8TH ANNUAL ‘NEW FORMS FESTIVAL’ ANNOUNCES VANCOUVER LINEUP, SEPTEMBER 18 TO 27

Vancouver BC – This year’s New Forms Festival will explore media arts from all corners of the earth through the theme of Mosaics. Works at the festival will examine cross-cultural media through video, sound, internet, print and writing.

“Anyone who uses digital technology – even a cell phone – will relate to the performances and exhibitions,” says Jennifer Maksymetz, the festival’s new Artistic Director. “New Forms has become the largest new media arts festival on the west coast, and has something for everybody.”

Part of a worldwide, multi-media festival movement, New Forms Festival 08: Mosaics explores the latest developments of new media art – including music, film, the internet and technology-based installations.

“A mosaic traditionally refers to art which uses pieces to create a whole,” she says, “but has also been used in multiple references across literature, media, science, software, video and religion.”

The Music and Visual series will feature the latest developments in dub, techno, ambient and live electronic music from Canadian and international artists.

The festival kicks off September 4 at the Opening Gala, where media and the public can rub elbows with artists. Come down to VIVO Media Arts Centre for refreshments and Performative, 6 to 10 pm, and stick around for the after party, 10 pm – 1 am at Open Studios.

“Risk-taking art needs cultural support,” says Maksymetz. “That’s what New Forms is all about. Our festival is never going to look the same two years in a row.”

PROGRAM

September 4

•    Spoken word artists from San Juan, Vancouver, Brooklyn, and Karachi use humour and contemporary political actions to challenge our obsession with the past in POL1T1C. VIVO.

•    Digital Chile_08 showcases 6 Chilean multidisciplinary artists and comes to Vancouver for the first time. VIVO.

•    Using two simultaneously scrolling texts, Act Pass to IR9 takes you on a journey up Galiano Island’s Porlier Pass Road to the Penelekut Indian Reserve #9. VIVO.

•    The Red Time of Three Gorges uses iconic images to weights China’s cultural revolution against the environmental impact of man-made inventions. September 4, Vivo.

•    Performative looks at how new forms of media are integrated through dance, lecture and installation art. 7 – 10 pm, Open Studios.

September 15 – 18

•    Brought to you as the inaugural event of SHARE – a global organization that supports collaboration in new media communities – Vision Division invites twelve participants to collaborate on a new media installation over four days, culminating in a final public performance. Workshops: September 15 – 17, noon – 6 pm daily / Performance: September 18, noon – midnight, Open Studios.

September 19

•    Cross Pollination pits Fond of Tigers vs. Secret Mommy Quintet, with both bands trading quotes and repertoire to blur boundaries between the two distinct musical entities. 10 pm, Open Studios.

September 20

•    Artcamp invites a select group of future visionaries to create a Vancouver manifesto, which will be sealed in a metal box until 2020. 2 pm, Intersection Digital Studio, Emily Carr.

•    A co-presentation of New Forms Festival and Lighta! Sound, Dubforms10 blends original visuals and live camera feeds with cutting-edge dub and bass, delivered in a soundsystem style. 10 pm, Open Studios.

September 21

•    Through six collaborative sessions, Open Mobile brings together artists and technologists to compare prototypes with proven mobile technologies and works. Intersections Digital Studio, Emily Carr. Check website for session times.

September 23

•    There’s no fixed agenda at Artists Talk – a frank Q & A involving Exhibition artists, some of whom will join the conversation via Skype. 8 pm, VIVO.

September 25

•    National Digital Media Day offers networking sessions through New Media BC. 6 – 8 pm, Radical Entertainment.

•    Inspired by Mosaic – the world’s first internet browser – Politube features highlights from the most influential online politically-minded videos. 8 – 9:30 pm, Radical Entertainment.

September 26

•    Featuring a global collective of DJs, Mosaic Soundz is World Music for the 21st Century and celebrates the sonic collision of international rhythms within the digital realm. 10 pm, Open Studios.

September 27

•    Techforms explores the man-machine concept by using technology to re-define the musical parameters and expectations of our time. 10 pm, Open Studios.

VENUES

VIVO Media Arts Centre
1965 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Open Studios
252 East 1st Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Intersections Digital Studio
Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design
1399 Johnston Street
Granville Island
Vancouver, BC

Radical Entertainment
8th Floor, 369 Terminal Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Gallery Gachet
88 East Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC