Tag: phi centre

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Arts

PHI Centre’s Horizons VR brings a whole new form to film

Adil Boukind/Centre Phi

The multipurpose venue displays award-winning virtual reality works

The PHI Centre reopened its Horizons VR exhibition on Nov. 9. The installation consists of four different rooms, each designated for a virtual reality exhibit, some including user-interactive elements. These award-winning pieces were all breathtaking in their own unique ways. Each one had me pulling off my headset either in complete awe or in intense reflection on the content I had just experienced.

Goliath: Playing with Reality is about a man who is diagnosed with schizophrenia after losing his parents, after which he spends several years in isolation taking strong medication. The protagonist, who goes by Goliath, finds solace in connecting with the outside world through video games after his return home. 

This piece is a true sensory overload. Bombardments of colours, shapes, and creatures create an intense feeling of hallucination and detachment from reality, all while keeping a video game theme as the virtual world demonstrates pixelated elements over many occasions. A few interactive moments involving first-person shooting and old arcade games allowed an extra level of immersion, and Tilda Swinton’s partial-narration was a soothing contrast to the chaos displayed throughout. 

Adil Boukind/Centre PHI

A following room is designated for the viewing of Reeducated, the animated true story of three strangers who were placed in a Xinjiang “reeducation” camp. The three men were caught in the middle of quite possibly the “largest internment of ethnic and religious minorities since the second world war,” according to The New Yorker. 

Displayed as a 360° VR short film, the memoir strikes emotion visually and through storytelling. The animation, created with a nod to Chinese ink wash painting, exposes the bleak horrors that average citizens must endure if they come from circumstances that aren’t to the government’s liking. As for the narrators, their friendship formed through hardship is poignant and tear-jerking, and it can be felt through the story they recount.

The third VR work, Kusunda, brings the viewer to rural Nepal, where they are placed in an interview conducted as a POW with shaman Lil Bahadur, who has forgotten his dying native dialect of Kusunda. Meanwhile, his granddaughter Hima takes initiative to revive the language of her family and ancestors. 

The heartwarming film tells their story through colourful CGI animation as well as live-action, splitting between informative and artful entertainment. The learning experience is topped off interactively, as the viewer is asked to pronounce words of the Kusunda language in order to resume the experience, which in turn spreads the subtle revival of the dialect. 

Finally, Marco & Polo Go Round tells the story of a couple facing problems in their relationship, which takes a severe anti-gravitational twist. As we follow the couple around their messy apartment, many objects around the kitchen fly up in the air, sticking to the ceiling. This is a reflection of the gradual dissolution of the protagonists’ love. 

Marco & Polo Go Round is about half the length of all of the other pieces, so it only has enough time to strike hard with its surrealism. The message, while not up-front, is especially thought provoking given the minimal context provided. It’s a beautiful animated metaphor.

It’s clear why the PHI Centre selected these four works to display. Each one deserved to win their multiple respected awards. Virtual reality, if done correctly, can definitely be an art form.

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Arts

Art for the ears: podcasts and other sonic experiments

Through the audio medium, artists can develop a new relationship with their audience 

Audio experiences provide artists with the opportunity to explore a unique type of storytelling, since podcasts and binaural experiences create a particular sense of intimacy with the audience. Creators have been using this medium to explore new possibilities for theatrical works. Notably, Montreal’s Phi Centre recently opened an exhibition dedicated to audio experiences. As well, theatre company Singulier Pluriel shared its new podcast with the public on Feb. 16. 

Theatre without a stage

Julie Vincent first presented her play The Doorman of Windsor Station in 2010. Initially written in French, the work is set between Montreal and Montevideo. Audience members follow the story of Francisco, an architect who came to Montreal after he left Uruguay, and Claire, a piano player. Vincent was presented with the opportunity to translate her play into English in Toronto several years later, but the plan had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, a podcast version was created. In this iteration, the producers paid special attention to the rhythm of the words. 

For Vincent, the podcast was a great opportunity to experiment with the relationship between words and music in a theatre work. The writer collaborated with producer Michel Smith to create a suitable soundtrack that would tell the story without its visual elements. The actors also adapted their interpretation to the music. 

Early in the creation process, the interpreters were encouraged to work with the rhythm of the play’s soundtrack so that the story would take life through their voice. Vincent explained that the actors had to work on internalizing their interpretation of the piece to be able to transmit emotions through spoken words only. For her, “this work puts us in tune with the listening experience of the listeners.”

Vincent believes the strength of the podcast lies in its proximity with the listener. She described this medium as a way to explore new sensitivities in the special relationship it creates with its audience. “We are in the invisible […] we are in another dimension, we are in a certain intimacy with them and we try to touch their interiority.”

New audio-immersive technologies

Phi Centre’s new programming also explores this avenue for theatre creations. On Feb. 17 the arts centre opened new exhibitions focused on audio experiences. “We don’t want to be where people are waiting for us. We want to surprise the audience. That is why the idea of presenting an exclusively sonic and immersive programming came to be,” said Myriam Achard, the chief of new media partnerships and public relations at Phi Centre. This show marks the centre’s 10th anniversary. It features three creations: Lashing Skies, Eternal, and The Disintegration Loops. 

While The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski is a music room where visitors can sit to enjoy music, the two other creations require visitors to wear headphones. Multidisciplinary artist Brigitte Poupart used poems written by Madeleine Monette to create Lashing Skies. The texts recount the stories of five fictional characters on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Visitors are invited to listen to the 45-minute audio experience in a setting replicating the destroyed landscape that followed the 9/11 events. This interactive piece aims at making users reflect on where they were when the disaster occurred.

Eternal is a 20-minute audio immersive journey created by the U.K. studio Darkfield Radio. Visitors lie in a bed in the gallery space with their eyes closed and headphones on. They are invited into the narrator’s room through the story he tells them. The piece shares reflections on the possibilities of an eternal life. It uses technology that creates the feeling of  360-degree audio. “It is a very powerful experience,” said Achard.

Achard first encountered Darkfield Radio’s work during a festival, before the pandemic.  In the various art events she attended all over the world, she witnessed a tendency towards audio experiences. “In the past years, there is an increasing presence of audio immersive experiences, be it spatialized sound, be it binaural sound […] I think we are in an important moment for immersive sound creations,” she said.  

Achard also explained that the inclusion of theatre elements was really important in this audio-themed exhibition. “We wanted to bring people in this theatricality. The encounter between the sound medium and theatre create really strong experiences,” she explained.

This strength described by Achard relates to Vincent’s work with The Doorman of Windsor Station podcast. These creations reach the audience in a very particular way that offers new opportunities for theatre works. 

Transistor media’s diverse propositions

On the French side, the podcast producer Transistor Media proposes a different series of artistic endeavours. They produce Signal nocturne, a podcast hosted by Julien Morissette. For each episode, Morissette meets with an artist at night. The audio work integrates excerpts of texts written by the artist with interview segments.  

They also co-produced Néon Boréal with the Théâtre du Trillium and Sous la Hotte. The four-episode series is a play adapted for radio. Written by Louis-Philippe Roy and Josianne T Lavoie, it explores stereotypes associated with the American dream through the stories of characters, such as a Hooters waitress. The realistic sonic environment of the work complemented by energetic pop music enhances the story.  

Podcasts and audio immersive experiences are unique mediums that have the capacity to introduce new possibilities within the realm of performance art. Their omission of images leave the viewer with the poetry of words, the tone of a voice, and the soundtrack. These specific audio creations are only a few of the many works available for you to listen to. 

The Doorman of Windsor Station podcast is available until Feb. 28 on Singulier Pluriel’s Facebook page. Phi Centre presents its audio-themed exhibition until May 15.

 

Graphic by Lily Cowper

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Arts

Queerement Quebec: Young queer stories at Image+Nation

Concordia students were particularly well represented at Queerement Quebec

Queerement Quebec is always a favourite among the public of Image+Nation. The Montreal LGBTQ+ film festival has been organizing the Quebec short film night for 19 years now. This year’s edition was held at the Phi Centre, on Nov. 26.

Out of the eight filmmakers who presented their work that evening, six were Concordia students or alumnae.

“Thank you, Concordia,” said Charlie Boudreau, the director of the festival. “Every year this school produces great filmmakers who end up having a well-deserved place either here at Image+Nation, or in the wider Montreal festival circuit.”

Boudreau mentioned that Image+Nation received four times more submissions than the number of films they were able to show at Queerement Quebec. “This proves that Quebec cinema is very much alive, and that every year there are new queer voices which we try to put out there,” she said.

The last film of the evening, Delphine, by Chloé Robichaud, was probably the best directed. Ever since Robichaud graduated from Concordia 10 years ago in film production, she has become one of the most prominent queer directors in contemporary Quebec cinema, having directed two feature films and many television series episodes, in French and English.

Her last picture won the best short film prize at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier this year. Inspired by the play Delphine de Ville Saint-Laurent, it tells the story of Delphine, a Lebanese immigrant who arrives in Quebec at 10 years old. She starts going to a Montreal elementary school, very shy, not knowing a word of French. Her difficulties are told through the narration of Nicole, a classmate, who seems more at ease with her environment. The last scenes of Robichaud’s short, situate her characters years later, in high school, where Delphine appears as a changed girl, fearless, almost aggressive, as she begins to have to embrace her homosexuality.

“It is one of those films which are queer and feel queer, but don’t explicitly mention their characters’ sexuality, and rather let them be,” said Robichaud. 

As the director stood on the Phi Centre stage to talk about her film, she also talked to Zachary Ayotte, who is currently studying at Concordia, and also presented a film that evening.

The two generations of Concordia filmmakers presented very different pictures. Mon père travaille de nuit is Ayotte’s very first film. He made it two years ago in a film production class. While it was not made to be a comedy, it was the funniest film of the selection. Depicting a teenage boy’s strange relationship with a fellow student whom he meets in swim practice, it was awkward yet very entertaining. Ayotte showed skillful cinematography, considering that it was his first attempt at filmmaking.

“I learned so much in the process of making this film,” said the young director. “I am also very moved by the reaction of the audience tonight, I never would have thought such a personal story could have an impact.” Ayotte said his main character’s experience of sexual discovery had been inspired by his own, a few years back.

While this year’s selection didn’t always showcase the best quality films, compared to last year, for example, it still felt important. Not only did it represent the first film festival experience to many of the feature filmmakers, it also gave the Montreal public the chance to see how the young are portraying queer issues and relationships on screen

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Student Life

What does it mean to be successful?

Local streetwear label New Regime discusses their new art installation, Trapped

Atelier New Regime is a streetwear label and creative collective, founded in 2009 by Setiz Taheri and brothers Koku and Gildas Awuye. The trio’s vision was to share the groups creativity and lifestyle.

In the years since, they have developed their own streetwear culture by introducing a clothing line that has evolved through the use of design and photography, pushing the aesthetic boundaries of the brand even further. The brand is multidisciplinary and often fuses art, photography and street culture into their projects.

Their latest endeavor, Trapped, addresses our culture’s notion of success through a self-reflective installation about the idea of money and achievement. On March 13, two members of the collective, Koku and Gildas, sat down for a quick conversation about the installation and its meaning. The talk was moderated by Aye Magazine collaborator Josiane Ménard at the Phi Centre.

The installation consisted of a transparent box with a hole where people could reach in and hold the $5,000 worth of cash that was inside. They could only hold the money for a brief moment, and it was impossible to leave with the cash. The installation also included a poem featuring the words of local rapper Nate Husser on the topic of freedom, complemented by several photographs and audio pieces with vibrant imagery.

Here is a glimpse at the discussion between the Awuye brothers.

From left: Gildas Awuye, Koku Awuye and Josiane Ménard during the panel discussion at the Phi Centre. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Josiane Ménard: In the year 2017, what objectives had you fixed for yourselves as creatives? And have you attained them?

Koku Awuye: Fundamentally, our entrepreneurial goal is to stay in business, to stay afloat as a company. In essence, it’s about building a brand that also stays true to itself.

Gildas Awuye: At our end-of-the-year meeting, we always set ourselves new goals to accomplish as a collective because there is always something to push forward as a team, whether it’s through a new clothing collection or art installations. There is a constant need to surpass ourselves as creatives.

JM: What does the installation Trapped tell us when we talk about today’s definition of success?

GA: The visual focal point of the installation is a glass box with a bundle of cash inside it. This social experiment tells us a lot about our culture today, because we focus a lot on money before anything else. At the exhibit, there were other parts to the event, such as an audio piece, videos and photographs, but primarily the attention was given to the money. With Trapped, the goal was for people to reflect on their own definition of success and not compare that with others.

KA: It was interesting because we were able to see how people would react to an object of value. It made them forget about their surroundings and turn all of their attention toward the money.

JM: What are your personal definitions of success?

KA: The ability to live and work without any constraints.

GA: For me personally, the perception of success is something that evolves over time. In the beginning, it was about acquiring that perception of success, such as getting a lot of money, buying that new car, etc. But the more work we put into this project, the more we realized that we achieved that goal that seemed so far away a while ago. Finally, as soon as you get there, it’s cool for like 30 minutes and then it’s on to the next one. Today, I think my definition of success is to find a peace of mind toward the little things that matter and to be satisfied going to bed at night, knowing that I’m happy with the work that I do.

Feature photo by Kirubel Mehari

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Student Life

Facing your enemy and their humanity

The Enemy is a VR installation which explores the stories of six combatants from three different conflict zones in the world. Photo courtesy of Phi Centre

Journalist Karim Ben Khelifa’s virtual reality experience challenges perceptions of war

War correspondent and photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa spent two decades travelling through conflict zones to “understand why we fight, why we kill and the circumstances that make us able to do so.” Five years ago, Khelifa had an idea. He wanted to share the stories of the fighters he met in conflict zones through a new form of storytelling: virtual reality. “As a journalist, my goal is to put you in my shoes,” Khelifa said.

He pitched this idea to Camera Lucida Productions, an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) company in France. “[Khelifa] wanted to find a new medium instead of photography,” said Chloé Jarry, an executive producer at Camera Lucida Productions. “The medium of photography was limited in its impact—he felt that it didn’t correspond to his expectations.”

A portrait of Karim Ben Khelifa, war correspondent and photojournalist who turned his idea into a VR installation, The Enemy. Photo Courtesy of Karim Ben Khelifa.

Khelifa’s idea developed into a VR installation that took five years to finalize with the help of Camera Lucida Productions, France TV and the National Film Board of Canada, as well as Dpt., a Montreal digital studio, and the VR company Emissive. “We all got together for a big co-production for the project to be as it is today,” Jarry said.

Until March 10, Montrealers will be able to experience this VR installation, called The Enemy, at the Phi Centre. The Enemy explores the stories of six combatants in three different conflict zones around the world: the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the gang wars in El Salvador and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Before beginning the experience, participants are required to fill out a questionnaire about their views on war and their perceptions of those three conflicts. Then, you enter a secluded room, strap on a backpack, adjust your VR goggles and immerse yourself in the experiences of these six men. There are three separate rooms, each dedicated to one of the three conflict zones. In each room, you meet a combatant from opposite sides of the conflict. You hear two different perspectives of the same war.

“In listening to these men, you become a link in the long human chain seeking new perspectives. By engaging in the experience, you become both a participant and a witness,” Khelifa said.

You listen as Khelifa asks these men: What is violence? What is peace? What is your dream? Although both men in each room are enemies, their answers are similar. They value peace and family. “My dream, and what I long for, is to spend more time with my family, to see my daughter and grandkids together as a family,” said Jorge Alberto, one of the six men in The Enemy and a gang leader in El Salvador.

According to Khelifa, it was difficult for these fighters to answer many of his questions. “My goal was to touch the guy in a way for him to reveal part of his humanity,” he said.

Khelifa explained that his intent was to show each man the humanity of their enemy, since conflict tends to erase that understanding. “It becomes very interesting to see the reaction,” he said.

Hélène Adamo, a project manager for Camera Lucida Productions, experienced The Enemy during several test runs. “I could do it with my eyes closed,” she said with a laugh. However, it wasn’t until she actually answered the questionnaire about war and experienced the VR as a participant, rather than a tester, that she truly felt the emotions embedded in the installation. “I lost notion of time, space,” Adamo said. “During this experience, I met these people and, that, you cannot forget.”

The Enemy also exposes the stereotypes and biases held by the VR participants themselves. For example, as they stand between the men on either side of the conflict, participants must make the choice of whose story to listen to first. “This [choice] is based on you—your fears, your curiosity and your appetite for learning,” Khelifa said.

He added that the purpose of The Enemy is for participants to focus on the stories of the combatants. “I didn’t want to bring you to Gaza or to Israel,” Khelifa said. “I really wanted you to focus on the person, on the human beings, and discover for yourself.”

Through this project, Khelifa said he hopes people will be more considerate of one another. “If you are at war, and if you are part of these conflicts, the goal is to reconsider your enemy and think that he is more similar [to you] than you think,” he said.

Photos courtesy of Phi Centre

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Arts

From Montreal to Austin: Felix & Paul talk VR

Felix & Paul Studios, held a panel discussion at the SXSW festival in Austin on March 14

The first time Felix & Paul Studios was at the SXSW festival was back in 2014, where they screened Strangers, one of their first virtual reality projects. Since then, the Montreal-based studio has become a leader in immersive storytelling.

Co-founders Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, along with chief content officer Ryan Horrigan and director of sound design Jean-Pascal Beaudoin, held a panel discussion on March 14 on virtual reality (VR) production.

Their studios have become experts in cultivating presence-based storytelling, which, as Raphaël pointed out during the panel, doesn’t just ‘happen’ because you have the technology. A 360-degree film isn’t inherently immersive because it is 360 degrees. It is immersive because of the way the visual and auditory elements work together to make you feel present in the story.

“The first step, and the most important one, is to position the viewer inside of the scene,” says Lajeunesse. “The way we place the viewer inside the scene will create the relation to the characters, to the story, so that’s really the most vital decision we have to make on set.”

In order to cultivate the abstract notion of ‘presence,’ a cornerstone of successful immersive works, the panelists spoke about building a bond between the audience and the narrative, making the viewer part of the film rather than a static spectator.

One of the challenges with 360-degree cinematography is that there is no single frame, since you can look around. However, there is composition, which can be separated into near field, mid field and far field. These fields add depth to the visual aspect of the medium. According to Lajeunesse, the objects in near field are the most crucial, as they make the viewer feel integrated in the scene.

One of the complexities of immersive film is the audio component. In order to be successful, the audio aspect of a work must be taken into consideration at the beginning of the process. In VR, sound cannot be an afterthought, and must be totally integrated into the production.  According to Beaudoin, sound is a pillar of the VR experience. Without good sound, the notion of presence is lost.

Interested in seeing some of Felix & Paul Studios’ newest projects? Head over to the Phi Centre in Montreal, where several of their works are currently being shown. Admission is free.

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