Montreal Serai

Artist Biography:

Mike Wozniewski is a designer and developer of interactive software for the arts. As a freelance researcher, he maintains collaborations with several recognized institutions and works with many creative minds who likewise seek to push the boundaries of computer-mediated artistic expression.

Studying with the Centre for Intelligent Machines at McGill University, he developed the core technology for the Audioscape Project , which has been featured in several artistic installations, performances, and international conferences. At the Society for Arts and Technologies in Montreal, he continues to create open source tools that enable artists to make use of new technologies.

Mike’s previous work is centered mostly around the use of virtual reality technology, interactive systems, and immersive projection environments with 3D audio. However, recent projects involve more mobile and location-based technology. Examples include the Raw Materials project, that allows the public to use their cell phones to contribute images, sounds and videos during live events. The Mobile Audioscape project, on the other hand, uses GPS tracking and wireless connectivity to create mixed reality environments in outdoor spaces. Ultimately, he aims to create the tools that artists need to connect people with each other and with their surroundings, while allowing for creative expression.

See  http://www.mikewoz.com/ for more information.

Artist Statement:

My desire is to engage the public and to provide artists with the tools and technologies required to capitalize on user-generated content and social media.   All of the software I create is available for free with an open source license, meaning that anyone can take it, change it, and use it however they wish. I strongly advocate the open source movement, creative commons licensing for art and media, and the copyleft model in general. I think creativity is facilitated by one’s tools and will best flourish with unrestricted access to all utilities and media.

Mobile Audioscapes:

As computation becomes more mobile, we see the public engaging with digital information while on the move. New forms of artistic expression are thus possible, since the public has tools to connect and take part in events as they happen. Furthermore, with location-aware technologies such as GPS, artworks can be associated with real world locations, and virtual elements can be overlaid on the physical environment, creating a medium that operates on a potentially grand scale, shared by multiple distributed participants.

The SoundPark installation is a motivating example of this type of mobile arts application. It operates in a city park (in this case, Parc Jean-Mance in Montreal), and allows users to discover and rearrange sounds that have been scattered throughout the location. Participants need to actually walk around in order to experience and manipulate the material, but in doing so, they can create their own customized musical mix. In the video on our front page or the Table of Contents page, we see a game-like version of the system, where participants are challenged to recreate a particular mix.

Another example that encourages public involvement is the Raw Materials project, which provides the technology for cell phone users to contribute text messages, images and videos to public events in real time. It is thus possible for audience members to send comments or photos of themselves, which can be displayed on large screens during concerts, or mixed by a VJ to become part of the show.

The video below documents one such event, held on March 6th, 2009, which took place simultaneously in two locations: at the Society for Arts and Technology in Montreal and Great Northern Way Campus in Vancouver. The audiences from both locations contributed images and videos of their surrounding neighborhoods, which was remixed by artists and displayed to the public:

 

Find more videos like this on W2: Community Media Arts Vancouver BC

Look forward to the premiere of Audio Graffiti this summer, which will allow mobile participants to leave audio tags and mix music in an urban environment. (Part of the International Computer Music Conference. August 21, 2009. Location to be announced.)

Credits:

 * SoundPark was developed at the Shared Reality Lab at McGill University, with funding from the NSERC/Canada Council for the Arts New Media Initiative.

 ** Raw Materials was developed in collaboration between the Society for Arts and Technology and Mobile Muse .

[There's increasing evidence that increasing wireless communication and cell phone usage in particular are linked to a concomitant increase in head and neck cancers.     Serai Editorial Staff]

I’ve known Jason Breckenridge for many years and over that time the two insights I’ve gained about what makes him tick are 1) He concocts the most ridiculously unattainable schemes in an effort to make his working life as enjoyable as possible; 2) He invariably succeeds in pulling off these “unattainable” schemes. So when Jason pitched the idea of a series of television documentaries to Al Jazeera on the topic of the “Music of Resistance” – a series that would have him flying all over the globe gaining access to the inner sanctum of the likes of Seun Kuti, youngest son of Jason’s absolute idol Fela Anikulapo Kuti, creator of Afrobeat and also the voice of the oppressed in Nigeria – a series that would have him recruit Steve Chandra Savale, London-based activist, desi guitarist extraordinaire, and lifeblood of the politically entrenched Asian Dub Foundation as interviewer and presenter – a series that would let him tell the stories of different musicians that matter, not only in the sounds they produce but in their messages and actions and direct effects on their respective communities…I was 1) Insanely jealous; 2) Knew he would pull it off.

Steve Chandra Savale

Music of Resistance follows the chronicles of musicians who use their craft to realize radical political change. Steve Chandra Savale travels to Nigeria, Mozambique, Brazil, East London, Cape Verde and the desert of the Southern Sahara in order to introduce us to the lives of these iconoclastic musicians. In this Montreal Serai issue on Canada and Militarism – there is much to be learned from movements in other countries to reverse the trend towards arms. For example – one of the broadcasts in the series focuses on musical group Tinariwen, formerly a group of rebel soldiers, exiled from Mali and training alongside Colonel Gadaffi in Libya. After years of violence and conflict in a civil war in Northern Mali as they tried to preserve Touareg cultural identity, they eventually decided to trade in their guns for musical instruments and effect change in a different way than the cycle of killing that had prevailed. These electric guitar wielding revolutionaries have been instrumental in promoting peace through community action, for example by participating in the recent (January 2009) congress for peace that took place in Ersane in Norhtern Mali with 1500 Touareg  representatives as well as government representatives both from Libya and Mali.

You can check out the an introduction to Music of Resistance:

Steve Chandra Savale: Presenter

Produced, Directed and Written by Jason Breckenridge for Al Jazeera

For more info:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/

http://www.musicofresistance.com/

‘A Modest Proposal’ is from Norman Nawrocki’s anti-war, anti-Empire solo CD, ‘Duck Work’ released in 2004 on the Les Pages Noires label. 

Like many Montrealers I was deeply affected by images of my city going up in flames in our newspapers. It seemed that the riot in Montreal North was sparked by the police shooting of Freddy Villanueva, an unarmed 18 year old youth of Latin-American origin. As I was avidly reading the news, I was appalled to find out that there were four shots that were fired from the same gun – a police gun. When the images of police cars being lit on fire and barricades being erected hit our local TV screens, it seemed that we had a bona-fide race riot on our hands – something that one would associate with cities like Los Angeles or Paris – not Montreal. In order to inject some positivity into the situation, I decided to write a song for a three-fold purpose: 1. To encourage dialogue about violence in our city. 2. To move people towards demanding a public inquiry into the events of Montreal-Nord. 3. To plead that “It’s high time that something gets done” in terms of offering young people alternatives to the street gangs: Sports tournaments, hip-hop dancing, martial arts, studios for rap artists, etc. We need to nip this problem in the bud before Montreal becomes like any other American City. We have to get to the root of the problem. Because this was a timely issue, a friend of mine encouraged me to record the song right away and get it out to the radio as soon as possible – so I did. I called up some musician friends of mine to record the song:

Moe Clark: Back-Vocals Sage Reynolds: Upright Bass
Mark Nelson: Drums Matt Lipscombe: Vocals and Guitar

It was recorded by David Sturton at DNA Productions. It is already playing on CIBL in Montreal and CKRL in Quebec. I hope it can help my city in bringing about a positive change. Living by the Gun audio (mp3) It’s high time something gets done

The youth and the police are living by the gun
Late one night in Montreal

Freddy and his brother were having a ball

Playing dice in a public park

It was getting late

It was getting dark

Along come two officers of the law

They were intrigued by what they saw

They said to Freddy’s brother we want to talk to you

He resisted, so they drew

Four shots were fired from same gun

There was only one at the scene

The policeman said it was self defense

But what can that possibly mean?

It’s high time something gets done

The youth and the police are living by the gun

His mother set a white dove free

So there would be no more misery

No more tears on a sister’s cheek

No more tears gas canisters on the street

The people watched the evening news

Hoping justice would come of this abuse

But the cops involved in this altercation

Had a week to come up with some fabulation

Four shots were fired from same gun

There was only one at the scene

The policeman said it was self defense

But what can that possibly mean?

It’s high time something gets done

The youth and the police are living by the gun

I’m not saying it’s anybody’s fault

That the violence here is like some kind of cult

And I know that the cops were afraid for their lives

When they took that innocent boy’s life

When they took that innocent boy’s life

It’s high time something gets done

The youth and the police are living by the gun

Words and Music : Matthew Lipscombe Credits: Guitar/voice: Matt Lipscombe

Back Vocals: Moe Clark

Upright Bass: Sage Reynolds

Drums: Mark Nelson

Recorded at studio DNA, Montreal by David Sturton

©Matthew Lipscombe 2008. All rights reserved
For more information please contact:
Matt Lipscombe: (514) 678-4222

Email: matt.lipscombe@gmail.comwww.myspace.com/mattlipscombe