MISSION

AMAAS exists to advocate, educate, and celebrate the media arts in Alberta.

VISION

The media arts in Alberta is advanced through the generation of awareness, strengthening of connections, and continuous advocacy. AMAAS builds a sustainable and vibrant future for media arts in Alberta.

DEFINITION OF MEDIA ART

AMAAS defines media art as independent artist initiated and controlled use of film, video, new media, audio/sound art and related media.

Thursday, June 30

Dinner and Meet/greet/mix/mingle
With Kelly Andres
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Royal Canadian Legion #100

Prairie Media Arts Mycelial Network
A casual facilitated session with a couple of icebreakers to introduce people to one another followed by an introduction to the mycelium network map. Conference participants can add their personal or professional connections, skills, and interests to the prairie media arts ecosystem, a map that resembles a mushroom mycelia system. The map will be available throughout the conference for continual interaction. It will grow as we learn, share and connect with one another over the weekend. Additionally, an Instagram account will be set up for attendees to share their photos and ideas.

Friday July 1

Breakfast, Welcome from Elders, and Book Launch
8:30 - 9:30 am
Portage College

Book Launch: Landscape of Moving Images: a compendium of prairie cinema.

The anthology documents artists' work and independent film histories from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Covering a range of topics from individual artistic practices to the institutional histories of artist-run centres and queer film festivals, this publication assembles some of the perspectives and histories that give shape to prairie media arts.

Enter the Third Dimension with Matthew Waddell
9:30 - 10:15 am
Portage College

3D graphics are the building blocks for countless forms of contemporary media production including special effects, previsualizations, virtual set development, game development and many other computer graphic applications. This talk will offer an overview into the world of 3D graphics including popular software, rendering techniques, physics simulations and other practical applications to wrap your head around this new dimension of creativity.

Augmenting the Real / Immersed in the Virtual with Matthew Waddell
10:30 - 11:15 am
Portage College

Augmented and virtual reality offer new avenues to storytelling, education and artistic expression. Join the discussion around the many applications of these exciting new technologies while gathering a general understanding of how they work and where they are heading. Oh and the metaverse too!

Lunch & Keynote Speaker Michelle Wong
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Portage College Events Centre

Michelle Wong is a filmmaker, director, producer, activist and educator who will share her experiences as our Keynote Speaker. Along with a screening of Do Wok A Do, a whimsical short drama based on her childhood upbringing in St. Paul Alberta, Michelle will talk about the lifelong impact St. Paul has made on her storytelling both past, present and future.

Artist-in-Residence Panel discussion with Laura Anzola, Clea Karst, and Evan Pearce, led by Curator/Mentor Matt Wright
1:45 - 2:45 pm
Portage College

Three artists in residence developed eXtended Reality (XR) projects inspired by the UFO Landing Pad in St. Paul. Working remotely in Calgary, Edmonton and Medicine Hat, this panel will explore the successes and challenges of working with XR technology.

Artist-in-residence VR Gallery
3:00 - 5:30 pm | 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Portage College

The Roots of Inattention - An artist talk on mindfulness and the creative process, with aAron Munson
3:30 - 4:15 pm
Portage College

Filmmaker and multimedia artist aAron Munson explores the roots of our inattention through an artist talk that will present recent and current works while discussing the exploration of attention and how it has reshaped their artistic process. The talk will invite the conference attendees to reflect upon what it means to have agency of attention in a system that has commodified and managed attention through the modes of technology with which we communicate.

Dinner and Artist Talk with Adrian Stimson
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Royal Canadian Legion #100

Experiences as a War Artist to Performance Artist to Visual Artist and back again.

Multidisciplinary Artist, award-winning, internationally known member of the Siksika Nation, Stimson travelled with the Canadian Forces Artists Program to Afghanistan in 2010. In 2017, Stimson created "Trench." a five-day durational performance on the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation. The performance commemorates the approximately 4,000 Indigenous soldiers who served in the First World War.

CoVis_2021: Interactive Digital Art by Tyler Klein Longmire
7:30 - 10:30 pm
Royal Canadian Legion #100?

CoViz_2021 is an experiment in computer vision and real-time rendering of live motion-capture data. Using scavenged hardware, a beefy computer, custom CGI, and the free Unity game engine, I wanted to create a fun and accessible party favour, where the users’ movements get mapped onto outlandish characters in a 3D, cartoon world. Up to four people can dance together in front of the Kinect camera, and their movements are translated onto their cartoon avatars in real-time. They move when you move, dance how you dance. For a brief moment, you’re a digital puppeteer. It’s glitchy, it’s imprecise, but that’s all part of the fun.

Saturday, July 2

Breakfast?
8:30 - 9:30 am
Portage College

Discovering Augmented Reality [AR] with James Kuehn, MSc. Digital Media Design
9:30 am -12:00 pm
Portage College

This workshop will walk you through a playful approach to using augmented reality for your artistic practices. We will consider how AR can be integrated as an added representational level with other mediums that engages your audience in new ways. Case studies of working Canadian artists using AR will be presented.? By the end of this workshop, you will have produced your first augmented reality experiences.

What to bring:
No coding! No deep technical skills are required.
Laptop with internet connection and a web browser [chrome or firefox]
Charged phone or tablet [iOS or Android]
We are limited to 12 participants.

Digital Ecologies 101 with Kelly Andres
9:30 - 10:30 am
Portage College

A survey of artists’ projects and experiments that explore the interconnection between living phenomena and digital technology. From early cybernetic gardens, bio-art, and 3D printing with living spores. The presentation will provide a foundation for thinking with concepts such as feminist theorist Donna Haraway’s “naturecultures” and how the merging of technology and the living can enact potential for different inter-species encounters.

Start your Engines! with Matthew Waddell
10:45 - 11:45 am
Portage College

Game engine software, such as Unreal Engine and Unity, are changing the way media artists create, plan and deliver their work. From video games to interactive installations to virtual production in film and television, real-time engines are allowing artists to do the unimaginable with a fraction of the budget once required. Learn the basics of game engines and how these powerful software environments are changing the way we see reality.

Lunch, AGM, Report to the Membership,? Spirit of Helen Awards
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Portage College

What the NFT?! with Matthew Waddell
1:45 - 2:30 pm
Portage College

Hop on the rollercoaster and take a wild ride through the ever-changing world of NFTs. This discussion will cover the basics of NFTs - what they are, why the excitement, and the many ways they can be used (beyond JPGs.). This is no hype session! We will present critical reflections on the NFT ecosystem and start an ongoing discussion that can develop during the rest of the conference.

One2three4ormore
1:45 - 2:45 pm
Portage College

Grant writing speed dating led by Peter Hemminger. Pitch your idea to get feedback and suggestions for funding!

Artist-in-residence VR Gallery
3:00 - 5:30 pm | 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Portage College

Step into the eXtended reality projects of the AiR’s Laura Anzola, Clea Karst and Evan Pearce. Step into the eXtended reality projects of the AiR’s Laura Anzola, Clea Karst and Evan Pearce. Each of the projects will be available to experience in a VR Salon. Equipment is limited so a sign-up form will be used onsite to book your time.

Crash Course in Projection Mapping with Laura Anzola
3:00 - 5:30 pm
Portage College

Learn the fundamentals of projection mapping during this hands-on workshop that will cover everything you need to translate your videos or animations from the screen to the real world.

Workshop will cover:
Creating content for projection - tips on how to create content that fits the shape and context of the object you’re projecting into.
File formats - best formats for real time playback
Mapping - different software options for mapping and playing back your content
Basic equipment needs including projectors, cabling and video distribution.

What to bring:
Laptop - Mac or PC with Mad Mapper Demo installed (https://madmapper.com/madmapper/software)
There will be a limited number of projectors available for participants. Please consider bringing your own if you are interested in practicing your mapping.

Dinner & Artist Talk with Cheryl L'Hirondelle
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Royal Canadian Legion #100

A multidisciplinary media artist, performer, and award-winning musician, Cheryl L'Hirondelle is of Métis/Cree, French, German, and Polish descent. Her work is tied to her cultural heritage.

Quickdraw Animation Presents: Best of Giraf 2022?
9:00 - 10:00 pm
Elite Cinema

Music and Live Visuals with St. Paul Fiddle Performer Daniel Gervais
10:00 - 11:00 pm
Elite Cinema

yahkāskwan mīhkiwap (Light Tipi) - with Cheryl L’Hirondelle and Joseph Naytowhow
11:00 pm - 12:00 am
Lions Park Square, Main Street

Sunday

Breakfast & Conference Wrap Up with Kerry Maguire
9:30 - 11:00 am
Portage College

Check out Circle
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Portage College

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