https://bold.ie Bold Visual Narrative Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:27:16 +0000 https://bold.ie en https://bold.ie/Overview-1 Tue, 12 Oct 2021 09:19:59 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Overview-1 — Leon Butler is an artist and designer working at the intersection of art and technology. Leon´s work has been recognised by The Type Directors Club, 100 Archive, the Future Makers awards, Digital Media awards, Young Directors Awards and the Irish Design Awards. — <img width="3648" height="3425" width_o="3648" height_o="3425" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83591e8e158050a37fd675084a76d1462be2b1ec0796b304149a3459d039fd12/1547824477B014499-R1-07-29-Crop.jpg" data-mid="121368772" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/83591e8e158050a37fd675084a76d1462be2b1ec0796b304149a3459d039fd12/1547824477B014499-R1-07-29-Crop.jpg" /> https://bold.ie/Imagined-Islands Thu, 16 Nov 2023 09:45:07 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Imagined-Islands Imagined Islands Viborg Animation Festival 2024, AI Art Festival, Warsaw 2024, Simultan Festival, Timișoara, Romania 2024, Forum des images, Paris 2025, Future Frames Exhibition University of Maryland, Herman Maril Gallery 2025, Synthetic Narratives Conference, New Jersey 2025. <img width="1280" height="1280" width_o="1280" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b90f79eb0e2327cb1ea2eff8e91841bb046960277a4549b0b907ba6426dd5bc/LeonButler_Imagined_image4.jpg" data-mid="237401324" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5b90f79eb0e2327cb1ea2eff8e91841bb046960277a4549b0b907ba6426dd5bc/LeonButler_Imagined_image4.jpg" /> Imagined Islands is a digital art sculpture that explores the unique topology of small outcrops on the coasts of Europe. The project examines the ever changing landscape in these communities and the challenges they face from coastal erosion and climate change. <img width="1280" height="1280" width_o="1280" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/120d4e2c9b1be0ece4fea8332627343249da1810cd9ecd6158ad526c0a19c2a6/LeonButler_Imagined_image1.jpg" data-mid="237401325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/120d4e2c9b1be0ece4fea8332627343249da1810cd9ecd6158ad526c0a19c2a6/LeonButler_Imagined_image1.jpg" /> A durational audio-visual projection work that changes and reacts to the presence of people, the installation immerses the audience and gives them a sense of agency while viewing the work.It aims to create an interactive experience that invites the public to imagine a new set of landscapes and alternative paths that could have formed. The work is a restless panorama, combining animation, machine learning explorations, soundscapes, and dreaming. <img width="1280" height="1280" width_o="1280" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6428301807caecc84dec0595fdf964e767088646897b3e7845d56bc65ede9c9c/Imagined_image7.jpg" data-mid="237401323" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6428301807caecc84dec0595fdf964e767088646897b3e7845d56bc65ede9c9c/Imagined_image7.jpg" />Created By Leon Butler Creative Technologist Mads Vadsholt
 Produced by Leon Butler &amp; PLASTIC Collective (Lana Tankosa Nikolic &amp; Martina Scarpelli)&nbsp; Supported by PLASTIC Collective, Viborg UNESCO Creative City, The Animation Workshop, Viborg Animation Festival. https://bold.ie/Foolish-Flame Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:18:37 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Foolish-Flame Foolish Flame Ars Electronica Festival, Austria — 2025, Beta Festival, Ireland — 2025.Foolish Flame is a trans-disciplinary piece that explores the fraught frontiers of climate change and our inherited cultural trauma. Through collective experience and real-time generative technology, visitors witness an evolving landscape of environmental narratives. Traversing between the liminal space of the bog and a realm beyond, Foolish Flame unfolds as a dynamic storytelling system, conjuring new digital rituals of connection, synchronicity, and ecological reflection. <img width="1600" height="1066" width_o="1600" height_o="1066" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c25afcfebbace95af975e3f1f49909d1a4de31b404a74d9812eb266426210141/20250907084401-e028339d-me.jpg" data-mid="238945976" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c25afcfebbace95af975e3f1f49909d1a4de31b404a74d9812eb266426210141/20250907084401-e028339d-me.jpg" /> Commissioned through Ars Electronica and the SHARESPACE programme and explores the fraught frontiers of climate change and inherited cultural trauma through a unique convergence of performance, machine learning, interactive avatars, and immersive spatial design. It merges live audience agency into a dynamic storytelling system, creating new digital rituals of connection, synchronicity, and ecological reflection. <img width="1600" height="1066" width_o="1600" height_o="1066" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71ef985596a72a66f7d1fd371f51d5567ddabf1d2dbed5ebae6048b3ec94c19c/20250905095153-0f8cf663-me.jpg" data-mid="238945953" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/71ef985596a72a66f7d1fd371f51d5567ddabf1d2dbed5ebae6048b3ec94c19c/20250905095153-0f8cf663-me.jpg" /> Head Creative Technologist: Cailean Finn Artistic &amp; Technical Collaborator: Aisling Phelan Digital Asset Design: Neonatus Choreographer: Robyn Byrne Uilleann Pipe and Voice: Muireann Ní ShéExecutive Producer: Maura O'KeeffeCreative Producer: Aisling MurrayLine Producer: Miles Harrigan This Artwork is realised by Leon Butler and Peter Powerand co-commissioned by Ars Electronica and the 
SHARESPACE project. Partners: Beta Festival, Culture Ireland, 
The Digital Hub, Project Arts Centre https://bold.ie/Phosphene Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:27:16 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Phosphene Phosphene Galway Arts Centre — 2025 Phosphene is an innovative visual art project that explores atmospheric ambience, using air quality data from sensors. Phosphene combines art and technology to form an immersive light and data sculpture that illuminates both the built environment and the live experiences of the community. <img width="4608" height="3456" width_o="4608" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/861bfb9e1b209af7aa090057d9f51c386fddce200506121d13181e652c166527/P1010032.JPG" data-mid="238946397" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/861bfb9e1b209af7aa090057d9f51c386fddce200506121d13181e652c166527/P1010032.JPG" /> A durational installation that reacts and evolves in response to the presence of people. The audienc is an active participant, reflecting on the environmental impact of human behaviour. <img width="3925" height="3155" width_o="3925" height_o="3155" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6313e0c7372eeee17cb43d34b87b105414d8008b34febfe32bc7f3f6222753b8/NO-FEE-12-The-Air-We-Share-exhibition.jpg" data-mid="238946386" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6313e0c7372eeee17cb43d34b87b105414d8008b34febfe32bc7f3f6222753b8/NO-FEE-12-The-Air-We-Share-exhibition.jpg" /> By translating complex data into experience, the project empowers the public to engage meaningfull with environmental changes and acts as a catalyst for dialogue in urban residential environments that are increasing in density. <img width="3824" height="5450" width_o="3824" height_o="5450" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fc7a2099fe5bd457a47380c70b96d462124ef2d726f2c098e7d84f762732dae5/The-Air-We-Share_GAC-17.jpg" data-mid="238946393" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fc7a2099fe5bd457a47380c70b96d462124ef2d726f2c098e7d84f762732dae5/The-Air-We-Share_GAC-17.jpg" /> <img width="1080" height="1080" width_o="1080" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/98170da440cebd904bae25623c583099fbe2420117384deede7dd5f49eb23124/Cowhouse-Studios.jpeg" data-mid="241727976" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/98170da440cebd904bae25623c583099fbe2420117384deede7dd5f49eb23124/Cowhouse-Studios.jpeg" />Lead Artist: Leon Butler Creative Technologist: David Mathuna The Air We Share’ is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action Fund, an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport in collaboration with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations. Partners: Center For Creative Technolgies University of Galway.&nbsp; Photography by Tom Flanagan, Mark Steadman and Cowhouse Studios https://bold.ie/Dwelling-copy Sun, 24 Aug 2025 11:55:20 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Dwelling-copy Dwelling Beta Festival , Project Arts Center Dublin, November 2023.&nbsp; <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0b95b7428c7e0559234bf48da4696b3682049d9802b71edfc1c41124d8aba01c/Screenshot-2023-11-10-at-14.56.42.png" data-mid="237401318" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0b95b7428c7e0559234bf48da4696b3682049d9802b71edfc1c41124d8aba01c/Screenshot-2023-11-10-at-14.56.42.png" /> Dwelling is a live performance theatre installation that is performed across a range of art forms. Dwelling focuses on dance/theatre as a dramaturgical language, framed by digital and visual art works and elements that operate to create a live immersive theater performance. This work can also, between live shows, function as an interactive installation for audiences to explore.&nbsp; <img width="1547" height="916" width_o="1547" height_o="916" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/567b4a7db59ef83e312b7147225be79e589533e7b396ac6a611036d17c699cb4/Dwelling-20231102-27-1.jpg" data-mid="237401321" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/567b4a7db59ef83e312b7147225be79e589533e7b396ac6a611036d17c699cb4/Dwelling-20231102-27-1.jpg" /> Taking place in the fragments of a home with dance performances by Robyn Byrne and Rosie Stebbing, we bear witness to a life lived in and across the boundaries of the digital divide.&nbsp; Dwelling offers an opportunity to avatar our individual experiences of disconnection and loss through the poetic portal of the everyday.&nbsp; <img width="1860" height="935" width_o="1860" height_o="935" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/82555f54aabc034cb3bb7e68e7c0e37104ded1334f718dfb7b47065c5b260d64/Image-Sequence_011_0000-1.jpg" data-mid="237401319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/82555f54aabc034cb3bb7e68e7c0e37104ded1334f718dfb7b47065c5b260d64/Image-Sequence_011_0000-1.jpg" /> The characters move between the digital and real space with motion capture mixed with live tracking the show crosses and blur the line of the digital divide with the two slowly merging with Roise performing a duet with the digital space via a motion-tracking AI that reacts and reflects her motion and movements. <img width="1816" height="520" width_o="1816" height_o="520" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/751cb1c9366663e1ae8f8076d00b787aa9afc5bd4cb64941e1703073e632d39d/Frame-1-1.jpg" data-mid="237401320" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/751cb1c9366663e1ae8f8076d00b787aa9afc5bd4cb64941e1703073e632d39d/Frame-1-1.jpg" />Created by Peter Power and Leon Butler Choreographer / Performer Robyn Byrne Choreographer / Performer Rosie StebbingCreative Technologist Cailean FinnVideo Artist David MathúnaLighting Designer Michael HurleyVFX Artist Leon Denise Singer Emma NashDouble Bass Rory DempseyDrums Davie Ryan Design Associate Dobz O’Brien Company Manager Molly FoleyProduction Management ShowscopeProduction Assistant Caelinn Ní Bhroin Producer Aisling Murray Executive Producer Maura O'Keeffe https://bold.ie/Performance-Surveillance Wed, 31 May 2023 14:14:36 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Performance-Surveillance Performance Surveillance Biennale WRO, Wrocławin — May 2023, Cyprus — June 2023, Latvia — July/August/September 2023. Performance Surveillance is produced with the framework of the EMAP Residency Program at the RIXC Center for New Media Culture with support from the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union. Made in collaboration with Peter Power. <img width="953" height="649" width_o="953" height_o="649" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3e802bd6531dae8c30d888c46d31dc8e5611e646df7d51daf921e23936e6121b/PS-001.jpg" data-mid="180551833" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/953/i/3e802bd6531dae8c30d888c46d31dc8e5611e646df7d51daf921e23936e6121b/PS-001.jpg" /> Performance surveillance is a durational interactive durational interactive installation that allows the audience to view different feeds and listen to the generative audio created. OSC data generated by PosenetML translates presence and movement in the frame into a a set of triggers and filters that create a unique ever-changing score. <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69637b3f3113ed02ccd13367da61d7ba03e5f490183c33b5792a8c7b332d30de/PS006.png" data-mid="180551835" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/69637b3f3113ed02ccd13367da61d7ba03e5f490183c33b5792a8c7b332d30de/PS006.png" /> Surveillance performance seeks to redress this balance by adopting the tools of computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning used in surveillance systems to create a performance. Using live feeds sourced via unsecured CCTV cameras projected in real-time, the people captured in these feeds will become performers controlling what we see and hear in a gallery space. <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf59f05b556836e912bc47f140d3bc99f39de6e00270882ec049d4d427c9793c/PS004.png" data-mid="180551837" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cf59f05b556836e912bc47f140d3bc99f39de6e00270882ec049d4d427c9793c/PS004.png" /> https://bold.ie/Emperor-101 Tue, 12 Oct 2021 08:59:31 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Emperor-101 Emperor 101Created by Leon Butler, Jo Mangan, Peter Power &amp; Tom Swift Emperor 101 in association with Once Off Productions and The Digital Hub — a unique experience that mixes VR with live performance. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/542271ad3ebe7c340aab4db9e7d91c7b1ce151581b3a4be4292d4cbd934e970d/Scene_Render_7.jpg" data-mid="121365738" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/542271ad3ebe7c340aab4db9e7d91c7b1ce151581b3a4be4292d4cbd934e970d/Scene_Render_7.jpg" /> As part of Dublin Theatre Festival, Emperor 101 took place at The Digital Hub from October 4th – October 10th 2021. SxSW&nbsp;Austin, Texas, March 2022.Boca de Lupo,&nbsp;The Fishbowl, Vancouver, April 2023 In the blink of an eye, a family tragedy turns the world upside down. As they pick themselves up again, the survivors try to rebuild the story of their lives through faith, fear and conspiracy. There is no reality, only narrative. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83c8a8df75c199657df0832a1a677d4b2db6f64e1a46e7227761bef329c0e753/Scene_Render_8.jpg" data-mid="121365739" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/83c8a8df75c199657df0832a1a677d4b2db6f64e1a46e7227761bef329c0e753/Scene_Render_8.jpg" /> Using Virtual Reality headsets, the audience is immersed in an alternate digital world that reflects the mind of a conspiracy theorist. With live performance and extraordinary visuals, the play riffs on influences from ancient mythology to Alice in Wonderland – and asks if rejection of the ‘mainstream’ is a product of fear, or the ultimate act of self-empowerment in a complex world? <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6067f346d4ad5486996e5d5e90ab6fba15290dbea53b87ea1b47343ea2cc2896/IMG_0158.jpg" data-mid="121366321" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6067f346d4ad5486996e5d5e90ab6fba15290dbea53b87ea1b47343ea2cc2896/IMG_0158.jpg" /> Cast &amp; Creative TeamDirected by Jo Mangan Script: Tom Swift Design: Leon Butler &amp; Peter Power VR Production: Camille Donegan Cast: Caitríona Ni Mhurchu and Karl Quinn Immersive Media Studio: RETìníZE Produced by Once Off Productions SxSW and Boca del Lupo, Vancouver Produced by Performance Corporation <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/908ee30004c1ffc924c756544fa6448b4f89c34d8f34cf2083dcef5a5ecd74bb/IMG_0174.jpg" data-mid="121366322" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/908ee30004c1ffc924c756544fa6448b4f89c34d8f34cf2083dcef5a5ecd74bb/IMG_0174.jpg" /> https://bold.ie/Unsecure Wed, 31 May 2023 14:28:49 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Unsecure UnsecureUnsecured was produced with the framework of the EMAP Residency Program at the ROXC Center for New Media Culture with support from the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union. <img width="2938" height="1940" width_o="2938" height_o="1940" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94a14a595a2a2204ec7c69b066b8f1e28970c0938d41af17411324b2ad1d61da/Book-3.jpg" data-mid="180552930" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94a14a595a2a2204ec7c69b066b8f1e28970c0938d41af17411324b2ad1d61da/Book-3.jpg" /> Unsecured is the accompanying publication to the installation. A collection of photographs taken with other peoples cameras, an exploration of digital trespass. The book allows readers to see inside spaces, places and objects—harnessing the tools of oppression for expression. <img width="2268" height="4032" width_o="2268" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3c733cb9ef5af5ab2af86d95e7aaab941770622a4db4f4586fc32dd003068aaa/Book-1.jpg" data-mid="180553791" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3c733cb9ef5af5ab2af86d95e7aaab941770622a4db4f4586fc32dd003068aaa/Book-1.jpg" /> This project seeks to reclaim digital infrastructures and to understand digital networks and communication as a performance tool leveraged to create and translate the performance of the work using machine learning network infrastructures creating a collaborative platform on which we can build a number of different platforms and interactions in sound, new media and creative coding environments. Print by Plusprint. https://bold.ie/Shelter-Place Wed, 24 Jun 2020 09:21:45 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Shelter-Place Shelter + Place<img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/23b5f6ca7fa93070216659fe32e13e88afc20bd85f26689ff6d4ebd59ff3efc2/S-P-Press_02.jpg" data-mid="75516994" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/23b5f6ca7fa93070216659fe32e13e88afc20bd85f26689ff6d4ebd59ff3efc2/S-P-Press_02.jpg" /> Cork Midsummer Festival together with Carlow Arts Festival commisioned artists Peter Power and myself to build a digital monument to our unseen stories and quarantine spaces.This beautifully political project allows us a glimpse of the lock-down rooms others have inhabited during this time – abstracted but recognisable. Examining isolation, survival, connection and quiet inequalities, Shelter and Place is a mutual world built from our hidden moments, collected in virtual space in the absence of the real.We have been researching ways to allow the audience to upload 3D imagery&nbsp; using freely available software from their own place of lockdown and share it with the public. This&nbsp; in-development&nbsp; stage of the work describes the journey towards capturing and sharing personal isolated&nbsp; stories of place and space the pandemic has foregrounded.Shelter and Place is an interactive experience that mixes location mapping, spatial audio and dream-like vignettes into an open source exploration of our private environments. https://bold.ie/Explorations-in-machine-learning-latent-space-typography Mon, 23 Mar 2020 15:26:01 +0000 Bold Visual Narrative https://bold.ie/Explorations-in-machine-learning-latent-space-typography Explorations in machine learning latent space typography <img width="630" height="103" width_o="630" height_o="103" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bf870d6ada6d57ee823726ec865a455c92a7b3ec2bf075502439dcde6495abfb/100_logo_black.png" data-mid="73887846" border="0" data-scale="26" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/630/i/bf870d6ada6d57ee823726ec865a455c92a7b3ec2bf075502439dcde6495abfb/100_logo_black.png" /> <img width="1279" height="732" width_o="1279" height_o="732" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61a1574d578bf2fd15d83825a84a59692b64c53e17e716048bb8e5ad70f17c56/005.jpg" data-mid="64325861" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61a1574d578bf2fd15d83825a84a59692b64c53e17e716048bb8e5ad70f17c56/005.jpg" /> Technology has always been a driver of creative exploration and innovations. As designers, we are currently living in one of the most exciting eras where technology machine learning and artificial intelligence are making enormous leaps forward opening up new exciting avenues. In this project we wanted to explore the latent space between common typographic defined styles to see what was hidden in the &nbsp;in-between. The latent space has structure that can be explored, such as by interpolating between points and performing vector arithmetic between points in latent space which have meaningful and targeted effects on the generated letterforms. We used a Generative Adversarial Networks, or GANs, trained on raster renderings of glyphs input into an architecture for training neural networks for generating images. Trained on over one thousand steps the project has led to enterprise Ireland funding to explore the creation of variable fonts based on the outcomes of the project. It has also had a massive impact since being posted online garnering over forty thousand impressions. While type designers denote abstractions in the stroke weight similar to that of a calligraphic pen, the GAN looks at the spaces in between to create new moments and explorations of type the is both hypnotising to watch and ground breaking in terms of form. <img width="1400" height="512" width_o="1400" height_o="512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/50b2258cc7690d016c4a14b4f46e58ec13ac0adc26abbb8287b489f8ab67d309/001.jpg" data-mid="64325844" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/50b2258cc7690d016c4a14b4f46e58ec13ac0adc26abbb8287b489f8ab67d309/001.jpg" /><img width="1279" height="362" width_o="1279" height_o="362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/514f1a0fc954c884d43db087b09fda2bf5187a7191ebba9e4914250dff979e0f/002.jpg" data-mid="64325872" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/514f1a0fc954c884d43db087b09fda2bf5187a7191ebba9e4914250dff979e0f/002.jpg" /> This project was chosen for inclusion in the 100 Archive Selection.&nbsp;The 100 Archive charts the past, present and future of Irish design by publishing 100 notable communication design projects, selected each year following an open call.