Cate Blanchett Prize winner

Nick Atkins has won the Cate Blanchett Prize for a performance based on the tension between society and technology.

The prize is awarded to the Honours student with the highest mark for a thesis or creative project in Theatre and Performance Studies.

Nick said he was honored to receive recognition for his work.

"Receiving an award in the name of an influential contemporary artist like Cate Blanchett is truly exciting," he said.

Nick's creative project, Cyborgs Are Born Not Made, is an interactive performance involving film, sound and imagery.

"My aim with Cyborgs is to engage with the cultural tension that arises when people feel that technology is somehow becoming inextricable to their lives," said Atkins.

"I wanted people to feel an intimacy with an object they may have preferred to resist or watch from afar - technology needs to be embraced, rather than considered as either good or evil."

Nick also uses his performance skills to teach creative arts production to high school students involved in UNSW's ASPIRE Program, which mentors students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

"When I was at high school I was frustrated by how undervalued the creative arts were," he said.

"Teaching ASPIRE workshops gives me the opportunity to introduce young students to other study options by teaching them performance, dance and video production."

Nick's creative ambitions include working as a script writer or director. He hopes to perform Cyborgs at a performance art conference in Helsinki next year.

Media contact: Fran Strachan | fran.strachan@unsw.edu.au | 9385 8732 | 04294 16070