UNews - Crossing Boundaries

Crossing Boundaries Symposium now in its fourth year

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 20:49:41 +0000

The fourth annual Crossing Boundaries Symposium, presented by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Fine Arts, brings together interdisciplinary members of the community, faculty, students and alumni to engage in a full day of presentations, discussions, displays and performances.

Brad Parker listens to the Aeolian Harp he built with music student Jess Tollestrup.

“Crossing Boundaries invites our community to experience the collaborations, creative activities and research across multiple disciplines,” says Dr. Mary Ingraham, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts of the Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 event. “It is about discovering and celebrating those cross-collaborative intersections and synergies and finding inspiration to explore new areas of thought and research in the fine arts and across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.”

The theme for Crossing Boundaries 2019, Languages | Landscapes | Algorithms, is established with the keynote presentation by Leanne Elias (new media) entitled, Visualizing Agriculture, at 9 a.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall. Elias’s talk includes the premiere of the documentary of the same name, co-directed by Bryn Hewko (MFA '16) and his company Output Media, which revolves around the creative works and artist exhibition derived from agricultural data developed by Dr. Jaime Larson and Dr. Andre Laroche of the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre: Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Visualizing Agriculture considers the counterpoints of art meeting science and investigates the effect of intensive collaboration. Discover how artists can use the scientific process to guide their art, and how scientists can use artistic ways of knowing to approach their data in new ways.

Jess Tollestrup works on the Aeolian Harp, on display at Crossing Boundaries.

Following Elias’s keynote presentation, MFA candidate Michelle Sylvestre will speak on her research, Physicalizing Control, Disruption and the Body, which examines the parallels and differences in contemporary pharma and contemporary technology in relation to control of the body. PhD candidate Migueltzinta Solis will then present on LandMarks: Site-Based Arts Pedagogy in Treaty 7 Territory. At 10:40 a.m., Department of Psychology faculty member, Dr. Javid Sadr, and Department of Drama faculty members, Dr. Aaron Taylor and Douglas MacArthur cap off the morning programme, discussing projects developing from the Screen Acting and Embodied Recognition Research Group.

Registrants are invited to observe and interact with student research displays and installations from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., located in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Atrium and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Hess Gallery.

This year’s Crossing Boundaries Symposium is scheduled during the U of L Open House, which welcomes prospective students and their families to campus.

“Coordinating the symposium during this event gives future students the opportunity to see a sampling of the fascinating research opportunities and collaborative activities on our campus,” says Ingraham. “It allows these students to experience the types of work and study they will engage in and provides great interaction with many of the faculty who will also be in attendance at the symposium.”

Afternoon sessions include Dr. Amandine Pras’s (music) presentation focussing on compositional and improvisational tools used by studio technicians as part of her research in the recording studios in war-torn Bamako, Mali. Continuing on the theme of sound, language and landscape, a talk by MA candidate Tyler Stewart examines the role sound has played as a political instrument to silence dissenting groups and individuals, and in turn, how language and sound is used to resist and rise against such powers.

A panel discussion, Objects Dream comprised of Fine Arts faculty members, Dr. Dana Cooley (new media), Denton Fredrickson (art), Mia van Leeuwen (drama), and Dr. D. Andrew Stewart (music), rounds out the afternoon’s sessions. This discussion explores the relationships and interactions of material objects, and their associations as a link across artistic disciplines.

This year’s Crossing Boundaries Symposium showcases an evening finale of works by Dr. Arlan Schultz (music), Dr. Daniela Sirbu (new media) and a collaborative presentation by Bryn Hewko (new media), Dr. D. Andrew Stewart (music) and Jordan Berg. Schultz’s live demonstration highlights how new algorithms for real-time immersive audio can be used to enhance and augment real-time acoustic performances. Sirbu’s presentation incorporates algorithmic animation demonstrated through samples of live animation developed in interaction with an artificial life system. Hewko, Stewart and Berg’s collaborative performance, Crawlspace, combines film with live digital coding. Audience members are invited to use their own personal tablets to create their own viewing experience, with one lucky audience member outfitted with the Oculus Rift for a full virtual reality experience. This showcase begins at 5 p.m. in W420 (Centre for the Arts), preceded by a reception and cash bar at 4:30 p.m.

Registration for Crossing Boundaries is open to all, with early bird pricing active until October 20, 2019.

Visit the Crossing Boundaries webpage for the schedule of events and updated information as it arises.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ hosts Crossing Boundaries and IAST 2018, a Collaborative Symposium

trevor.kenney — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 21:42:32 +0000

Leaders, researchers and students throughout Western Canada, representing 13 universities, in the areas of interactive arts, sciences, and technology will meet on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus October 25-27, for Crossing Boundaries and IAST 2018, a Collaborative Symposium.

The three-day symposium, featuring presentations, performances, displays, lectures and cluster meetings aims to capture a wide audience. The goal is to facilitate exchanges and networking opportunities while providing a foundation for creative presentation, research and a sharing of ideas in the merging disciplines of interactive arts, sciences and technology.

Established by the Faculty of Fine Arts in 2016, the Crossing Boundaries Symposium has become a respected platform focusing in the areas of art and technology, hosting internationally recognized key-note speakers as part of its program and providing opportunity for students to share their creative initiatives, engaging with a broader community. The partnership between Crossing Boundaries and the inaugural IAST 2018 symposium presented even further opportunities for networking and participation on a national level.

IAST principal co-chair and Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Music faculty, Dr. D. Andrew Stewart saw Crossing Boundaries as an excellent opportunity to host the IAST (Interactive Art, Science, and Technology) 2018 symposium. After applying and being awarded the maximum funding for a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant, Stewart set the wheels in motion to bring IAST 2018 to uLethbridge.

“Both Crossing Boundaries and IAST mutually benefit since our initiatives line up,” says Stewart. “The Crossing Boundaries committee saw ways for our activities to coincide, and as such, participants will be exposed to the many people and expertise that IAST brings.”

The goals of IAST are to establish a framework and foundation for an art and technology cluster in Western Canada for individual scholars and artists, public research centres, universities, and associated institutional organisations. Digital media arts, music, visual arts, aboriginal research, theatre, film, computer and applied sciences, electrical engineering, creative writing, and dance are among the general disciplines represented by interested participants.

“The merging of art and technology is certainly not new,” explains Stewart. “However, there is a lack of coordination between institutions when it comes to art and technology. IAST hopes to provide a mechanism for communication and an increased trans-disciplinary interaction among experts in these disciplines. Central to IAST is a belief that its participants seek new modes of human expression that broaden and deepen our abilities to communicate through art and culture creation.”

Dr. Bob Pritchard, IAST co-chair and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia School of Music faculty, identified the need and benefit for a Western Canadian coordinating body in the research areas of interactive arts, science, and technology.

“While Winnipeg is essentially the geographic centre of Canada from west to east, it often seems that the distance between Western Canadian institutions is far greater than it is in Eastern Canada. Communication between research groups can be difficult, especially when the disciplines are not identical, such as between theatre technology, music performance, and visual arts. Our project is unique in that it will create strong connections between often-separated research areas in Western Canada, supporting a collaborative approach to research, development, and performance/presentation.”

Unique to the IAST 2018 Symposium are the scheduled cluster meetings: high level logistical discussions surrounding the formalization of an association among universities, open only to IAST registered guests. Presentations, exhibitions, and performances by U of L and visiting ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, open to both Crossing Boundaries and IAST registrants, provide further opportunity to share research and creative initiatives, network, and facilitate further discussion surrounding how IAST will formalize as a future national body.

Two keynote lectures by Dr. Aleksandra Dulic (UBC-Okanagan Campus, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and Director of the Centre for Culture and Technology) and Dr. Sid Fels (UBC-Vancouver Campus, Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science) cap the three-day event.

“Dr. Aleks Dulic is internationally known for her work in interactive art, especially in the areas of inter-cultural community, learning, performance, and computing,” says Pritchard. “Her art and code are very sophisticated, but they strongly connect with the communities in which they are created and displayed. As a keynote speaker she has the experience of working internationally in collaborative situations, but also the experience of carrying out research-creation locally, in the Okanagan.”

“Dr. Sid Fels is an electrical/computer engineer with a strong interest in interdisciplinary collaboration. Internationally recognized for his work in biomechanics modeling, human-computer interaction, and arts and technology, in 2001 he was one of the founders of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), an international organization that brings together musicians, engineers, software developers, and performers. He was the director of UBC’s Media And Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre (MAGIC) and he leads the UBC Human Communications Technology Lab,” says Pritchard. “Both of these keynote speakers have a deep familiarity with technology and the arts, and an awareness of the benefits to society through the promotion and propagation of interdisciplinary activities. Their own technical and artistic work can serve as models for many other artist-researchers who wish to develop collaborative approaches with others and with other labs.”

Integral to the success of the symposium are the opportunities available to students through presentation of creative works and displays, as audience members, or by assisting with the coordination of the symposium itself.

Although all reservations are filled for IAST guests, registration is still open for Crossing Boundaries participants. Early bird registration ends on October 19.

To register, and for more information, visit Go.uleth.ca/cboundaries. For more information about IAST, visit http://iast.ca.

UNews - Crossing Boundaries

Crossing Boundaries Symposium now in its fourth year

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��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ hosts Crossing Boundaries and IAST 2018, a Collaborative Symposium

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ hosts Crossing Boundaries and IAST 2018, a Collaborative Symposium