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+NATURE

A site-specific immersive experience

+Nature is a site-responsive artwork conceived and executed during the Convergence Lab – an artist-in-residency at BANFF – in the weeks leading up to Convergence-the International Summit on Art and Technology. Designed for public interaction, it mutated over the course of three days, responding to the rhythms of nature and participation from the summit audience.

Client: BANFF CENTRE
Date: 2014
photo credit by Rita-Taylor & The Banff Centre

Team

Convergence Lab Participants
Christelle Bellini
Yael Braha
Tyler Fitzmaurice
Daniele Guevara
Daryl Hubert
Sean Procyk
Michael Wylegly
Convergence Lab Faculty
Lead Faculty: Marc-André Baril, Creative Technology Director, Moment Factory
Co-faculty: Aliya Orr, Multidisciplinary Designer
Guest Faculty: Gabriel Pontbriand, Creative Director, Environment Team, Moment Factory
Guest Faculty: Guillaume Lévesque, Interactive Developer, Moment Factory
Thank you to all artists-in-residence and Banff Centre staff who have contributed to this project.

Concept

Fire is the orchestrator of the installation: sensing technologies read and determine the health of the fire, generatively controlling a sound and visual experience. The fire also represents itself virtually throughout campus on its own TV channel.

A large firewood sculpture is installed on the Banff Centre campus. During Convergence, guests were invited to take the wood and add it to the fire-pit situated at the back of the Jean and Peter Lougheed Building. The sculpture acted as a direct invitation for participation as well as a live data-visualization of guest engagement over the three-day conference.

The notion of cohabitation between nature, humans, and technology has been a central theme throughout the Convergence Lab creation process. As a gathering point, the fire presents an opportunity to reflect upon and actively participate in the collective decisions that influence and shape our personal experiences in both the natural and the digital world.