The Sanctuary (100 Ochterloney St., Dartmouth, NS)
Saturday 15 October 2022
8pm – midnight
Immersive Infinite
IOTA Institute & Reimagining Atlantic Harbours for 2050 present Immersive Infinite, a tradeshow of work-in-progress immersive installations that explore water sovereignty. Artists, scientists, technicians and curators have come together to design immersive art prototypes to test in this public showcase. We treat “Immersive” as a place of convergence for broad audiences, curatorial concept, artistic creation, scientific inquiry, and new modes of data visualization. What ecological phenomena would you like to explore in immersive media?
Experiments in Light & Sound
Together, this group of artists and scientists sought out immersive technologies that communicate fluidity, translucency, and responsiveness, to reflect the water cycle. These installations translate radar maps, barometric pressure data from Hurricane Fiona, and hydrophone recordings of whales and water into immersive experiences.
As we explore these unfinished immersive prototypes we ask, what immersive technology/art do you want to experience in your city?
The Water Cycle
Halifax has a Combined Sewer System–where sewage and stormwater travel in the same pipes. Any sewer system has its limits of how much volume of sewage and stormwater it can handle, and heavy rain events cause our sewer system to exceed its capacity, and partially treated or untreated sewage reaches local bodies of water like the Halifax Harbour.
Toxicity is a spectrum–a body of water’s toxicity level changes based on currents, rainfall, dilution, and movement.
Access Note
Immersive Infinite takes place in a barrier-free former church space with a ramp from street level. This exhibition features two installations in separate rooms: one high-contrast bright black and white projection, and one motion-activated 360 degree sound piece. Each room is dark with ambient blue floor lighting. The walkway from the entrance to the installation is a gentle slope, with reflective tape guiding the way. There are pews available to watch the projection which are 15″ deep.
Three attendants with flashlights are able to offer assistance, ear plugs, or a QR code for a descriptive audio guide. There are no ASL interpreters, but the attendant at the entrance can communicate using printed materials.
All washrooms are non-gendered: one is wheelchair accessible, and two are not wheelchair accessible.
Masks are highly encouraged.
Participating Artists & Scientists
Jim Abraham
Carrie Allison
Sean Brilliant
David Clark
Or Denemark
Lindsay Bonnevie Dawn Dobbin
Séamus Gallagher
Ruth Marsh
Shen Molloy
I’thandi Munro
Marissa Sean Cruz
Organizing Team
Research Partner: Kelly Schnare (Reimagining Atlantic Harbours for 2050)
Exhibition Design & Accessibility Consultant: Kristina McMullin
Technical Directors: Nick Iwaskow (WaskoAV), Trevor DeSouza (groundSOUND)
Project Management Consultant: Alexis Cormier
This project is made possible through the support of Canada Council for the Arts, and Nocturne: Art at Night.
Carrie Allison
Participating Artist
Carrie Allison responds to her maternal Nêhiýaw/Cree and Métis ancestry, thinking through intergenerational cultural loss and acts of reclaiming, resilience, resistance, and activism, while also thinking through notions of allyship, kinship and visiting. Her work seeks to reclaim, remember, recreate and celebrate her ancestry through visual discussions often utilizing beading, embroidery, handmade paper, watercolour,... Read More
I’thandi Munro
Participating Artist
I’thandi Munro is a mixed Afro-Euro L’nu woman living in K’jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki, the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. Munro is Professional performance and visual artist.
Shen Molloy
Participating Scientist
As the Engagement Specialist for CIOOS (The Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System) Atlantic, Shen works to identify and develop relationships with potential data contributors and users, and participates in the CIOOS Communications Committee. CIOOS also now supports all physical, biogeochemical, and other essential ocean variables aligned with the Global Ocean Observing System, and we... Read More
Ruth Marsh
Participating Artist
Ruth Marsh's practice employs an absurdist approach which seeks to queer the intersections between DIY culture and science fact/fiction/fabulation/feminism to address absence, memory and healing in bodies and environments.
Sean Brilliant
Participating Scientist
Senior Conservation Biologist for Marine Programs at the Canadian Wildlife Federation Halifax Based Dal Prof. PhD in experimental marine ecology at the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities. Will speak to ocean stratification, species dynamics, line-less fishing. Sean Brillant joined CWF as the Manager of Marine Programs in 2010, leading the... Read More
Lindsay Bonnevie Dawn Dobbin
Participating Artist
Lindsay Bonnevie Dawn Dobbin is a Kanien’kehá:ka – Acadian – Irish water protector, artist, musician, storyteller, curator and educator who lives and works in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of Lnu’k (Mi’kmaq). Dobbin was born in and belongs to the Kennebecasis River Valley (from the Mi’kmaq word Kenepekachiachk, meaning “little long bay place”),... Read More
Or Denemark
Participating Scientist
Halifax-Based Water Quality statistical manager & Swim Guide Coordinator at Swim Drink Fish Or is the Swim Guide manager, a recreational Water Quality data-sharing platform. Their goal is to connect people to water by giving a simple answer to the complicated question ‘Should I swim here?’ With a background in Geography and Community Development,... Read More
David Clark
Participating Artist
Séamus Gallagher
Participating Artist
Seamus Gallagher ( BFA 2019) is a non-binary Halifax-based photo and virtual reality artist whose work primarily focuses on queer narratives and digital culture. Their work has shown in festivals/exhibitions in Switzerland, Los Angeles, and across Canada.
Jim Abraham
Participating Scientist
Climate Change expert representing meteorological data and Community-based rain gauge research stations with CoCORHAS, with knowledge of hurricane mapping and temperature databases. Jim has spent over 40 years studying weather, water and climate. He is currently President of the Canadian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society. He is well known nationally and internationally, and is frequently... Read More
YHZ Weather Guy Twitter / Canadian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society
Marissa Sean Cruz
Participating Artist
Marissa Sean Cruz is a digital multimedia and video performance artist from Kjipuktuk (so-called Halifax). Their experimental videos use 3D modelling, sound design and costumed performances to study identity and value systems. Remixes of pop culture and commercialized products are synthesized creating alternative narratives. These humorous works aim to process a fast-paced contemporary present... Read More
Nick Iwaskow
Technical Direction
Wasko AV is a multimedia and creative technology studio specializing in projection, production and motion graphics design. Our mission is to push the boundaries about what is possible within a space and use the environment as a canvas to create unique experiences for audiences of all types. With a passion for live event production,... Read More
Trevor DeSouza
Technical Direction
Through groundSOUND, Trevor DeSouza has been providing Audio/Visual, Production and Staging in Atlantic Canada since 2008. As a collaborator with IOTA on the 2018 Bio Art Series, Trevor produced dynamic and immersive sound design for a major exhibition of internationally-accalaimed bio artist Stelarc. Share
Alexis Cormier
Project Management Consultant
Alexis Cormier is a dancer, choreographer, director, producer, project manager, and strategic planner.
Kelly B. Schnare
Research Partner
Project Manager and Founder, Re-imagining Atlantic Harbours for 2050 A white settler, land-owner starting with the Acadian Expulsion, Kelly supports complexity through relationships and science-based narratives. Research on Volunteer Motivations, Water Budgeting and data visualization, she is trained in environmental science and engineering with a passion for watershed management. Practiced as a group facilitator,... Read More