RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Thanks for visiting! This site posts interviews, news, stories and jobs about Canadian advertising, marketing, public relations and technology companies - "the connected community". Go ahead, subscribe to our feed!

I made a trip to Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts this past Saturday to check out Axis Festival 2007. It’s basically a showcase where graduating students from Ryerson’s New Media Department display some of their works.

For those not familiar with the program here’s a little blurb from the website:

“The New Media program encourages students to expand their fluency in the field through discovery of the spaces and relationships between art, design, technology, innovation and invention……

….New Media students go on to enjoy careers in fields such as interactive media design, web design, multimedia design, film/video specializations, interface design, digital photography, entry-level animation, teaching and journalism.”

Based on the program description and some of the work I saw, it’s clear that the program leaves plenty of room for students to pursue whatever is of interest to them.

Some of my favorites (excerpts taken from Axis Festival guide):
TXTYOURTO, by Lisa Felepchuk

An online exploration of Toronto and its unique neighborhoods, TXTYOURTO invites users to contribute to the site via mobile phone messaging.

*I believe it is still a work in progress, but the website looks pretty cool. Check out TXTYOURTO here.

Malleable Music, by Paul Pritchard

A wearable piece that creates a unique musical composition by processing data about heart rate, temperature, change in direction and the noise level of the surrounding environment.

*This was one of the most popular exhibits at the event. Paul Pritchard had lots of people waiting in line to speak with him and try out his “wearable piece”.

Harmony, by Daniel Dwoskin

Harmony involves an organic “living” ear sculpture protruding from a fleshly canvas. As the installation sits unused, a dissonant soundtrack moans from a speaker inside the ear canal. As participants play with the sculpture by slipping needles in designated pressure points of the ear, the dissonant instruments begin to harmonize.
M.V.W & “The Best There Is”, by Kevin Teggart.

An online community utilized for amateur music videographers to connect and collaborate.

*I didn’t have time to see this one, but it looked interesting and relevant to what is happening with social networking right now.

I was at the showcase for a little over an hour, but could have easily stayed longer if it hadn’t been for a prior commitment. I also found a great article on the festival in last week’s Toronto Star. It’s definitely worth having a look at.

*Hard to picture in your mind, but it was fun to play with.

Categories: Toronto Tech Week
Tags: