Dian Joy is a British-Nigerian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in London. Working across video, installation, and extended reality, Joy’s practice explores the entanglement of biological and technological systems through a speculative, research-driven approach. Their work critically engages with the ever-evolving terrain of selfhood in the digital era, frequently investigating how the machinic and the embodied intersect within contemporary culture. Bridging theory and praxis, at the core of Joy’s inquiry is an exploration of affect as a subjectivity-shaping force in a world increasingly governed by algorithmically charged media. Through this lens, Joy examines the affective and material dimensions of otherness and power. Never indebted to a darkening horizon, their installations and moving image works cultivate spaces for collective reflection, asking how we indeed “make sense” amid the ideological forces that shape contemporary life.
Dian holds an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, where they were awarded a UAL Academic Scholarship. Their work has been recognised through awards and commissions, such as the 2024 Hotel Generation Prize from Arebyte Gallery, the Moon Cinema filmmakers bursary from Tour de Moon, and a prototype AR producer commission for the nationwide immersive programme StoryTrails. In 2025, Dian was selected for the CPH:DOX Delegation through the BFI Doc Society Fund and was invited to hold a 3-year studio residency at Somerset House. Dian’s work has been presented at the British Film Institute, the National Communication Museum (AUS), Shijiazhuang Art Museum (CN), among others.
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