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Urban Arboretum by magfoto+cymatiste

Presented at 401 Richmond St. to over 10000 visitors for Nuit Blanche Toronto 2023.

Supported by the City of Toronto.

An interactive art installation that needs the audience's voice to thrive. Digitally generated trees, vines and flowers are projected on a large wall, and respond to live audio from a standing microphone in front of the art. Visitors spoke, sang, clapped and played drums, bells and maracas to bring the art to life, cover the wall with vibrant flora and be part of this collaborative community creation.

This installation explores resilience, growth and collective imagination. The unique aesthetic of the algorithmic art blends organic and geometric elements, allowing for a high degree of complexity and variation, and resulting in a visual experience that is both precise and unpredictable. The overall effect is a mesmerizing, otherworldly beauty that centers the natural world and its adaptability as we plunge headfirst into an increasingly technological future.

 

Media artists magfoto and cymatiste drew from their experience in the live coding scene to develop this participatory artwork. Their passion for this improvisational art form was on full display as the artists periodically modified the code for the projections in real time throughout the night, creating a one of a kind experience for everyone who participated.

 

magfoto+cymatiste: Marcus Gordon + Sarah Imrisek

magfoto (Marcus Gordon) and cymatiste (Sarah Imrisek) are members of the Endemics live coding ensemble based in Tkaronto/Toronto. magfoto’s practice explores architectonic media interventions. He makes custom live coding tools for algorithmic composition and improvisation with analogue and digital synthesizers. cymatiste is a community-engaged artist making interactive installations and street art. Her work seeks inspiration from nature to find pathways to collective reintegration after trauma.

401 Richmond is a heritage-designated industrial building turned arts and culture hub. The building was originally constructed in several phases between 1899 and 1923 for the Macdonald Manufacturing Company. The building operated as a tin factory best known for its lithographic work. That artistic lineage is still seen today with a community of nearly 150 artists, cultural producers, nonprofits and microenterprises.

Contact me to host Urban Arboretum at your site.

© 2023 by cymatiste. 

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