Dr Alex Pearl
Lecturer in Fine Art, Analogue and Digital Sculpture
- a.pearl2@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- School of Technology, Business and Arts
- Alex Pearl ORCID
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Multimedia artist Alex Pearl explores the world through the breaks and slippages in his relationship with technology. He completed a BA in Fine Art and an MA in History of Art and Design at Birmingham City University, and in 2018 he received a PhD (at Manchester Metropolitan University and FACT, Liverpool) on mechanical breakdown and anthropomorphism. This involved making, and repairing a series of poorly constructed robots. Current work uses gif animation and precariously animated sculptural forms to unravel the strange afterlife of images in the digital realm.
Alex exhibits his video and installation work nationally and internationally and has taught both theory and practice at a number of UK institutions including: The Royal College of Art, Ravensbourne University London and the University of Wolverhampton.
Research Interests:
Alex Pearl's practice and research interests are focused on human-technological relationships specifically at the moment of breakdown. His work deploys fragile digital and physical objects that involve the viewer in repetition and struggle. Associated research interests include practice as research and New Materialist thinking.
Exhibitions include:
Breaking the Narrative (2023) Thamesside Studios, London, https://www.thames-sidestudios.co.uk/news/exhibitions/2023/breaking-the-narrative [Catalogue Essay]
Love Machines (2017) The Minories, Colchester [Solo]
Denis ex Machina (2016) Canal Project Space, London [Solo]
Our Friends Electric (2017) QUAD, Derby
Unspooling – artists and cinema (2010) Cornerhouse, Manchester (curated by Andrew Bracey
& Dave Griffiths)
Recent publications include:
Pearl, A. and Whitby, R. (2025) Teaching experimental film in an industry focused course: Opportunities and strategies for inclusive pedagogies, JUICE. Available at: https://juice-journal.com/2025/03/16/teaching-experimental-film-in-an-industry-focused-course-opportunities-and-strategies-for-inclusive-pedagogies/ (Accessed: 10 April 2025).
Pearl, A. and Dover, A. (2023) ‘Interior Archives: An Experiment in Autobiographical Fiction’, in Handbook of Research on the Relationship Between Autobiographical Memory and Photography. IGI Global.