Cyrus Clarke
Cyrus Clarke is a Designer, Artist and Futurist with a background in economics and digital technologies. He is passionate about reforming human-nonhuman relationships by establishing new models of cooperation between people, ecosystems and technologies. Looking to the natural world for inspiration, he seeks to promote futures in which technologies are based on living systems through a deep partnership with nature.
His focus lies on seeking to promote alternative notions of nature and technology through the creation of artistic pieces ranging from film, mixed-media installations, fictions, live experiences and genetic software. In particular he is fascinated by data as a material, working with nature as a technology to reframe human relationships with the cloud and initiate discussion on the ethical, environmental, political and socio-economic implications of the technology filled worlds we are rushing to create.
He positions himself as a link between the techno-scientific communities and the wider public, to help bridge between potential futures and today, in order to inspire technological developments that enhance value, equity, justice, and the environment. To do so he works with emerging technologies such as machine learning, blockchain, mixed reality and biotechnology, to create immersive environments, physical installations, digital interfaces, near-future scenarios and science fiction narratives.
As an independent creative and futurist, he consults and develops work for commercial clients such as IKEA and World Expo 2020, as well as institutional initiatives for the UN and EU Horizon 2020. He is the founder and creator of the award-winning educational game What The Block, biological design initiative Grow Your Own Cloud, former co-founder of fact-checking service SIFT, and former Innovation Lead at L’Oreal Global.
His creative work has been recognised and exhibited internationally, most notably SXSW, World Economic Forum, Bio26 – 26th Biennial of Design Ljubljana, as well as solo shows in the United States and Denmark. He is grateful to be the recipient of many international awards including Interaction Awards 2018, Core77, BloxHub and the UN Summer of Solutions. Always keen to share knowledge, he leads dozens of courses and workshops each year around design futures and emerging technologies. Cyrus is a regular keynote speaker on a range of topics from value beyond money, to biological data futures.