David Kirkpatrick works with moments, space and energy of place. He is interested in art that affects through extraordinary expression.
David is based in Liverpool, Western Sydney, Australia and works worldwide. His practice spans theatre, dance, installation, custom software and hardware, building projection, pixel mapping and live AV performance. He is a founding member of Murasaki Penguin with dancer/choreographer Anna Kuroda. Recent works include Window at the 2016 Toyota Choreography Award (Japan) and Shima for Wellington at the 2015 Wellington Lux festival (New Zealand).
David has worked with artists including Keisuke Takahashi, Khaled Sabsabi, Vic McEwan, Nicholas Hope, Grant Moxom, Alexis Mailles, Yujun Ye and Toby Knyvett. He has worked with organisations including Nibroll, ST Spot, Shopfront, CuriousWorks, Heaps Decent, BYDS, PYT, ATYP, MOD Productions, Ramus, The Pulse, Just Pixels, Sydney Opera House, schools and councils. David mentors emerging artists and has experience on various arts panels and boards.
For a print-ready 2 page CV see David Kirkpatrick WebCV.pdf
Accolades
- TOYOTA Chorography Award Finalist (Japan, 2016)
For Window - ArtsHub Awards Shortlist Finalist – Innovation Award for a Group, Organisation or Company (Australia, 2012)
For Live Stream Performance - Fellowship of Australian Composers Award (Australia, 2007)
For Unite
Thank you to the following organisations for much-appreciated support
- Australia Council for the Arts
The following projects have been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Citylights～街の灯 – Opportunities for Young and Emerging Artists Commission (2012)
Detours & Destinations Installation – Digital Culture Fund (2010)
Laying the foundations to make a living as a sound and multimedia artist – ArtStart Grant (2009) - Australia-Japan Foundation (DFAT)
Murasaki Penguin’s Window at the TOYOTA Choreography Award 2016 was supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2016) - TOYOTA Japan
TOYOTA Chorography Award finalist funding (2016) - Wellington LUX Festival, New Zealand
Shima for Wellington installation funding (2015)
- Steep Slope Studio, Japan
Window development residency (2015) - Ausdance NSW
Window and Depth Dance Artist In Residence (DAIR) residencies (2014 and 2015) - Brand X
Depth Performing Arts Residency (2014) - Underbelly Arts Festival, Australia
Shima project funding (2011) - Screen Development Australia
Full subsidy to attend The Australian Network for Art and Technology’s (ANAT) Dome Lab (2010) - NSW Government
Funding to create Threshold Live – a concert by emerging Australian sound and multimedia artists (2007)
History
David was born in 1987. He grew up in the St George area of Sydney, Australia and was given a start as a theatre technician by Shopfront, an arts co-op for young people, by young people. He slowly shifted to the artistic side of Shopfront’s projects before being offered a lead installation artist role in Detours & Destinations (2010), a collaboration between Shopfront, Sydney Opera House, Heaps Decent and the Department of Juvenile Justice, involving young people from Lomandra School, Miimali Aboriginal Community Association and Fairfield Intensive English Centre. During his time at Shopfront David worked with artists and technicians including T.J. Eckleberg, Michael ‘Meem’ Moebus, Simon Wise, Ian Bowie, Katja Handt, Joey Ruigrok van der Werven and Stephen Hawker.
From 2005 – 2007 David studied sound composition and music production at the University of Wollongong, focusing on Pure Data patching (with Greg Schiemer), improvisation and graphic notation (Houston Dunleavy, Stephen Ingham) and live performance (Tom Ellard). During this time Signals offered David the chance to operate lighting for a number of rock and hip-hop bands passing through the UOW UniBar.
In 2008 David was awarded First Class Honours for his thesis on motion tracking in art, involving the creation of two works, Alternate Directive and Dance-o-matic Selecta. He also began working as a technician at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, installing and operating sound, lighting and vision for touring theatre shows and gallery exhibitions.