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- ItemThe Blood song winter count: a cycle of musical compositions interpreted through the perspective of Blackfoot ritual and Indigenous storywork(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Music, 2023) Day Rider, Sonny-Ray; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Schultz, ArlanThe Blood Song Winter Count, is a collection of five (5) musical works that collectively function as sonic symbols which document my personal experience of grief and loss. These works function as ritualized emotional “time capsules” of my lived experience and are interpreted through my Indigenous knowledge inheritance of Blackfoot storywork and ritual. Although this supporting paper is meant to contextualize their creation, this document also serves a relational seed to root myself in an audiences’ soil. To fully decipher the sonic symbols that make up The Blood Song Winter Count, you must fully understand their ancestral lineage, which ultimately originates with the land and with an emotional-spiritual ecosystem within me.
- ItemThe looking glass: decolonizing perceptions on culture through virtual worldbuilding and speculative fiction(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of New Media, 2023) Omubor, Monioluwa; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Sirbu, DanielaThe Looking Glass is an MFA thesis project which raises questions concerning the ways in which culture, specifically Yoruba culture is perceived, interacted with, and experienced. It examines the discourse surrounding colonized and marginalized identities and explores how the literary tool of speculative fiction in combination with 3d computer graphics can be employed in subverting and decolonizing these conversations in the area of new media art. The project features a series of 3D computer generated portraits, landscapes, and short video clips which serve as “moving” or “living” paintings, with each piece revolving strongly around a selected element of Yoruba culture. The subjects are situated against a surrealist backdrop while staged and presented with a minimalist aesthetic, an approach specifically selected to convey the themes and ideas for which are argued. Through this, each piece serves as a corner for critical reflection, reconciliation and exploration. Ultimately, the thesis investigates channels for the expansion of 3D computer graphics and its worldbuilding capabilities in the effort of propagating critical reflection through speculative work.
- ItemWhisper: a nature-centred generative music performance(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2023) Abu-Rahma, Tareq ; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Stewart, D. AndrewIn my research-creation project, I create a digital musical instrument, referred to as Whisper, to investigate the capacity of wind to perform. By integrating principles of digital musical instrument design and generative music, as well as exploring the decolonisation of western classical musical practices, I create a multisensory, site-specific, technology-based performance that highlights the wind as the central performer. The music performed with Whisper consists of two parts, each part using a generative music system that responds to wind speed measurements in order to trigger sound events and create musical notes whose sounds are generated by both commercially available virtual instruments and my own custom-built software synthesis engines. With Whisper, I also investigate the decolonisation of musical practices and emphasise the principle of interconnectedness that exists among all life forms and relationships. Interconnectedness holds significant importance within Indigenous worldviews in particular. I study and incorporate Niitsi'powahsin (Blackfoot language) as a vital component of nature's performance. To guide my exploration, I draw inspiration from the scholarly works and calls to action put forth by Dr. Leroy Little Bear and Dr. Dylan Robinson.
- ItemStrange world: immersive experience through interaction and projection mapping(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2023-08-21) Moon, So Eun; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Sirbu, Daniela“Strange World: Immersive Experience Through Interaction and Projection Mapping” is an MFA Thesis Project that focuses on immersion through direct participation and explores possible expansions of affordances of projection mapping as an artistic medium. In this project, videos of personal experiences of isolation and gradual emergence of a sense of community in unknown environments with cultural differences are implemented in surrealistic style. These videos create a 180-degree projection mapping art, making multiple videos that reflect various personal experiences merged into one virtual space. This virtual space tries to convey the message that we need understanding and empathy for each other. The thesis project also includes experiments with interactive video aiming to engage the audience more actively. The thesis project explores options for implementing immersive experiences in a transitional period of digital innovation, where advanced technologies move into different fields and converge into new forms of expression.
- ItemTuning into the audible: an arts-based investigation into human connections with acoustic environments(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2023) Milinusic, Christina M.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Fine Arts; Schultz, ArlanTuning into the Audible is an arts-based research project probing human connections to the physicality and phenomena of sound-in-space. Sound shapes our spatial reality. To confirm that sound shapes the human sensory and perceptual experience of space, analog and digital technologies, including custom built listening devices, spatial field recordings, and unconventional mixing practices are used. The theremin, a space- controlled instrument, facilitates physical engagement with sound-in-space, expressing sound as an aggregate, synaesthetic experience; musical, experiential, visual, and gestural. Performances on theremin, sound visualizations using a Chladni plate, and creative electroacoustic sound production devices are used to interact with and draw analogs to specific acoustic environments under investigation. Recordings of acoustic energy in soundscapes, investigations into hearing mechanisms across species, and assessments of the psychoacoustical impacts of listening, inform the inquiry. The primary methodology of this project is the creation of aural adventures through geological, biological, and anthropological soundscapes. These adventures, in the form of electroacoustic compositions, seek to connect and calibrate a listener’s deeper awareness of human spaces and draw attention to the often-ignored sonic environments of its inhabitants. The ultimate purpose of this research is to expand an understanding of human connection to acoustic ecology, bring awareness to how diverse species hear the world, and tune into our anthropocentric impressions of sound-in-space.