About

Biography

Ollie Palmer is an artist, designer, and film-maker. His work critically questions control systems and contemporary use of technology, and takes place across installations, films and performances. Projects often include collaborations with scientists, dancers, and other people outside of his own discipline. From 2015-16 he was Pavillon artist-in-residence at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

He has previously exhibited a large human computer at the V&A Museum, dancing ants at London Zoo and FutureEverything Festival in Manchester, and an over-knowledgable surveillance camera at the Royal Institute of British Architects. He formerly taught at Masters level at the Bartlett School of Architecture, where he also completed an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded PhD by Design entitled ‘Scripted performances: designing performative architectures through digital and absurd machines’. He is alumni of the Bartlett’s Interactive Architecture Lab.

Commercially, he has worked as a design consultant with clients such as BBC Worldwide, University College London and the V&A Museum, as well as leading projects for a number of other UK-based companies. He has also travelled around the world solo, hitchhiked across Iceland, and taught IT in the depths of the Amazon.

He is currently Head of Design Research at the Master Institute of Visual Cultures, where he also teaches on the Situated Design MA at the Master Institute of Visual Cultures, St Joost School of Art and Design and a researcher in the Situated Art and Design group in the Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology.

If you would like to get in touch regarding projects, collaborations, purchasing work, or anything else, please send an email. 🙂

Biographies and headshots

15 words

Ollie Palmer is an artist, film-maker, and educator based in Rotterdam. See olliepalmer.com for more.

50 WORDS

Ollie Palmer is an artist, filmmaker, and educator based in Rotterdam. His work has been exhibited worldwide. He was artist-in-residence at the Palais de Tokyo’s research lab, and holds a PhD by Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL on the subject of scripted performances and creative constraints. olliepalmer.com

100 WORDS

Ollie Palmer is an artist, filmmaker, and educator based in Rotterdam. His work critically questions technology and control systems through designing machines, software, films, and performances, and has been exhibited in galleries worldwide. He was artist-in-residence at the Palais de Tokyo, and holds a PhD by Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL entitled ‘Scripted performances: designing performative architectures through digital and absurd machines’. He teaches on the Situated Design masters course at MIVC and is a researcher at Caradt. He previously taught in the Bartlett’s Interactive Architecture Lab, TU Delft and School of the Art Institute Chicago. olliepalmer.com

150 WORDS

Ollie Palmer is an artist, filmmaker, and educator based in Rotterdam. His work critically questions technology and control systems through designing machines, software, films, and performances. These have been exhibited in galleries and film festivals worldwide, including the V&A Museum, Palais de Tokyo, Opera Garnier de Paris, Seoul Museum of Art, FutureEverything Festival, Royal Academy of British Architects, and the Architecture Film Festival London. He was artist-in-residence at the Palais de Tokyo, and holds a PhD by Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL entitled ‘Scripted performances: designing performative architectures through digital and absurd machines’. He teaches on the Situated Design masters course at MIVC and is a researcher in the Situated Art and Design Research Group at the Centre for Applied Research in Art, Design, and Technology. He previously taught in the Bartlett’s Interactive Architecture Lab, TU Delft, and the School of the Art Institute Chicago. olliepalmer.com

Headshots

A selection of photos for exhibitions and conferences can be downloaded here.

Teaching: design studios

2022, 2023, 2024
Her Office, The Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design, Delft University of Technology
Seminar and documentary film-making course co-taught with Amy Thomas (TU Delft)

2020, 2021, 2023
Parallel Worlds
Master Institute of Visual Cultures, St Joost School of Art and Design
10-week elective course; open-access syllabus

2019, 2020, 2021, 2024
Scripted Design
Master Institute of Visual Cultures, St Joost School of Art and Design
10-week design/film-making course, taught via podcast; open-access syllabus and teaching materials

2018, 2019
Form and Inspiration
TU Delft Architecture
10-week design studio, co-taught with Robert Nottrot (2018), and Mieke Vink (2019)

2018 (x2), 2019
Beyond Oil
TU Delft Architecture
10-week design studio, co-taught with Alexander Pols and Paolo di Martino (2018), Paolo di Martino and Henri Bennekom (2018), and Paolo di Martino (2019)

2017
Design Ethics
Designed Objects MA, School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC)
14-week seminar course for designers

2012, 2013, 2014
Interactive Architecture Lab RC3
Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
1 year masters studio, co-taught with Ruairi Glynn (2012, 2013), Ruairi Glynn and William Bondin (2014)

Workshops and talks

2022

here / now / there / then
WORKSHOP
Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, St Andrew’s, Scotland

2021

All the Worlds
TALK
The City Otherwise: Urban Imaginaries in Art and Design at Media Architecture Biennale 2020

2020

Scripted performances: digital and absurd machines
TALK
Hybrid Futures series / Central St Martins UAL

2019

Scripted performances: Digital and absurd machines
TALK
Caradt Studium Generale / St Joost School of Art and Design

2018

Scripted performances: digital and absurd machines
TALK
Constructing Realities series / Bartlett School of Architecture UCL

2016

Scripting the Absurd
TALK
Designed Objects Dept / School of the Art Institute, Chicago

TALK / DEMO
24fps Psycho / film wanderer
Lundi Du Pavillon, Palais de Tokyo

2015

The Godot Machine / Spatial Cinema
TALK / DEMO
Pavillon Launch, Tokyo Arts Club, Palais de Tokyo, Paris

Exploring Virtual Control
WORKSHOP
Royal Institute of British Architects / UCL Urban Lab
with Max Colson

The Google Google Project
TALK
Innsbruck University, Austria
Note: not affiliated in any way with Google

2014

AA Greece Visiting School
9-DAY WORKSHOP
University of Patras, Greece

Big Data: Fabrics of Life
WORKSHOP
Central Saint Martins, London

2013

Flights of Fancy
7-DAY WORKSHOP
Bartlett School of Architecture, London

Sky, Ants and Talking to Plants
TALK
Invisible Dust, London
with Natalie Jerimijenko and Kasia Molga

Ant Ballet
TALK
Bartlett Plexus, Bartlett School of Architecture, London

Animating Architecture
TALK
Lunch Hour Lecture, University College London

2012

Shadow cities (assistant)
run by Catrina Stewart and Ruairi Glynn
WORKSHOP
Tate Modern, London

Ant Ballet
TALK
Dorkbot 79, Queen Mary University, London

Animating Environments
9-DAY WORKSHOP
Bartlett School of Architecture, London

2011

2011
Visiting lectures
TALK
Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff

2011
Ant Ballet
TALK
Dorkbot 79, Cardiff

2011
Branding workshops
2x WORKSHOPS
Truphone, London

2010

Mapping Space with Augmented Perception
2-DAY WORKSHOP
Plymouth University

Teachers and Biodiversity Day
TALK
ZSL London Zoo

Physical Virus
TALK
Art + Architecture, London

Physical Virus
TALK
Goldsmiths University, London

Open_Sailing
TALK
Tracing Mobility Symposium, Nottingham Contemporary

2009

Autonomous Architecture Workshop
WORKSHOP
CCCB Barcelona, with Open_Sailing