Parallel 04: UNION Immersed

Adewolf is a Nigerian-born musician, songwriter, producer, and art director based in Vancouver. His musical style is an amalgamation of Afrobeats, Hip hop, R&B, and Reggae to form a blend of genres he likes to define as Afrohop. In 2019, Adewolf went on to write and release his first EP titled iPharaoh. This EP found solace with many music lovers as he explored his struggles with mental health and his complex relationship with technology all through the lens of an African man in a western world. This EP established him as an Afrohop artist in Vancouver as he went on to perform at his own sold-out EP release party and perform at some of the biggest venues in Vancouver. His success with the EP also landed him an opening performance for Grammy award-winning Burna Boy at the Vogue Theatre. In that same year, he worked with Nigerian director, Abba Makama, to compose singles for his independent films The Lost Okoroshi and Green White Green which both premiered at TIFF.  Adewolf also won the 2020 CITR Shindig’s band competition with his band, The 3ribe.
adewolf.com

Lostalgia

Adewolf attempts to capture his memories in a virtual labyrinth that takes viewers into the up and down of Lagos, Nigeria in the 90’s. As people explore the labyrinth they will be inundated with dreamy imagery of his life in Lagos. It would be a dreamscape of memories. Adewolf will be performing songs from the project as visitors navigate and get lost in this labyrinth of memories.

Max Ammo (they/them) is an audiovisual artist from Mexico City. Self-taught illustrator, graphic designer, producer and DJ. Graduated in 2015 from Vancouver Film School’s Classical Animation program. Currently lives and works on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. 

Max works primarily as an illustrator, graphic designer, and animator. Their commissioned work includes cover artworks for music releases, building visual identities/branding, flyers, editorial illustration, animated visuals and many others. Some organizations and projects Max has collaborated with are Festival Ceremonia (MX), rRoxymore (DE),  MUTEK (SF), Vancouver Black Therapy and Advocacy Foundation (YVR), Thump (MX), NAAFI (MX),  Vancouver Art Book Fair (YVR) to name a few.

Max also produces and performs under the alias “Goo”, their hardware electronic solo project which has been a platform to explore sound, gender and writing. They have performed in music festivals such as Current Symposium, New Forms Festival, and Active Passive Concerts.

They started DJing under “El Angel Exterminador”, a project focused on showcasing producers from Latin America and its diaspora in response to the lack of bookings of Latinx artists in so-called “Vancouver”.
http://maxammo.myportfolio.com/

Piedra volcànica

A virtual sculpture & sound garden wrapped in the night, through hills and valleys.
‍A small ode to the sculpture garden at the UNAM in Mexico City, with the volcanic rock landscape, forever burned in my memory growing up.

Photo by Ray McEachern.

Colt Desjarlais-Tataquasan is an emerging interdisciplinary artist living in Vancouver, B.C. They are Trans/Third Gender from mixed Indigenous (Saulteaux/Sioux) and European ancestry. The territory they live in remains unceded by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh nations.

They are engaged in experimental art as a way to find and connect during process. Colt is fascinated by the dichotomy and polarity of human nature and behaviour as connection, political bodies and form, and transformation. They experiment through resistance of ruled system, structure, form, and embrace wonder and the abstract as a way to transcend limitation into creation. They have shown work as a guest for the CURRENT team in collaboration with Moniker Press at the CURRENTxFUSE event at the Vancouver Art Gallery. They were also a participant in the CURRENT symposium mentorship during 2019. 

What’s Underneath the Cynic?

This work is about the contemplation between cynicism and idealism. It’s a story of displacement, mental health, and longing. This WebXR world was influenced by M.C. Escher’s works of surrealist staircases (Relativity 1953, Ascending and Descending 1960) as a symbolic gesture to the illusions of structure, hierarchy and social justice.

Alanna Ho is a socially engaged artist working and learning on the unceded and traditional territories of the Qayqayt, Squamish, Tsleil Waututh and Musqueam Coast Salish peoples. Alanna’s work presents pedagogy and play as interconnected experiences; combining the use of new media and the reggio emilia approach, her workshops naturally foster fun sound exploration. Her multi-modal approach in S.T.E.A.M. education has been facilitated through galleries and schools. 

Alanna is the co-director of Inter/Mediate, a media art educational festival designed to empower under-represented groups by providing low-barrier access to workshops and mentorships. She is currently a sound artist in residence through the AiRS program in conjunction with the Vancouver School Board, exploring Pauline Oliveros’ concept of deep listening. In 2016 Alanna founded The Rainbow Forecast Project, a research initiative exploring the critical role of pedagogy in the arts, and empowering children and young women beyond the classroom. She has spoken at symposiums and panels discussing the lack of female and BIPOC representation in new media art and electronic music; her talks are aimed at inspiring organizations to invest in art and technology programs for young age groups. 

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.” – Loris Malaguzzi

www.dotdotgo.ca

As You Move Through The World – created by Alanna Ho, Hadis Kakanejadi and Tamar Tabori

Globes anchored to the ocean floor.
‍
Reflection of a broad language network.

Generative design, impossible dance movements and floating sounds.

Controllers invite you to control where you move.

You influence our performance.

Communication is key.
‍
‍Lead someone up the garden path.

Hadis is a Vancouver based multidisciplinary new media artist. She constantly and curiously explores the boundaries between art and technology. She challenges and experiments the intersection of ArtxTech through generative art practices, creation of audio-reactive visuals, and human interaction and intervention.

In her practices she explores collective consciousness, myth, spirituality, eco-feminine, and expresses her love for geometry and sound.

Hadis holds a Master of Computer science, and has studied continuing studies in fine arts. Her curiosity and core liberty has led her to wear different hats in her journey over a decade actively creating and working with variety of technological mediums. She has co-founded the first female driven computer game design collective in Iran and has worked as computer game and puzzle designer, after moving to Canada she has had professional experiences as computer scientist, lead scientist, and software developer, which has enabled her to bring the gems of the past experiences and skills as polymath coder to realize her artistic vision as new media artist.

Hadis’ purpose and community service is to bring authentic feminine voice in areas less heard, and appear as supportive anchor and mentor for other women from middle east in her steps of growth.
www.fard.io

As You Move Through The World – created by Alanna Ho, Hadis Fard and Tamar Tabori

Globes anchored to the ocean floor.
‍
Reflection of a broad language network.

Generative design, impossible dance movements and floating sounds.

Controllers invite you to control where you move.

You influence our performance.

Communication is key.
‍
‍Lead someone up the garden path. 

Gerry Sung, also known as Scope G, is a Canadian born Chinese rapper and producer based out of Vancouver. With a gritty flow and a sci-fi futuristic aesthetic, he fuses some old school and new school elements through lively performances and stylized visuals. As an audio visual artist, Scope has created a signature style for a niche audience – think “Bladerunner meets Nas and Future”. Scope is also building the Asian Hip-Hop scene in Vancouver by organizing events through his platform “YELLOWFIRE” that brings together a select group of Asian artists for every show, and also helping Richmond’s own “EXPOSURE” cultivate a creative networking playground for Asian creatives and Vancouver locals. Come along as Scope continues to bridge East and West by taking North American Asian culture into uncharted territory.
http://gerryxscope.tumblr.com
http://biglink.to/scope_g

H!!!JACKER

Scope goes on a musical journey through the Shadow, Light and Future realms in search of what’s real inside of the simulation.

Kimit Sekhon is a technology enthusiast and digital creator. They’re the Programming Coordinator at Vancouver Co-op Radio 100.5 FM and freelance as an Audio / Visual engineer. They enjoy making music influenced by Footwork and Acid with a rough edge. Recent years have been spent exploring ways to combine origami, 3d modelling, visual djing and retro technology into some sort of weird rave aesthetic. You can catch them with a stack of Pokemon cards, Gameboy cartridges and Lego when it’s time to chill. For more information follow them on insta @paperwaveproductions or visit paperwave.ca.

Colours

Red, orange, green, blue
See a new reality
A world of colours 

Ruby Singh is an interdisciplinary artist and facilitator residing on the unceded territories of  the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh Nations (Vancouver BC.)  As an artist Ruby’s work reflects his upbringing and is a cultural hybrid of musical expressions ranging from groove oriented hip hop beats, to contemporary fusions of classical ragas; remixes of vintage bollywood tunes to ambient creations. He has been nominated for both Leo and Jesse awards for his original compositions for dance, theatre and film productions. Ruby has produced over fourteen albums with emerging artists, including Shane Koyzan’s debut release American Pie and PIQSIQ’s debut album Altering the Timeline. Rup’s solo family oriented project RupLoops has toured internationally and across Canada, logging over 500 performances to date, in schools, theatre’s and festivals to critical acclaim. 

Singh’s creativity crosses the boundaries of music, poetry, visual art, photography and film. His expressions engage with mythos, memory, identity, justice and fantasy; where the surreal can shatter the boundaries of the real. As a composer and sound designer he has worked with theatre and dance companies across Canada, as well as creating numerous scores for the National Film Board and other independent films to critical acclaim, being nominated for both Leo and Jesse awards. Singh’s personal and collaborative works have been presented across Turtle Island, India, Germany and the UK.

Ruby has shared stages with and performed alongside the Wu Tang Clan, Chugge Khan, Rajasthan Josh, Tanya Tagaq, Shane Koyzan, DubFX, Coleman Barks, Aja Monet, Michael Franti, and Talvin Singh. Performance highlights include the Jaipur Literature Festival (Jaipur, India), Winnipeg Folk Festival, Aga Khan Museum (Toronto, Canada), World Body Percussion Festival (Toronto, Canada), Globalqurque (New Mexico, USA), Indian Summer Festival (Vancouver, Canada), Mehndi, Masala, Musti (Toronto, Canada), Stern Grove Festival (San Francisco, USA), Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Vancouver International Storytelling Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, New Forms Festival (Vancouver, Canada), Oregon Country Fair (Eugene, USA), Fete de la Musique (Berlin, Germany), Fusion Festival (Berlin, Germany). 

As a facilitator, Ruby’s work meets at the intersection of social justice and the arts. For the past 20 years he has been growing his understanding and leading workshops based in anti-oppression and liberation based practices.  He has facilitated and taught programs in universities, public schools, youth prisons, and communities throughout Canada, USA, UK and India.  Ruby brings a focused presence, strong leadership skills and a contagious enthusiasm, which effectively engages, inspires and guides participants through his process oriented work. 

www.rubysingh.ca

Space Garden – created by Ruby Singh and Andrea Wong

Space Garden is a virtual WebXR space remixed to exhibit digital media work by multimedia artists Ruby Singh and Andrea Wong. Come explore a meditative polyphonic garden of 360° video domes, wisps of folk instrumentals, poetry and spacious vocals sown throughout a floating galactic island.

Photo by Yaara Eshet.

Tamar Zehava Tabori is an emerging dance and video artist, currently residing on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples; the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She is interested in the documentation of dance, having done archival work for organizations such as Kaeja d’Dance, and at present holds the position of Youth Curator for F-O-R-M (Festival of Recorded Movement). She has been involved in various interdisciplinary dance productions across Canada, performing on stage and on screen, and has received commissions for both production and instruction roles. She has interpreted works for Petrikor Danse, The Chimera Project Lab, Future Leisure, SatisFACTORY Dance, as well as various independent choreographers nationally and internationally. Her experimental short films have been screened at festivals such as F-O-R-M, Antimatter, Cinematica, NorthWest Film Forum’s Local Sightings, Cadence Video Poetry Festival, Art Volt, and Moving Images ScreenDance Festival. As an artist, she seeks to intrigue and engage, exploring the tension between the ephemeral dancing body and the ostensible permanence of digital landscapes.

http://www.instagram.com/tamamamar/

As You Move Through The World – created by Alanna Ho, Hadis Kakanejadi and Tamar Tabori

Globes anchored to the ocean floor.
‍
Reflection of a broad language network.

Generative design, impossible dance movements and floating sounds.

Controllers invite you to control where you move.

You influence our performance.

Communication is key.
‍
‍Lead someone up the garden path.

Andrea Wong is an emerging mixed-media artist and sound designer based in Vancouver, Canada. Her musical background stems from classical piano and Canadian folk fiddle. Andrea discovered an interest in sound and technology and a love for cross-discipline collaboration during her enrollment in UBC’s Applied Music Technology program. Here, Andrea was a programmer at Sonic UBC Laptop Sounds and Sensors (SUBCLASS), where she worked alongside other musicians and dancers in composing for interactive media art performances. Andrea is also the creator of CHIMIRA (Color-Hearing Interface + Motion-Image Relaying Apparatus), an electronic tabletop instrument that controls various aspects of sound through the manipulation of data from coloured objects. Her most recent sound design work specialized in audio for interactive media including virtual reality games and simulations. With a passion for experimentation and learning, Andrea is pursuing using extended reality (XR) mediums to create immersive experiences as well as engaging pedagogical practice tools for music-learning youths. Currently, Andrea works with piano students at Alla Breve School of Music and is further developing CHIMIRA for electroacoustic music performance and installation art.

www.ahywong.com

Space Garden – created by Ruby Singh and Andrea Wong

Space Garden is a virtual WebXR space remixed to exhibit digital media work by multimedia artists Ruby Singh and Andrea Wong. Come explore a meditative polyphonic garden of 360° video domes, wisps of folk instrumentals, poetry and spacious vocals sown throughout a floating galactic island.

Photo by Fletch Power.

Kiran Bhumber ਕਿਰਨਦੀਪ ਕੌਰ ਭੰਬਰ is an Indo-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist, composer, performer and educator. Her practice considers the mediation of memory through emerging technologies and how the body reinscribes memory into the present. Her work results in constructing interactive installations and performances that examine movement, touch and cultural memory. As a composer, Kiran’s practice centers around multichannel and spatial arrangements and how the choreography of sound can influence the listeners notion of space, time and narrative. Kiran is a co-director of INTER/MEDIATE, a media art educational festival focused on cultivating growth within Vancouver’s media art communities and empowering marginalized communities with access to workshops, artist talks and collaborative opportunities.

kiranbhumber.com

Nancy Lee 李南屏 is a Taiwanese-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist, curator, filmmaker, DJ and cultural producer. Their work stimulates and enlivens space, making a provocative statement about how inescapably interconnected we are with our surroundings. This notion of staging is a constant in Nancy’s work and underpins their projects, from their early work as a filmmaker, through their conception of live events, and into the realms of XR, new media performance and installation, where their art practices continue to coalesce and evolve. Nancy is a co-founder and co-producer of CURRENT Symposium, an intersectional and multidisciplinary initiative featuring programming for and by women, nonbinary artists and artists of colour.

nancylee.ca