About
Dr Kieran Nolan is an artist and academic from Cavan, Ireland. He is Co-Director of Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Creative Arts Research Centre, and a full-time lecturer in Creative Media at DkIT since 2007.
He holds a PhD from Trinity College Dublin (School of Computer Science and Statistics, and Digital Arts and Humanities programmes), an MA in Learning and Teaching from DkIT, an MA in Interactive Media from the University of Limerick, a BDes (Hons) in Digital Media from LYIT, and an NDip in Design Communications also from LYIT / ATU Donegal.
Kieran’s multidisciplinary research explores the aesthetic, material, and connective properties of games, code, interfaces, and networked media, through digital art, design critique, and platform histories. His teaching draws upon broad scholarship and industry experience in interactive and immersive design, game development, VR and AR, creative coding, physical computing, and visual communications.
Kieran’s recent research publications include the links between graffiti art and videogames, arcade gaming in anime and manga, WebXR and sensor technologies for game preservation, and Ireland’s pre-digital game manufacturing industry.
He is Co-President for the History of Games International Conference series, a member of the board of reviewers for Game Studies journal, and a Management Committee member representing Ireland, workgroup co-lead and extended core group member for the EU funded COST action Grassroots of Digital Europe: from Historic to Contemporary Cultures of Creative Computing (GRADE).
Kieran’s work has been published through peer-reviewed conferences, texts, and exhibitions worldwide including Fotoludica (Milan), ACM SIGGRAPH (Los Angeles), ACM TEI (Cork), Beta Art and Technology Festival (Dublin), ICAT-EGVE (Dublin), Archiving Hip Hop (Milton Keynes), ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories, Mechademia (Kyoto), Oxford Blockchain, Art & Technology Conference / OxBAT, Tokyo Game Show, History of Games, RTÉ Brainstorm, the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, the VGA Reader, Vector Festival (Toronto), D.A.T.A. (Dublin), The Science Gallery (Dublin), EGX Leftfield Collection (London), Irish Screen Studies Symposium (Dublin), Future and Reality of Gaming / F.R.O.G. (Vienna), International Symposium on Electronic Art / ISEA (Belfast, Hong Kong), ZIL Cultural Centre (Moscow), A MAZE (Berlin), METEOR (Tokyo), MAKE (Cork), Transmediale (Berlin), the Art.CHI exhibition at ACM CHI (Seoul), Game On! El arte en juego (Buenos Aires), CHI Play (Amsterdam), CEEGS (Lublin, Trnava), Playing The Game (Milan), IEEE GEM (Galway), the Electronic Literature Organisation Conference (Cork), iHCI (Dundalk, Limerick, Belfast), Out Of Index (Seoul), ITU Centre for Computer Games Research (Copenhagen), Game Talks at IULM University (Milan), State of Play (Dublin), Collaborative Game Histories (Tampere), JSNation (Amsterdam), Replaying Japan (Nottingham, Kyoto, Liège, Edmonton, Nagoya), Japan Media Arts Festival (Tokyo), and DiGRA (Lunebürg, Dundee, Turin, Kraków, Seville).
His work has been recognised nationally and internationally by organisations including the Institute of Designers in Ireland (Experience Design Award, 2020), IMIRT: The Irish Game Makers Association (Technical Achievement Award, 2019), The Japan Media Arts Festival (Jury Selection, 2020), and Leonardo: The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Top-Ranked Labs Abstracts, 2020).
Honours and Awards (Selected)
Co-President for the History of Games International Conference series, elected 2023.
Winner, Experience Design Category, 21st IDI Awards, Institute of Designers in Ireland, 2020.
Awardee, Top-Ranked LABS Abstracts, Leonardo / The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, 2020.
Selected Exhibit, Indie Game Arena, Tokyo Game Show, 2020.
Jury Selection, 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo, 2020.
Winner, Technical Achievement Award, Imirt Irish Game Awards, 2019.
President’s Award for Research Excellence, Early Career Researcher (Creative Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences), Dundalk Institute of Technology, 2017.
Official Selection, International Symposium on Electronic Art / ISEA, Hong Kong, 2016.
Official Selection, Out Of Index Experimental Games Festival, Seoul, 2015.
Finalist, A MAZE International Independent Game Awards, Berlin, 2014.
Shortlisted, Upstart Nokia N-GAGE Game Design Challenge, 2003.
President’s Award for Academic Excellence, University of Limerick, 2002.
Design Student of the Year, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, 1998.
Winner, Multimedia Category, Glen Dimplex Graduate Design Awards, IDI / Institute of Designers in Ireland, 1998.