The Light Surgeons

The Light Surgeons is a media art studio based in the UK that creates audio-visual projects that combine documentary film, animation, and interaction with original audio production. We craft unforgettable live cinema performances, installations, and immersive experiences in various cultural and commercial contexts. Our work is research-based, narrative-driven with strong design sensibilities and attention to detail, making each project unique.

Christopher Thomas Allen / The Light Surgeons
Christopher Thomas Allen is an artist, filmmaker and creative producer based in East London. He is the founder and creative director of The Light Surgeons, a media arts studio he established in 1995 that has pioneered various forms of audio-visual art, from live cinema and experimental documentary film to immersive installations exploring cross-cultural storytelling over the last 30 years.

Tim Cowie / The Light Surgeons
Tim Cowie is a composer, sound designer and audiovisual artist whose work combines electronic music production with classical composition and minimalism. He blends synthesised sound with acoustic instruments, tape loops and field recordings to create sonic textures and musical structures that transcend genre boundaries. With a particular focus on spatial audio, he expands his practice beyond traditional stereo formats, exploring immersive sound environments. His compositions are rooted in conceptual ideas and critical thinking, incorporating narrative and thematic layers that harness the emotional power of sound.

For over 20 years he has been a close collaborator with The Light Surgeons, working on audiovisual installations and immersive experiences, and performing live cinema shows with Christopher Allen. He is currently a Lecturer in Music Production at Bournemouth University.

ARTWORK
ATEMPORAL 2.0 (Live A/V)
Atemporal 2.0 is a single or dual-screen, surround-sound live cinema performance created in memory of the British novelist, painter, and poet John Berger. It is a poetic audiovisual concert that unites original musical compositions, documentary film, and video art created by collaborating audio-visual artists Tim Cowie and Christopher Thomas Allen.

Their combined sonic and visual outputs are brought together live to co-create a unique cinematic work that reflects Berger’s thoughts and philosophies on time and memory.

Atemporal 2.0 is simultaneously a musical composition, an evolving video artwork, and an experimental documentary; a dynamic live audiovisual essay that contemplates our human condition and celebrates an important voice in art criticism and cultural thinking.

ARTWORK LINK
https://lightsurgeons.com/art/atemporal-2-0/

TALK (Christopher Thomas Allen)
Global Narratives: Navigating Power and Presence
In this talk, Allen introduces his contribution to the new “Audio-Visualism” book. His chapter draws upon a collection of conversations with four very different audio-visual artists: Vincent Moon (France), Addictive TV and Dubmorphology (UK), and Miwa Matreyek (USA). Through his conversations with these artists, the chapter explores themes of co-creation and power dynamics to ask how different artists navigate collaboration and the ethics of working across cultures. Drawing on his own practice with The Light Surgeons, Allen investigates how artists navigate power dynamics in global storytelling, while also evaluating the irreplaceable value of the live, embodied and collective experience of audio-visual performance art.

INSTAGRAM
@christopherthomasallen

TALK (Tim Cowie)
“Atemporal” – Liveness in Audiovisual Performance
Cowie is composer and collaborating artist for Atemporal 2.0, a live cinema piece made with Christopher Thomas Allen in memory of John Berger. This talk traces the show’s origins and development, using it as a case study for thinking about liveness in audiovisual performance. It follows how Atemporal has been adapted for different venues and screen setups, developing from a stereo soundtrack into a multichannel immersive piece – settling, over repeated performances, toward a fixed form. Against that backdrop, the talk examines the approaches Cowie and Allen use to keep the show unpredictable and “live,” treating risk and error as resources rather than problems to solve. It asks what liveness actually means, and who it’s for.

INSTAGRAM AND WEBSITE
@timcowie
timcowie.com

INSTAGRAM
@thelightsurgeons

WEBSITE

www.lightsurgeons.com