Terrestrial
Two sound art performances brought to you by Sensorium: the Centre for Digital Art and Technology at York University and are part of the Climate Change Awareness Month 2023.
On March 10th Allan Gardens will feature a set of two live sound art performances exploring immersive soundscapes both inspired and generated by elements of the natural world for the purpose of heightening a sense of interconnectedness between participants and their surroundings.
More information about Sensorium can be found at this link: https://www.yorku.ca/research/climate-change-research-month/
3:30 pm: To Breathe in the Sky by Archer Pechawis, Grace Grothaus, Joel Ong
This meditative performance combines traditional Cree song, wind data, tuning forks, and electric guitar to connect participants with the natural world. By emphasizing the daily circadian rhythm of life, the artists remind us of the importance of being attuned to the natural cycles and rhythms of the world around us. They encourage us to slow down and take the time to appreciate the invisible phenomena that are all around us, and to reconnect with the natural world in a profound and meaningful way. By highlighting the interconnectedness between living beings and the shifting conditions of our environment, it invites us to think more deeply about our place in the world.
Archer Pechawis was born in Alert Bay, BC. He has been a practicing artist since 1984 with particular interest in the intersection of Plains Cree culture and digital technology, merging "traditional" objects such as hand drums with digital video and audio sampling. His work has been exhibited across Canada,
internationally in Paris and Moscow, and featured in publications such as Fuse Magazine and Canadian Theatre Review. Archer has been the recipient of many Canada Council, BC Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council awards, and won the Best New Media Award at the 2007 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts
Festival and Best Experimental Short at imagineNATIVE in 2009. Archer has worked extensively with Native youth since the start of his art practice, originally teaching juggling and theatre, and now digital media and performance. He is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Performance at York University and a member of Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, Saskatchewan.
Grace Grothaus is a computational media artist whose research questions center around ecosystemic human and plant relationships in relation to the present global climate crisis and speculative futures. Her artworks have been exhibited widely throughout North America and abroad on five continents including at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, FR), the World Creativity Biennale (Rio de Janiero, BR), Environmental Crisis: Art & Science (London, UK), and the International Symposium of Electronic Art (Barcelona, ES & Durban, SA).
Joel Ong is a media artist whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the environment, particularly with respect to sound and physical space. He is Associate Professor in Computational Arts and Director of Sensorium: The Centre for Digital Art and Technology at York University
4:00 pm: Connected by Seylon Stills
To experience her performance is to experience a deeper sense of connectedness. Seylon Stills' interactive, original media art creates a new sense of togetherness using the very technology often criticized for pulling us away from the present moment (our smartphones). Her innovative exploration of proprioception guides participants into experiencing a new sense of their identity in relation to others. Her nature-inspired soundscapes and immersive sonic textures build a new frame for community.
Seylon Stills' inventions draw on her MA in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education while her focus on mindfulness and vulnerability draw on her BS in Psychology. By creating a new application for technology in which individual cellphones are used to create one sound, her work symbolizes our delicate connectedness to one another and the natural world.
Seylon Stills is a composer, artist, and innovator, heavily influenced by the natural beauty of the island of Srilanka, her birthplace. Her performances, installations, and artist talks have been presented by The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Museum, Cole Art Center, Currents New Media Festival, Contemporary Austin, UTOPiAfest and Stephen F. Austin State University.