Maria

"I moved from Athens, Greece, to London to do a PhD in networked performance back in 2002. It was a big decision as I had to leave my job (Co-Director of Medi@terra media arts festival). Goldsmiths has a very good reputation in Greece for humanities and the arts, so friends suggested that I come here. 

I had no funding for my research, so the first few years were tough going (I was part-time). Originally I was in Drama, but found that the Department was not the most appropriate for my research. My research was interdisciplinary, looking at emergent forms of performance practice that employ networking technologies. Finding the appropriate context and supervisor is not obvious when one researches across disciplines (as more and more people do). In the end I transferred from Drama to a new centre, called the Goldsmiths Digital Studios. The GDS is based in Computing and focuses on the exploration and research of cultural, social and artistic practices that employ new technologies. This was the perfect place for me to do my research – and it did not exist when I started.

I found that being placed within the right context is extremely important. Although new, the GDS had already attracted a number of research students, and we had weekly seminars. That helped to create a sense of community and belonging, and was great for ‘test-driving’ new ideas, projects or writing."