AMPLIFY Digital Arts Initiative Collaboration Fund Awards

The AMPLIFY D.A.I Collaborations fund was launched in October 2020 to encourage international creative collaboration between the 80 cohort members of the AMPLIFY Digital Arts Initiative program from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Peru, UK and Venezuela.

As an agile and imaginative response to global pandemic confinement and the inevitable pivots and changes in plan required, British Council and Canada Council for the Arts redirected their funding commitment of £42,850/ $75 000 to remote ways of working internationally.

The call for submissions welcomed applications from women who participated in all three years of AMPLIFY D.A.I starting in 2018 — encouraging cross-cohort exchange, connecting complementary and different skill sets, pairing aesthetic inclinations, and fostering play in the context of experimentation across all borders. Approved projects displayed a clear motivation for collaboration and creative vision, potential for public showcasing, and articulated ways in which their proposals could impact artistic practice and professional development. A parallel bespoke mentorship program will accompany each project, to provide guidance and advice related to process and the realization and presentation of work.

A total of 11 projects were selected to receive funding to develop new collaborative work — and to help generate a momentum that will carry beyond the virtual existence of this year to anticipate the in-real-life proximities of the next.

Tapping into the rich and varied vein of talent and contemporary artistic ideation that powers the AMPLIFY network of creators, the final selection of projects include for instance VR and mixed reality audiovisual environments; voice, hypnosis and quantum physics; 3D video installation; social and political explorations of marginalized identities through sound, to research on the meanings of volume as a manifestation of power.

PROJECTS.

Stephanie Castonguay ^CA + Mercedes Invernizzi Oviedo & Laura Fuchs (Prifma) ^AR
Becoming Immanence
Combines Castonguay’s DIY electronics approach with the analogue-digital hybrid installation and live projection visual signatures of Prifma, in order to explore new devices and new audiovisual possibilities.

Gabrielle Harnois-Blouin ^CA + Sol Rezza ^AR + Analucia Roeder ^PE
Does Loudness Equal Power?
Research around the question: does loudness equal power? that will result in papers and presentations on the topic of volume and ways to consider power dynamics from social, political and aesthetic angles.

Tatiana Heuman (qeei) ^AR + Alejandra Cárdenas (Ale Hop) ^PE
Near and Remote Memory Reactivation Practices
Composition of sculptural musical notations inspired by the manipulation of biodegradable materials, which will guide the development of an audiovisual performance.

Robin Buckley (rkss) ^UK/DE + Andrea Ludovic VE + Veron Xio (x/o) ^CA
A:R:X
Three experimental producers undertake a cross-cultural musical collaboration exploring time, identity and synchronicity, culminating in a live performance.

Erin Gee ^CA + Libby Heaney ^UK
Q/oral : Quantum tongues
An online collaboration centered upon posthumanist materialism exploring vocalization, hypnosis, visual symbols, musical scores and quantum physics through audio/video artwork.

Frances Adair Mckenzie ^CA + GLOR1A ^UK
Seeing God(dess)
Live electronic vocal performance by GLOR1A using AR visuals and animation by Frances Adair; a visceral multi-layered live experience with a psychedelic post-performance augmented installation.

Vicky Clarke ^UK + Joaquina S. ^AR
Artefacts of Clay and Information
Sound artist Clarke meets new media and visual artist Salgado in an XR collaborative research project exploring the limits of material representation between the analogue-digital world and the impact on human perception.

Jennitza ^AR + Frances Adair Mckenzie ^CA
Space Portrait - Retrato Espacial
Live electronic performance and multi-screen stereoscopic video installation; spatialized sound by Jennitza and animated visuals by Frances Adair Mckenzie.

Erin Gee ^CA + Magdalena Molinari ^AR
Sensitive Superpositions
A residency period for developing collaborative immersive work online using VR technology, architectural principles, and music.

Edy Fung (Quantum Foam) ^UK + Florencia Alonso (Flor de Fuego) ^AR
Meteorological Cartomancer
An experimental audiovisual performance based on the aesthetics of chance and chaos—derived from producing a speculative tarot-style website as a methodology to generate ‘future prediction readings’ for mass internet users, with visual and sound art appeals inspired by different weather forms

Mimi Allard ^CA + Feli Cabrera López (Efe Ce Ele) ^AR
Our Space Between
A live A/V performance utilizing theories of embodiment, programming and machine learning, as a space of investigation, reappropriation and recovery.

More information about AMPLIFY D.A.I. and the artists can be found here.

About AMPLIFY
AMPLIFY Digital Arts Initiative connects and empowers an active network of women artists and professionals working in the digital arts, sound and immersive storytelling sectors in Canada, Latin America and the UK.

Harnessing different cultures and experiences, AMPLIFY D.A.I fosters a platform for dialogue on gender equity and commits resources to career and capacity-building activities, peer exchanges and showcasing opportunities in dynamic, contemporary festivals, events and residencies.

AMPLIFY D.A.I is an initiative of the British Council in partnership with MUTEK Montréal, MUTEK Buenos Aires and Somerset House Studios in the UK. The programme is supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Fundación Williams.

About British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.org

About Canada Council for the Arts
Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder. The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments contribute to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and support its presence across Canada and abroad. The Council’s investments foster greater engagement in the arts among Canadians and international audiences.

Credit: Frances Adair Mckenzie