You’ve done it! You made something. Whether it’s a game, a painting, or a 50ft sculpture, you created art. Now what?
That was the question posed to Ciaran Short, a multidisciplinary artist living in New York City. Finding a way to put your work in the world is a daunting task. That’s why Short knew he couldn’t go alone.
“When I’m with other people, I feel like I can take on anything, even if it’s just one person beside me. I feel like I’m working for them. They’re working for me. Community is everything,” says Short.
Even with people pushing you to be your best, finding a path forward in the art world can be a challenge that proves insurmountable without the right tools. As Short primarily works in new media, he kept running into the same walls.
“Most people think of the fine art world, and they think of street art,” says Short. “These very distinct separations try and keep a hierarchy within art.” That wasn’t interesting to him. “We’re very much about merging everything,” he says. “We do a lot of experimental animation, video art, photography, music.”
The desire to merge these interests is what led Short, along with some of his closest collaborators, to found All Street NYC, an alternative gallery space and multimedia art collective. All Street NYC provides room for exhibitions, experimental productions, and creative gatherings. Taking that leap, though, was anything but easy.
“It was a 10-year lease, and I was 24, so I knew I had to make this work,” says Short. “I’ve got to figure it out. But I feel like I’ve always kind of been up to that kind of challenge.”
All Street NYC has served as an incubator for a variety of projects from sculpture to game design. Being immersed in the multimedia art scene, though, takes time—rendering time.
“I feel like every project, we start with a very lofty goal, but so much of that is relying on tech. We’ll spend hours on something, waiting for it to compute whether it’s rendering or loading speeds,” he says. “And then we’re having to limit our imagination, knowing that we’re not going to be able to execute on something because we don’t have the production time—because the computer is slow.”
That’s where Alienware comes in to provide a Powerboost for Short and the rest of the team and remove the limitations on their imagination. Together with PC Gamer, Alienware is providing All Street NYC with a new Alienware x16 gaming laptop powered by an Intel® Core™ i9 processor. This level-up isn’t just for Short—the entire community is able to benefit from the use of this high-powered laptop.
“I’ve seen a lot of colleagues of mine using Alienware computers,” says Eden Chinn, artist, educator, and fellow All Street co-founder. “They’re able to execute such high-power, incredible projects. We’re limited by what we have at our fingertips. [The Alienware x16] adds to our workflow, not just by being another computer we can use, but also, it doesn’t have the same limitations we’re used to. I’m so grateful to Alienware for giving us this opportunity and this computer. It’s going to be such a game changer.”
So what’s next for All Street with the power of the x16 on their side? “We’re definitely going to use it to develop more games,” Short tells us. “We have some ideas we’re excited about. It’s going to have a tremendous impact on my creative flow and practice.”
For more information about what’s coming up at All Street NYC, check out their website or follow them on Instagram. If you’re looking for a Powerboost for your creative practice, visit Alienware to see which upgrade is right for you.