and to What Ends?, 20th Sep 2012, London Mapping Seminar, DPU, UCL, London
Sensory Journeys, 19th Mar 2012, Smell & The City, Manchester University, UK
Feeling London, 9th Nov 2011, London Incorporated, Gordon Museum of Pathology, London
Bijlmer Euro, 8th Oct 2011, MoneyLab, The Beach, Amsterdam, Holland
Emotional Cartographies, 19th Sep 2011, Geography Summer School Prince's Trust, Harrogate, UK
Sensing Place, 4th Sep 2011, Ars Electronica Linz, Austria
Emotional Cartography, 24th Jul 2010, Mission:Explore, Secret Garden Party, UK
-Keynote- Bijlmer Euro, 6th Jul 2010, Mapfest: Mapping for Change, Mediamatic, Holland
Bijlmer Euro, 10th Jun 2010, TEDx Eutropolis, Heerlen, Holland
The Internet of People for a Post-Oil World, 1st June 2010, Internet of Things 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Bijlmer Euro, 25th Sep 2009, Picnic '09, Amsterdam, Holland
Emotion Maps, 7th June 2008, Psycho-Geography, Cheltenham Science Festival, UK
-Keynote- Locative Media Autopsy, 28th Feb 2008, The Mobile City Conference, Rotterdam Architecture Institute, Netherlands
Emotion Maps, 2nd Feb 2008, Nextcity: The Art of the Possible, New Museum, New York
RFID Map, 29th Oct 2007, Picnic '07, Amsterdam, Holland
Bio Mapping, 17th Oct 2007, PopTech 2007, Camden, USA
Emotional Mapping, 19th Apr 2007, Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco, USA
Emotional Cartography, 6th Sep 2006, Society of Cartographers Conference, Keele, UK
Bio Mapping, 25th Aug 2006, Art + Communication, RIXC, Riga, Latvia
Bio Mapping, 27th Aug 2004, Trans-Cultural Mapping, NIFCA, Suomenlinna, Finland
Bio Mapping, 6th Jun 2004, NotCon '04, London
Counter Mapping, 27th Feb 2004, Neuro networking europe, Munich, Germany
Mobile Vulgus, 12th Sep 2003, Next 5 Minutes, Amsterdam, Holland

My work has been featured by:

CNN, New Scientist, BBC World Service, BBC, Discovery Channel, Slashdot, Art Forum, Guardian, The Observer, Art Monthly, Digicult, Washington Post, Boing Boing, Mute Magazine, Sleazenation, Telepolis, British Council, Sud Deutsche Zeitung, Chinese FHM, Dagbladet, Denver Post, Fast Company, Fibreculture, Furtherfield, LA Times, Liberation, Metro, Salt Lake Tribune, Time Out, USA Today, World Changing, Core77, We-Make-Money-Not-Art, Fast Company, Wonderland, Tank Magazine