Gareth McMurchy is a PhD student and design researcher based within the multi-disciplinary research group Open Lab. With an educational background in product design and a keen interest in the arts, his research focuses on the relationship between archival processes and uses of technology within artist-run initiatives. Employing a Research through Design methodology, he uses provocative design artefacts as tools for scrutinising these existing practices and to speculate upon preferable future technological possibilities.

Through this work, he has gained a deep understanding of the difficulties artists face operating within a cultural sector profoundly affected by precarity, austerity, and limited provision of creative space. As a workshop co-ordinator, Gareth will draw upon this knowledge and experience to facilitate a series of workshops that aim to enrich our understanding of meanwhile spaces’ contribution to Scottish arts ecology.