Genetic Moo is a collaboration between creative coding couple Nicola Schauerman and Tim Pickup. We create large-scale interactive installations for museums and galleries. Our art encourages experimentation and play and is inspired by popular science, particularly ecology, artificial life and evolution.
Since 2013, we have been working on Microworld, an ambitious digital ecosystem project. Microworld is an immersive art space filled with digital creatures with life cycles and survival techniques and which respond to visitors using sensors. Visitors can interact with the creatures or design their own. Microworld is produced by Lumen Studios and has been shown nationally and internationally. Over 500,000 people have engaged in Microworld.
We have won numerous grants, awards and commissions worldwide. Our exhibition venues include SKMU, Norway; Ithra, Dhahran; The Science Centre, Singapore; Eureka! Halifax; LABoral, Gijon; Kinetica, London; ICC Open Sky Gallery, Hong Kong; Dreamland, Margate; Glastonbury and The Wellcome Collection.
We work closely with Lumen Studios and sound artist Julia Schauerman; and are members of the artists’ collective The London Group.
We are based in Margate and have worked with the following local organisations: Dreamland; Turner Contemporary; GEEK; Margate Festival; Open School East; The Margate School; POW Thanet and lots of others.
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS / 2024-2025
Solo Shows
- Microworld Coventry Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry Oct 2024 to Feb 2025
- Microworld at The Word, 45 Market Place, South Shields. Jul 2024 to Jan 2025
- Microworld at The Jetty Museum, Bowness on Windermere, Cumbria. Feb 2024 to Jan 2025
Group Shows and events
- PixelPlay Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, Halifax. Mar-31 Dec 2024
GRANTS & AWARDS
- Daisyworld an Art Game commission exploring ecology and the Anthropocene leading to a gallery and online exhibition at Phoenix, Leicester. Jan to Feb 2022
- Artists in Virtual Residence at SKMU Virtual, organised by Sørlandets Kunstmuseum (SKMU) in collaboration with Lumen Art Projects. Virtual Microworld was created as a parallel online exhibition to Microworld Kristiansand with support from Biome Collective 2021
- ACE National Lottery Project Grant, making Microworld Covid-secure 2020
- Margate Festival funding. NOW digital 2019
- ACE Grants for the Arts, NOW digital, Margate Festival 2019
- Digital Artists in Residence Dreamland, Margate, 2018-2019
- KCC Arts Investment Fund for UPSTAGE 2017
- Spare Tyre seed funding, for UPSTAGE 2017
- Winner Kent Creative Award Audio-Visual prize 2016
- ISEA2016 Open Sky Project, ICC Tower urban media screen Hong Kong, Official Selection 2016
- ACE Grants for the Arts, Microworld Kinetica, Kinetica Art Fair 2014
- Founder’s Prize Lumen Prize 2013
- The Erotic Awards, Best Artist finalist, 2012
- The London Group Open, Newcomer Prize winner, 2009
- Eurographics The John Lansdown Award for Interactive Digital Art, 2nd prize, 2007
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For a selection of our essays click here
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EXHIBITIONS cont./ 2008-2023
2023
- Microworld Wolves Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton. 22 Jul-28 Aug 2023
- Microworld Amelia The Amelia Scott, Royal Tunbridge Wells. 30 May-3 Sept 2023
- The London Group Open The Copeland Gallery, London. 9-26 Nov 2023
- InterPlaces AR works for public art in the Art Spaces, Inc. collection, Indiana. May 2022-May 2023
2022
- Microworld: Lincoln The Lincoln Museum & Usher Gallery. 9 Jul–2 Oct 2022
- Biocybernetic Universal System Tendency (B.U.S.T.) online multiplayer ecological art game. Jan 2022-Mar 2023
- Daisyworld online and gallery exhibition at Phoenix, Leicester. 7 Jan-20 Feb 2022 (see awards)
- The London Group at Bankside London. Nov-5 Dec 2022
- Once Upon A Planet Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Carlisle. 25 Jun-10 Sep 2022
2021
- Microworld Kristiansand, Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Norway. May-Oct 2021
- Virtual Microworld on SKMU Virtual online exhibition
- Multiple at Kristiansand Airport, Norway. July-Sept 2021
- Reflection, The Cello Factory, London. Oct 2021
- In the Dark III: Being There The London Group @ Waterloo Festival, London. Jun 2021
Microworld@HOME between Mar 2020 and Jan 2021, we live-broadcast 25 2-hour programmes on our YouTube channel. The programmes documented our digital ecosystem experiments and virtual collaborations with Julia Schauerman, Stephen Carley, Sean Clark, Simon Rae, Jonathan Armour, David Viey, Eva Pascoe, Ed Kelly & Simon Limbrick, Sandra Crisp, Svetlana Ochkovskaya, Zachary Aghaizu, Jockel Liess, David Theobald, The Computer Art Society, Spare Tyre, The SparkleVerse, Millersville University PA and the alternative art education community.
2020
- Microworld @ Millersville Eckert Art Gallery, Pennsylvania. Jan-Mar 2020
- Microworld Ithra The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran. Oct-Jan 2020
- The Annual online, The London Group. Oct-Nov 2020
- Microworld@HOME in SparkleVerse at Burning Man. Aug-Sept 2020
- Microworld@HOME at Alternative Art Education (Slow) Marathon hosted by Conway Hall. July 2020
- In the Dark II: Even Darker The London Group & Friends, The Cello Factory, London. Jan 2020
2019
- NOW digital 10-day festival curated by Genetic Moo for Margate Festival. Oct 2019
- Microworld OSE Associates Open Day, Open School East. Jul 2019
- Self-Service Waterloo Festival, London. Jun 2019
- Metamorphosis Waterloo Festival, London. Jun 2019
- Drawing Distinctions The London Group, London. April 2019
- Dreamland’s Artist-In-Residence video: Underwater City on Youtube, Feb 2019
- half term residency and Late Night Live Turner Contemporary. Feb 2019
- Dreamland’s Artist-In-Residence video: Parades & Cascades on Youtube. Jan 2019
- In the Dark The London Group and Friends, London. Jan 2019
2018
- Dreamland’s Artist-In-Residence video: Introducing Genetic Moo! on Youtube. Dec 2018
- Microworld Beijing at ITEC2018, International Tinkering Education Conference, Beijing. Oct 2018
- Apocalypse NOW! Margate Festival. Sept 2018 (solo show)
- Drawing Distinctions, The London Group, Furlong Gallery, Wisconsin. Sept-Oct 2018
- The London Group at St Ives, Penwith Gallery. Sept 2018
- Altered States, Waterloo Festival. Jun 2018
- Microworld Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, Halifax. May-Nov 2018 (solo show)
- Microworld Brecon at Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon. May-Jun 2018 (solo show)
- GEEK 2018, Dreamland, Margate. Feb 2018
- Down from London, The London Group, Linden Hall Studio, Deal. Feb 2018
- Battle of Blister, made in collaboration with Dr Neil Dufton (Imperial College), Silent Signal world tour 2016-18. An Animate Projects commission supported by the Wellcome Trust.
2017
- The London Group Open 2017 London, Nov 2017
- Love-in-idleness 20-21 Visual Arts Scunthorpe. Oct-Jan 2018 2017 (solo show)
- Inspiration Inclusive Theatre, UPSTAGE, Theatre Royal Margate. Sep 2017
- Logopolis, Travel Unravelled Watermans Art Centre London. July-Aug 2017
- Microworld Singapore, Geek-Play Maker Faire @ Science Centre Singapore. July 2017
- The London Group and Friend’s Sculpture Trail Shoreham Village. Jun 2017
- The Mesh The London Group, Watermans Arts Centre. Mar-May 2017
- Perpetual Motion Machine workshops, Dreamland, Margate. Jun 2017
- Personal Relations The Hague + Vicenza, Curated by hARTslane. Feb-Jun 2017
- GEEK 2017 Dreamland, Margate. Feb 2017
- Folkestone Fringe‘s Profound Sound Festival, Quarterhouse, Folkestone. Feb 2017
- Monsters of the Machine LABoral, Gijon. Nov-Aug 2017
2016
- A Cybernetic Ecology show with Sean Clark, Leicester. Dec 2016
- NEoN Digital Arts Festival Dundee. Nov 2016
- Microworld Cardiff 3 at ArcadeCardiff, part of Cardiff Contemporary. Oct 2016
- Papa Gyro Nights Nomad’s Museum Europe. Sept-Nov 2016
- The Octoscope of Margate, Margate Festival. Sept 2016
- Microworld Leicester, WotSPACE. Aug 2016
- Peski Nacht 006, Peski Records Cardiff. Jun 2016
- Open Sky Gallery ICC Tower, ISEA2016, Hong Kong. May 2016
- Papay Gyro Nights Madrid, Orkney & Hong Kong. Jan-Apr 2016
- Bits & Bytes Dreamland, Margate. Feb 2016
2015
- The London Group Open 2015, London
- Connect the Dots, Sheffield
- Become Your Own Tribe, Margate Summer Festival
- Blister Cinema 3, Limbo Art Space, Margate (solo show)
- sonADA, Sonic Art festival, Glasgow
- Switched On, The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury
- Beyond the Interface, Furtherfield, London
- Blister Cinema 2, ArcadeCardiff, Cardiff (solo show)
- Blister Cinema 1, GEEK 2015, Margate (solo show)
2014
- Microworld Kinetica, Kinetica Art Fair, London
- The New Sublime, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton
- Beyond the Interface, ISMAR 2014, Munich
- From David Bomberg to Paula Rego – The London Group, Southampton City Art Gallery
- Microworld Hong Kong, The Lumen Prize Exhibition, The Space, Hong Kong
- Microworld Cardiff 2, ArcadeCardiff, Cardiff
- Dreamland, The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury
- The Lumen Prize Exhibition, Triangle Space UAL, London
- Digital Zoo Tour curated by Furtherfield, various
- Oslo Screen Festival, Sweden
- Microworld Papay Gyro Nights, Papa Westray, Orkney
2013
- Potluck #9, The Beaney, Canterbury
- Microworld Margate, Marine Studios, Margate
- Made in Roath Festival, Cardiff
- Microworld Arcadia, ArcadeCardiff, Cardiff
- The London Group Centenary, Pitzhanger Manor, London
- GEEK 2013, Margate
2012
- Symbiotic, The Cube Gallery, Phoenix Leicester
- Papay Gyro Nights programme, Belgrade Art Fair, Serbia
- WWW: World Wild Web, Furtherfield Gallery, London
- Dickensian Hauntings, Illumini, London
- 700IS, Egilsstadir, Iceland
- Papay Gyro Nights 2012, Papa-Westray, Orkney
2011
- Shangri-La Zone, Glastonbury
- You are not in control, Netil House, London
- Microbes and Me activity day at The Wellcome Collection, London
- Papay Gyro Nights 2011, Papa-Westray, Orkney
2010
- Cryptmas, Illumini, St Pancras Church, London
- Curiouser & curiouser, Old Vic Tunnels, London
- Unleashed Devices, Watermans, London
- Secret Subterranean, Illumini, Shoreditch, London
- Is It Over, Dalston bunker show, London
- I Believe…, Red Velvet Curtain Cult, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
2009
- The London Group Open, The Menier Gallery, London
- EMBED, The Camberwell Space, London
- Transition, The Bargehouse, South Bank, London
- Quantifying Play, Jago Gallery, London
2008
- Collision 08, Area 10 Project Space, London
- () RE | BOOT; Area 10 Project Space, London
- Electric Blue, The Bargehouse, London