Landmark by Katie Kehoe

Landmark is a site-specific interactive visual sound sculpture, which highlights the complex nature of society, acknowledges the ability of contemporary art to stimulate response, and empowers the singular active subject.

The visual component of this piece consists of several sheets of transparent paper framed and vertically layered so the layering of panes is apparent upon viewing the depth of the piece. Each sheet, identical in shape, portrays a form inspired by the shape of Toronto Island and is fully graphed with graphite in 1/8 inch cubes. Recorded with graphite in each graph is a letter of correspondence written to or by an island resident. Audio recordings of each story are played in unison. When observing the piece from a distance the stories are incoherent, overlapping visually and in sound. However, a closer inspection enables viewers to discern individual stories: the interior panes are removable and observers welcome to remove, read and replace them. A sensor detects the removal of a pane and increases the volume for which the perspective story is played. Observers are at liberty to spend as much or as little time as they want with the piece and engaged to approach and touch the art form to further their experience of it.

Landmark stands 14 inches high, 33 inches across, its depth varies depending on the number of stories collected. Graphite on tengu-jo tissue paper, framework of wood, mounted on a pedestal (adding 2-3ft to the height).

"Interactive art is the most relevant medium to pose questions and provoke observers to relate with other contextual elements that construct and designate a piece of art and give rise to a learning process. Audiences attending Landmark undertake a physical and mental interactive process that situates themselves in relation to Toronto Island and contemporary art."

Katie Kehoe is an emerging interdisciplinary artist creating works that stimulate audience-artwork interaction to further the experience for the artist, the participator and acknowledge the ability of art to provoke action, response and attention. With a background primarily in theatre, Katie has recently moved toward creating installation and performance art: collaborating with Darren Copeland (composer/sound designer), Laird MacDonald (lighting/set designer), and Kelci Archibald (performer) to produce Sonic Threesome a performance piece/installation for a Theatre Center ‘Bang’ (June 2004) and initiating a Performance Party series (April 2004). Performance Parties involve collaboration with other artists interested to explore and experiment with alternative mediums, approaches and concepts; each piece is presented to a limited attendance at Katie’s studio and a party follows. As a writer, director, performer and producer of theatre, Katie has presented and participated in various performing arts festivals across Canada and in Toronto: The Rhubarb Festival (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), Write From the Hip/Groundswell Festival (Nightwood Theatre), New Ideas Festival (Alumni Theatre), Free Fall Festival (Theatre Center) and independent works presented in Banff, Alberta; Margaree, NS; Halifax, N.S. Notably, Katie produced her own play Forecast on a pontoon barge at the Halifax Waterfront and assistant directed Dora nominated Fusion for DNA Theatre (Toronto).

Landmark is Katie's first piece to focus considerably on sound. She is grateful for the support and guidance received from Darren Copeland, Nadene Theriault-Copeland, David Roxborough, Richard Windeyer, Micheline Roi. Thanks also to Myles and Karly Kehoe, Jimmy Jones, Mary Hay, Elizabeth Aymer, Albert Fulton, St. Andrew by-the-Lake parishioners, Jim Ruxton and Nadine Jackson and James Van Bolhuis.

Still Ringing by Richard Windeyer

For generations of Torontonians, Toronto Island has been an essential means of escape from the noise and pollution of the city. The pews of St. Andrews church, and many other island locations are commonly regarded as choice locations for experiencing both a quiet relief from the city, and moments of peaceful introspection.

Still Ringing is an interactive sound installation exploring the impact of the city soundscape on physical memory and perception. Situated in a single church pew, its goal is to provide participants with a heightened contemplation of those sounds which are commonly and irrevocably etched within the ear through prolonged exposure to urban environments. As a listening experience, "Still Ringing" underscores the impact of this condition on the participant’s sense of personal connection with the outside world.

Richard Windeyer creates music, sound and visuals for experimental theatre, radio, film, and integrated media projects. He is a member of Dora Award-winning experimental performance collective Bluemouth Inc. Presents, and collaborates with a laptop music trio called Finger. His work has been heard across Canada, Europe, the UK, and over the Internet.

Wandering Sacred by Micheline Roi

Wandering Sacred is an audio installation that responds to the ever emerging sacred status of personal well-being.

Is personal well-being definable, knowable, static?
Is it within reach, attainable?

And what is to be said of the journey toward happiness?
The daily internal pilgrimages and their attendant diversions and obstacles.

Perhaps it is this: the journey itself that is sacred.

In Wandering Sacred the participant is placed at the entrance of a labyrinth and walks its circuitous path to the centre while listening to a soundscape of spoken text and ambient recordings of children.

Micheline Roi is a composer who considers herself an inclusionist, readily drawing on any and all stylistic idioms and twenty-first century techniques to portray emotive sound. She studied Queen's University and later at McGill University where she received her Masters of Music in composition. Roi has received awards and commissions from the Canada Council for the Arts, CAPAC, the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council and SOCAN.

Sound Travels Documents
Photo Exhibition by Stefan Rose

Sound Travels Documents is an exhibition of 24 black-and-white photographs by Stefan A. Rose documenting previous Sound Travels and Sign Waves events on Toronto Island. Translating the original auditory experience into the visual, using visual textures and point-of-view, the images are a record of soundwalks, participants, artists, and sound/new media installations.

Stefan A. Rose is a Waterloo-based photographer, poet, and video artist who studied both Engineering and Fine Arts at Mount Allison University. He works in various photographic formats and styles, in artistic and documentary forms. Stefan has collaborated with other visual artists in making limited-edition books, and taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions. He is also documentary photographer for NUMUS concerts, Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, and New Adventures in Sound Art. In 2002 Stefan received the Equinox Emerging Artists Video Award from Ed Video Media Arts Centre which enabled the creation of an original video piece premiered with the performance of Annie Gosfield's composition "Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery" by the Penderecki String Quartet during the 2003 Open Ears Festival. Stefan's latest collaboration with the PSQ, a video to accompany their performance of Steve Reich's "Different Trains", has been shown in Paris, Kauno (Lithuania), and Los Angeles. Stefan is working on a multi-disciplinary collaborative artistic documentary project called "Townsend Retraced" that examines the long-term impact of failed city planning upon a farming community, to be exhibited in September and October, 2004, in Simcoe, Ontario.

The Listening Gallery
curated by Darren Copeland (web site)

The Listening Gallery, curated by Sound Travels' Artistic Director Darren Copeland, will give visitors an opportunity to listen to past performances presented during the annual Sound Travels performances on Toronto Island. The works assembled for the listening gallery provide a very comprehensive cross-section of activity in experimental sound art and electroacoustic music.

Toronto Island Sound Map
By Don Sinclair with sounds collected by Darren Copeland and youth from the Hear Here workshop

Created by Don Sinclair with sounds collected by Darren Copeland and students during the "Hear here" youth workshop at the Power Plant. "Toronto Island Sound Map" is both an on-line and a gallery installation that uses a map of Toronto Island as an organizational tool and visual interface for visitors to trigger, mix together and compare different Toronto Island sounds. The audio component of this new media work consists of short soundscape compositions created during the "Hear here" workshop in which notions of representation and portraiture in sound art were explored in the compositions made by the participating youth in June 2004. The "Hear here" workshop was taught by New Adventures in Sound Art's artistic director Darren Copeland and co-produced with Charles Street Video, and the Power Plant gallery.

"Toronto Island Sound Map" provides an understanding of Toronto Island's sonic geography by drawing attention to the physical location of important Toronto Island soundmarks, keynote sounds, and other more unusual sounds that go unnoticed by many visitors to the island.

Around Radio roadmovies
Chantal Dumas, Christian Calon, and Don Sinclair

Media artist Don Sinclair collaborates with Christian Calon and Chantal Dumas on the new media interface 'Around Radio roadmovies'. The work draws from soundscapes and images collected during Dumas and Calon’s cross-Canada trip in preparation for their work Radio Roadmovies. The new media work is presented in two formats: an interactive computer installation as part of the Sign Waves installations, as well as on the soundtravels web site.

Christian Calon is a sound artist who lives in Montreal. His projects include sound installation, radio and concert works. Performed worldwide, he is renown for his original approach to sound shapes and narration. He has been honored in major international competitions. His works can be found on the emprientes DIGITALes label.

Chantal Dumas is an audio and radio artist who uses sound to explore new possibilities for narration. Since 1993 she has produced over 23 works for radio as a freelancer; her "stories" have been widely broadcast on public radio and at festivals. She has received awards including EAR International Competition (Hungary) and Phonurgia Nova International (France). Her works can be found on OHM editions and on 326music

Don Sinclair is a new media artist, professor, parent, and cyclist residing in Toronto. His creative work revolves around exploring interactive interfaces. Drawing from his diverse background in music, mathematics, computer science, and interdisciplinary studies, Don works in a variety of contexts including gallery installations, interactive dance, and the web. Don teaches New Media Art in the Fine Arts Cultural Studies Program at York University. In 2003 Don created Nanovideo, 10 Second OTES a series of nine very short videos exploring different locations from OTES. Oh, those everyday spaces (OTES), is a collection of 25,000 images gathered while cycling. Don also created the Interactive Art Web Site Variations / Variantes a database art interface to OTES. Also in 2003 Don collaborated with sound artist Andra McCartney to create the Installation Journées Sonores, Canal de Lachine an interactive installation at La Musée de Lachine from September to December 2003.