Fevered Sleep and Central

Central’s associate artist, Fevered Sleep, is an independent arts company that makes performance, films, installations, books and digital art.

Based at Shoreditch Town Hall in London, while working across the UK and internationally, the company’s ambition is to make transformative art that reimagines relationships between people and places and things, through processes of research, collaboration, participation and experimentation. By engaging all sorts of people in this work, they explore, test and share innovative models for public engagement, at the same time as interrogating and challenging established industry approaches to producing and touring, proposing new models for the future.  

Research is at the heart of Fevered Sleep’s creative practice, and the focus of their relationship with Central. This research takes place both within and beyond academic institutions. It creates opportunities for all sorts of people – people who define themselves as professional researchers as well as people who don’t – to come together and share new knowledge, ideas and learning.  

The process of inquiry that drives Fevered Sleep inevitably leads to a desire for exchange, conversation, dialogue and debate. Each of their projects draws on the ideas, response, knowledge or expertise of other people, who become part of the research and creative process in all sorts of ways. This might include the delivery of workshops in schools; skills exchange projects; inviting scientists, advisors, professional researchers and members of the public into the research and making process; giving presentations and talks; and participating in or initiating symposia, conferences, publications and debates.

Both Fevered Sleep and Central are committed to research and to artistic excellence; passionate about widening participation in the arts and in deep thinking; and fearless about asking difficult questions and offering provocative answers. These shared beliefs are the foundation of our collaboration. Our ambition is to build new bridges between academia and the creative industries; between researchers, artists, and audiences; and between the processes of making art and doing research.

Fevered Sleep is led by artistic directors David Harradine and Sam Butler. David is Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice at Central.

To find out more about the company visit the Fevered Sleep website.

See David’s Central staff profile.

To find out more about Fevered Sleep’s approach to research with Central, and their project Men & Girls Dance, have a look at the project page.