Five minutes with Adam Cole
The Future Art and Culture artist reveals why tech, violence and kisses were such a winning combination for him at South by Southwest’s XR Exhibition.
Hello, who are you and can you describe your work?
Hi, I'm Adam Cole, the creator of Kiss / Crash, which is an immersive interactive triptych that uses AI to play with themes of desire and this expanding gap between real experience and artificial representations.
Why was it important for you to showcase your work as part of the Future Art and Culture (FAC) programme at South by Southwest (SXSW)?
SXSW has this incredible audience at the intersection of film, tech, and arts. My piece Kiss / Crash plays with cinematic icons and transforms them using AI, which brings this real personal narrative to that intersection. The audience at SXSW has been so receptive. And it's been really incredible to be here.
Kiss / Crash won the XR Audience Award at this year’s SXSW. What was the most ‘out there’ response to your work?
The work is quite provocative – it plays with humour, but there’s also quite violent imagery at times, and it mixes the two quite seamlessly, so people can be a bit jarred. But I find that they end up relating to the work quite meaningfully and are able to take something away. So it's been a pleasure to be able to interact with the audience in that way.
What have you learned from the experience of being at the festival?
I've learned a lot of practical knowledge about producing a show at the scale, which has been really useful. But I've also learned new things about the XR world because of how different everyone's perspective has been and the conversations I've had.
Adam Cole at the 2024 SXSW XR Experience Special Event ‘Kiss/Crash’ presentation. Photo cred. Almass Badat
Your work doesn’t require the audience to wear a headset (which is common with other XR experiences) – was accessibility a consideration for you when creating Kiss / Crash?
With my piece, we were able to get people in at all times a day, and they're able to stay for as long as they wanted. Some people stayed for a couple minutes. Some people stayed for 10 minutes or more. So that ability to meditate on the work and have that space is a privilege.
How did you get involved in the FAC programme?
Yeah, it's actually funny that I premiered Kiss/Crash at Sheffield DocFest in June 2023, and Crispin and Dan from British Underground saw the work and said: ‘What do you think about presenting this piece at South by Southwest?’ They explained the process and have been helping me shepherd it through the application process. Their support from beginning to the end has been really incredible.
How important has the support of FAC been to your project?
FAC made this whole thing financially possible for me as an independent artist to bring this piece which is, 20 by 30 feet, to this exhibition hall. So, practically, it would have been impossible without FAC. But it's also been an incredible community coming into the festival that we've got here.
What advice would you give to other artists who are starting to experiment with artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality?
I think the most important thing is to follow your instincts when you're making creative work. You know, it's always risky and it's always vulnerable. But making stuff that you want to make that really reflects your own personal voice is what's going to make it shine.
To find out more about Adam’s work, visit kiss-crash.com
Future Art and Culture is produced by British Underground and Arts Council England with partnership support from the British Council.
If you’re an artist who is interested in taking part in Future Art and Culture at SXSW 2025, email stephanie@britishunderground.net
