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Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community, co-hosted with BronxNet and Pregones PRTT served as an introduction to immersive technologies and provided audiences both virtually and in-person with an entry point to immersive services, facilities and equipment available to artists and the community. Throughout the sessions En Foco addressed the critical lack of tech-based programming and support in the Bronx, and empowered other community organizations and institutions to begin thinking about how to implement immersive technologies in ways that prioritize cultural equity and access.
Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community Session #1: Intro to Immersive Tech Ft. Antonio Serna, Betty Yu, Will Roberts, and Trish Gianakis.
The First of the Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community workshops was held August 11, 2022 from 6-8pm on Zoom. The introductory session introduced attendees to Augmented (AR), Mixed (XR/MR), and Virtual (VR) Reality, the MetaVerse, and focused on No, Low, high cost examples of the available systems used to access the technology. The session also included a definitions guide.
About the Panelists
Antonio Serna is a Mexican-American artist with both a collective and studio based practice. His current projects include Documents of Resistance: Artists of Color Protest, an art/research project focusing on the history of art and activism of people of color, and The Same Sun / Calendar, a multimedia mediation on time, place, and race. Working collectively, he is currently a member of the NYC Museum Workers’ Organizing Committee, a by-and-for worker empowerment and solidarity group.
Betty Yu is a multimedia artist, photographer, filmmaker and activist born and raised in NYC to Chinese immigrant parents. Yu integrates documentary film, new media platforms, and community-infused approaches into her practice. She is also a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-gentrification organizing.
Trish Gianakis is an immersive, Emmy Award winning artist, digital art professor, NFT expert, published poet and artisan in residency at Bronxnet TV.Since March of 2021, she is known for turning her physical art into NFTs, incorporating 3D animations, augmented reality and creating Metaverse Art Galleries.
Will Roberts is a storyteller, spatial thinker, designer, 3D artist with a background in UX design. His strengths are designing experiences that bridge the physical and virtual. From concept to completion, he builds installations, games and storyworlds in the form of augmented and virtual reality. He’s committed to designing experiences that help one maximize their physical potential.
Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community Session #2: Performing Arts and Immersive Tech Ft. Pregones PRTT, Kyoung’s Pacific Beat, North Star Projects, and the Anonymous Ensemble.
The second session was held August 19, 2022 from 5-7pm, and addressed the questions: Are new and immersive technologies ushering in a new era of experimental, hybrid digital and live performance for global majority artists? What do Immersive Technology, AR/VR, MR/XR, and their kind have to offer theater creatives in terms of freedoms of expression? Do they widen or bridge the gap between artists and audiences, producers and consumers, individuals and community? This panel engaged with early adopters in the performing arts in conversation about what attracted them to these emergent technologies, what has worked, what’s ahead, and how can presenting venues can best support this kind of work.
About The Panelists
KYOUNG H. PARK is a North Korean writer and theater-maker, born and raised in Santiago, Chile, currently living in Brooklyn, New York. As Artistic Director of Kyoung’s Pacific Beat, he has written/directed three full-length plays and created over 35 community-based, experimental projects including performances for new media. His work centers stories of (im)migration, queerness, identity and the ways these intersect in communities of color; it’s described as “intensely personal” by American Theater Magazine and “very much of this moment” by the New York Times.
EAMONN FARRELL is a Brooklyn-based video designer and theater/media maker. With his company, Anonymous Ensemble, he has created dozens of original media-based performances and events in New York City and around the world. Eamonn teaches “Projected Spaces: Experimental Set Design” at City College and “Live Film: Media Design for Performance” at Princeton University. www.eamonnsgarden.com
LUCRECIA BRICEÑO is a Peruvian artist currently based in Brooklyn. Her work has been associated with artists developing innovative and original pieces. Her work includes theatre, opera, puppetry & dance, as well as collaborations in several non-performance projects. She is an associate artist with The Civilians, a Core Member of Anonymous Ensemble, a resident designer with Pregones Theatre/PRTT and La Micro. MFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Member of 829.
ADRIANA GAVIRIA is an actor, producer, director, writer, and advocate in the United States. She is a founding member and artistic producer of The Sol Project, a national initiative to support Latinx theater, and the founder and producing artistic director for North Star Projects, an arts initiative that supports independent artists and theaters. Her advocacy also includes leadership roles with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL).
GABRIEL TORRES is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia and New York. Torres’ work deals in the conversations between community engagement, creative placemaking, theater making and film. Gabriel is currently working on Haus of Dust, a campaign to bring awareness about substance use in latinx queer communities from his personal experience. To learn more, visit iamdust.org | gabrielgtorres.com
Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community Session #3: Community and Immersive Tech Ft. Najiyah Edun, Antonio Serna, Jessica Quinones of BronxWorks, Adriana Gaviria of North Star Projects, and Will Roberts.
The third session was held August 30th, 2022 from 5-7pm, and focused on the vast intersections of immersive technology, and Community, as relating to organizations and individuals, continuing the sharing of valuable informational tools and promoting community engagement and accessibility to immersive technology resources.
About the Panelists
NAJIYAH EDUN is an interdisciplinary artist, spatial designer, and creative technologist based in NYC.Trained and licensed as an architect, she has since worked on the design and development of a number of cultural institutions such as Philarmonie de Paris Concert Hall, the US Embassy compound in Nigeria. For the past few years, she has been examining the intersections of the digital and the physical. Her work has been featured at Le Palais de Tokyo in Paris, at the Gray Area Showcase, at the D3 Gallery in NYC, and at Makerfaire.
ADRIANA GAVIRIA is an actor, producer, director, writer, and advocate in the United States. She is a founding member and artistic producer of The Sol Project, a national initiative to support Latinx theater, and the founder and producing artistic director for North Star Projects, an arts initiative that supports independent artists and theaters. Her advocacy also includes leadership roles with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL).
WILL ROBERTS is a storyteller, spatial thinker, designer, 3D artist with a background in UX design. His strengths are designing experiences that bridge the physical and virtual. From concept to completion, he builds installations, games and storyworlds in the form of augmented and virtual reality. He’s committed to designing experiences that help one maximize their physical potential.
ANTONIO SERNA is a Mexican-American artist with both a collective and studio based practice. His current projects include Documents of Resistance: Artists of Color Protest, an art/research project focusing on the history of art and activism of people of color, and The Same Sun / Calendar, a multimedia mediation on time, place, and race. Working collectively, he is currently a member of the NYC Museum Workers’ Organizing Committee, a by-and-for worker empowerment and solidarity group.
JESSICA QUINONES, STEAM Program Specialist and Youth Facilitator with BronxWorks.
Immersive Technology: Art, Activism, and Community Session #4: Artists and Immersive Tech Ft. BronxNet, Betty Yu, Will Roberts, and Trish Gianakis.
The final session was held on September 13, 2022, from 6-8pm, at the BronxNet Immersive Studios at La Central in the South Bronx. The session prioritized hands-on demonstrations and each panelist covered a different tool or app used to create immersive experiences including: Adobe Aero, Spark AR, blippAR, & Echoes.XYZ.
About the Panelists
TRISH GIANAKIS is an immersive, Emmy Award winning artist, digital art professor, NFT expert, published poet and artisan in residency at Bronxnet TV. Since March of 2021, she is known for turning her physical art into NFTs, incorporating 3D animations, augmented reality and creating Metaverse Art Galleries.
WILL ROBERTS is a storyteller, spatial thinker, designer, 3D artist with a background in UX design. His strengths are designing experiences that bridge the physical and virtual. From concept to completion, he builds installations, games and storyworlds in the form of augmented and virtual reality. He’s committed to designing experiences that help one maximize their physical potential.
BETTY YU is a multimedia artist, photographer, filmmaker and activist born and raised in NYC to Chinese immigrant parents. Yu integrates documentary film, new media platforms, and community-infused approaches into her practice. She is also a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-gentrification organizing.
ABOUT EN FOCO | En Foco, Inc. is a non-profit that supports U.S.-based photographers of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander heritage. Founded in 1974, En Foco makes their work visible to the art world, yet remains accessible to under-served communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, events, and publications, it provides professional recognition, honoraria, and assistance to photographers as they grow into different stages of their careers. For more information, please visit: www.enfoco.org.
ABOUT BRONXNET | BronxNet provides hands-on television production training, equipment access, and channels for Bronx residents. Award-winning BronxNet programs keep BronxNet in touch with the people, issues, neighborhoods, and activities that make the borough what it is today. For more information, please visit: www.bronxnet.org
ABOUT PREGONES PRTT | Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (aka Pregones/PRTT) is a multigenerational performing ensemble, multidisciplinary arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan. For more information, please visit: www.pregonesprtt.org
ABOUT BRONX COUNCIL ON THE ARTS | A pioneering advocate for cultural equity, the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) nurtures the development of a diverse array of artists and arts organizations and builds strong cultural connections in and beyond The Bronx. For more information, please visit: www.bronxarts.org
Participating Organizations
ABOUT BRONXWORKS | BronxWorks helps individuals and families improve their economic and social well-being. From toddlers to seniors, we feed, shelter, teach, and support our neighbors to build a stronger Bronx community. In all aspects of our work, BronxWorks strives for the highest ethical and performance standards. We are guided by the belief that people must be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their present situation or past experiences. For more information, please visit: bronxworks.org
ABOUT KYOUNG’S PACIFIC BEAT | Kyoung’s Pacific Beat (KPB) is a peacemaking theater collective dedicated to working with artists, non-artists, and local communities to transform experiences of oppression into peace messages through public performance. For more information, please visit: kyoungspacificbeat.org/
ABOUT ANONYMOUS ENSEMBLE | Anonymous Ensemble was founded in 2001 and has created new work every year since. We have presented work throughout New York City and the United States, as well as Greece, England, Scotland, Norway, Germany, and Australia. anonymousensemble.org
ABOUT NORTH STAR PROJECTS | North Star Projects is a new arts initiative whose mission is to create a better world, one project at a time, by engendering experiences that empower, inspire, and build community through various platforms including live events and digital media. please visit: northstarprojects.org
This project is made possible with funds from the NYSCA in Partnership with Wave Farm: Immersive Art & Technology Initiative, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
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