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Di Mainstone
Pronouns
She/her
Current location
London, UK
Year(s) of residency and/or fellowship
2009, Project Resident

Di Mainstone is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker whose work has been exhibited at Southbank Centre, The Barbican, the V&A, Sage Gateshead, The National Portrait Gallery & more.

Mainstone’s unique body of work spans film, instruments, installations, public realm, performances and wearables. She has been awarded numerous commissions which combine her background in fashion and technology with sculpture, music and dance. She works closely with communities, venues and artists to deliver inspiring experiences for all. She has received accolades from audiences, media and partners for her work and collaborative process. Curator Kate Chadwick from Southbank Centre best summed up Di’s work as an artist following her sold-out Soundpit installation:

“Di’s enthusiasm and breadth of work is inexhaustible. Her professionalism, determination to realise an artwork to the highest quality, along with her ability to form strong connections with institutions, partners and all that work on her projects is inspirational”.

Mainstone has exhibited at museums, festivals and institutions such as Design Museum, The Barbican, The Royal Institute of British Architects, The V&A, Sage Gateshead, Tower Bridge, The National Portrait Gallery, The Roundhouse, National Science and Media Museum, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Centre for Digital Music, Media & Arts Technology, Cannes Film Festival, Eyebeam NYC and the Swedish National Touring Theatre.

She is a WIRED innovation fellow. She has expanded her research into technology through international art-science residencies at institutes such as Eyebeam Centre for Art and Technology in New York, XS Labs in Montreal and V2_Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam.

Mainstone was resident at Queen Mary University of London from 2009-2015 where she collaborated with the School of Electrical Engineering to develop body-centric sonic instruments that transform physical movement into sound via digital technology. She invented the term “movician” to describe the players of her wearable instruments; part-mover part-musician.

Mainstone has taught and led body-centric workshops at festivals and events such as British Council and One Dot Zero’s Connect ZA Festival in Johannesburg, Roundhouse’s Reverb Music Festival, WIRED Conference, Flockomania Symposium and Thinking Digital Arts.

Mainstone has joined a host of international institutes as visiting tutor, such as Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, London College of Fashion, New York University and Concordia University in Montreal. She has lectured at universities such as Central School of Speech and Drama, University of the Arts, Edinburgh Napier University, Birmingham University, Brighton University, Pratt NYC, and MICA: Maryland Institute College of Art.

Eyebeam models a new approach to artist-led creation for the public good; we are a non-profit that provides significant professional support and money to exceptional artists for the realization of important ideas that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Nobody else is doing this.

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