Andrew Burrell

Dr. Andrew Burrell is a Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication at the University of Technology Sydney's Faculty of Design and Society. He is a practice-based researcher and educator exploring virtual and digitally mediated environments as sites for the construction, experience, and exploration of memory as narrative. His work sits at the intersection of digital media, virtual reality, and environmental humanities, with a particular focus on more-than-human ecologies and queer approaches to virtual environments.

Andrew's research investigates the relationship between imagined and remembered narrative and how the multi-layered biological and technological encoding of human subjectivity may be portrayed within, and inform the design of, virtual environments. His networked projects in virtual and augmented environments have received international recognition, with recent works including "Twice, again" and "overGround:underStory," which explore the role of memory and forgetting in machine-mediated spaces and more-than-human encounters between physical and virtual ecologies.

His creative practice informs his traditional research outcomes, which include publications in journals such as the Leonardo Electronic Almanac and Virtual Creativity. Andrew is particularly interested in how emerging and speculative technologies are implicated in more-than-human ecologies, and he uses creative practice to research and understand the complexities of these technologies.

Andrew is a member of the UTS Visualisation Institute, a multidisciplinary research group focused on the creation of data visualizations, stories, and immersive experiences, and the School of Design's Critical Visualisation research group. He has received funding from various sources including the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects and Create NSW.

Research Interests

• Virtual and Augmented Reality as narrative spaces
• Memory construction in digital environments
• More-than-human ecologies and digital storytelling
• Queer approaches to virtual embodiment
• Creative applications of machine learning and AI
• Data visualization and environmental storytelling
• Accessibility and ethics in digital humanities

Notable Projects

• Twice, again: Examines the role of memory and forgetting in machine-mediated spaces
• overGround:underStory: Explores entangled networks between physical and virtual ecologies
• Waves of Words: ARC Linkage initiative investigating language movement in pre-colonial times
• can't buy me love: A virtual environment collaboration with Amala Groom
• Layered Horizons: A geospatial humanities research platform

Scientific Recognition

• MMUVE IT - Inter-Arts Office Australia Council Grant (2008)
• International presentations at conferences including ISEA (International Symposium on Electronic Art)

Teaching and Supervision

Andrew is an advocate for studio-based learning in which students design solutions to real-world questions through iteration and experimentation. He considers design as an anchor for interdisciplinary practice and regularly brings cross-disciplinary perspectives into his teaching. He currently supervises five PhD and master's students, with an interest in working with students at the intersection of traditional and practice-based research approaches.

Research Themes in Recent Publications

Andrew's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on the intersection of virtual environments, narrative construction, and ecological thinking. His work explores how digital technologies can be used to create new forms of storytelling that acknowledge our entanglement with non-human entities. There's a strong emphasis on ethical considerations in digital design, particularly regarding accessibility and representation. His research also investigates the application of machine learning technologies in creative practice, examining both their potential and limitations for representing human experience.