In Touch In Ruin - ASPEX

Thank you so much to everyone who joined for the launch!

The Resonate programme, our second year running, has provided Portsmouth-based emerging artists with access to XR tools, creative mentorship, and dedicated studio space at Play Office, all in service of forging new work that speaks to our local heritage through experimental, immersive technologies (thomas-buckley.com).

This culminated in an opportunity to present work at Aspex, and In Touch, In Ruin is the result, a vibrant exhibition merging cutting-edge technology and experimental art to explore memory, placemaking, and identity.

Featuring works by Hannah Buckingham, Harry Payne, and James Wylie, the exhibition runs from 24 July to 11 October 2025 in the Main Gallery of Aspex, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm, with free entry.

Each artist brings a unique interpretation of memory and place:

Hannah Buckingham channels experimental practices that evoke visceral landscapes of remembrance.

Harry Payne transforms ceramic forms into tactile connections with vanished structures and histories.

James Wylie uses photography to reframe the intersection between environment and human narrative.

Together, their works invite visitors to consider how technology and creative imagination can resurrect buried memories and evoke a sense of belonging across time and place.

At Play Office is committed to supporting artists at the juncture of heritage and new technologies. Through Resonate, we’ve offered funded time, state-of-the-art equipment, mentorship, and a platform to publicly present their work.

The £2,760 artist fee, free studio space, and our curated equipment library have enabled artists to develop ambitious, technically sophisticated projects deeply rooted in local narratives.

Seeing the transformation from Resonate’s developmental phase to such a rich, immersive exhibition at Aspex exemplifies our mission, empowering artists to explore place, memory, and technology in innovative, boundary-pushing ways.

Memory and Placemaking , The works probe how we shape our understanding of place through memory, whether through the preservation of material traces, or their dissolution.

Technology as a Creative Tool , XR, immersive media, and other digital systems become more than tools, they become collaborators in painting emotionally resonant, interactive environments.