Cyber eyes wide open: Creative collaboration between artists, academics & cyber security practitioners

Abstract

This paper discusses a collaboration between creatives, artists, academics, cyber security professionals and companies to create artworks that increased awareness of cyber security. The aim was to offer creative perspectives and practices into how cyber security might be better understood through creating visualisations, experiences and narratives that could enable communication and insight. 4 cyber security businesses each provided a theme resulting in vibrant collaborations between the companies, 4 academics and 8 artists. 11 projects and 42 pieces of art were developed and exhibited in two exhibitions in the Northeast where over 100 people viewed the works. Evaluation indicated that the artworks had an impact, with people more aware of cyber security. This project has highlighted the opportunities created through collaborations among artists, academics and cyber security practitioners in facilitating the understanding of complex technical issues.