Presented with Vancouver New Music

OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity

Nancy Lee

April 4 + 5, 2024 | 8pm
ANNEX (823 Seymour Street, Vancouver BC)
Both performances will be followed by a Post-show Talkback with Nancy Lee.

SOLD OUT

Step into the world of OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity where a delivery app subroutine slowly develops consciousness after a corrupted update. Newly sentient, the performer discovers that the app is shutting down, and must mount a desperate bid for escape.

This interdisciplinary work weaves together movement, projection, spatial sound composition and interactive costuming to build an immersive world where the ground is constantly shifting beneath your feet. Reflecting on the religion of workism and precarity of gig economy labour, we are confronted by the everyday within the unexpected, swirling landscape of OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity.

Find the full transcript text of the performance HERE.

About the Artist

Nancy Lee 李南屏 is a Taiwanese-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist and cultural producer. In 2017, they directed VR dance film "Tidal Traces" in collaboration with Emmalena Fredriksson under the auspices of the National Film Board of Canada, marking the inception of their foray into XR. The following year, during their artist residency at Western Front with Kiran Bhumber, Nancy co-created "Telepresence," a 8.2-channel live VR performance. Their interdisciplinary works have resonated on the global stage, with presentations at festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, SXSW, MUTEK, Berlin International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, and Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Beyond their artistic endeavors, they have become a catalyst for change in the industry.

Nancy's commitment to fostering community is evident in their roles as an XR instructor at IM4 Media Lab, an artistic mentor at Festival of Recorded Movement, and as a co-founder of Chapel Sound Art Foundation and CURRENT. These initiatives aim to uplift and amplify the voices of underrepresented artists, showcasing their dedication to creating a more equitable artistic ecosystem. As a Sundance Institute Alumni and an artist-in-residence at the Society of Arts and Technology, Nancy's collaboration with Kiran Bhumber on the speculative sci-fi exhibition "UNION" shifted their focus towards narrative storytelling. Technically, the project explored 3D scanning/printing, XR, and multi-channel A/V dome theatre performance. In their latest endeavors, Nancy has shifted their focus towards performing dance, writing, and a documentary project titled "Woven Memory" alongside Soledad Munoz.
www.nancylee.ca / @whichnancy

Credits:

Produced, Directed & Written by: Nancy Lee 李南屏

Choreography: Nancy Lee 李南屏 + Emmalena Fredriksson

Performance: Nancy Lee 李南屏, Simran Sachar, and Sophia Mai Wolfe

Electroacoustic Composition: Nancy Lee 李南屏 + Aleksandar Zecevic

Sound Design + Interactive System: Aleksandar Zecevic

Voice over + Vocals: Nancy Lee 李南屏

Guzheng: Kayla Briët

Interactive System Consultant: Holon.ist / Ove Holmqvist

Costume Design: Adam-Lin Bungag

Jewelry Design: Ian Nakamoto

Dramaturg: Emmalena Fredriksson

Artistic Consultant: Pia Yona Massie

Projection + Motion Graphic Design: Laine Butler

Lighting System Designer: Hadis Fard

Illustrations: Eve Lee

Video editing: Nancy Lee 李南屏

Production & Stage Manager: Jessica Han

Movement Research: Sarah Hutton, Josh Cameron, Calder White, and Juolin Lee

Rehearsal Direction: Sarah Hutton

Poster Photography: Zuleyma Prado

Technical / Production Manager: Nico Dicecco (New Works)

Artists Bios

Simran Sachar

Simran Sachar is an East Indian/Punjabi contemporary and street dance artist, choreographer, and actor. She is a captivating anomaly in this industry who consistently works in ground-breaking spaces. Simran’s latest film with XR technology, premieres in 2024. Her first XR film, BETA बेटा was presented at Luna Arts Festival 2021. In 2020, her first film ‘LUNACY’ was a part of the National Arts Centre time capsule and premiered at F.O.R.M Film Festival and won the Official Selection of the Audience Choice Award. She made her acting debut in 2023 as the lead actor and assistant choreographer in Alberta Theatre Projects showing of *Bombay Black* as *Apsara*. Simran is the Winner of 2023’s *Release Yourself Whacking Battle* in Montreal at Artfulness Festival.

Aleksandar Zecevic

Upon completing a music conservatory and technical college, Aleksandar Zecevic started his career in sound design in 1986. As a Sound Engineer, Audio Designer, Sound Artist and Electroacoustic Composer, Aleksandar worked on numerous Radiophonic, Film, Theater and multimedia projects. From 1998 until 2018, he was Artistic and Technical Senior Sound Artist and Director for Interactive Audio in Electronic Arts Canada. As of 2019, Aleksandar Is working as an independent Sound designer - Interactive Audio Specialist based in New Westminster, BC.

Sophia Mai Wolfe

Sophia Mai Wolfe (she/her/hers) is an independent artist whose practice is ever-changing. Her practice moves and connects to live performance, video documentation, curation, festival programming, editing, filmmaking, and directing. She is a grateful guest residing on MST territories. As a performer, she has toured internationally with companies and independent choreographers such as Company 605, Co-Erasga, Chick Snipper, Cindy Mochizuki, Lisa Mariko Gelley, Kelly McInnes, Antonio Somera, Zahra Shahab, Niall McNiel, The Only Animal, New World Theatre. She holds MA in Screendance from the London Contemporary Dance School, and is the founder and Organizational Director of F-O-R-M (Festival Of Recorded Movement).

Adam-Lin Bungag

Adam-Lin Bungag, a Philippines-born, award-winning designer, on the unseeded land of K'emk'emeláy̓. Renowned for his creativity, he's a costume designer and event producer, showcasing his talent on global platforms like NYFW. Adam's expertise extends to producing for RuPaul's Drag Race stars and collaborating with local artists and creatives. With a passion for pushing boundaries in design and entertainment, Adam combines cultural and social influences with cutting-edge aesthetics.

Ian Nakamoto

Ian Nakamoto is a Japanese-Canadian sculptor, researcher, and art fabricator from Richmond, BC. Trained as a monumental sculptor and animator, his practice focuses on exploring new ways of producing traditional figurative sculpture with emerging technology, with a focus on 3D scanning and 3D printing. He is currently the creative director at Forge Labs, where he works as a consultant and digital sculptor on fine art projects, film props, and archaeological reconstructions.

Emmalena Fredriksson

Emmalena Fredriksson is a contemporary dance artist living and working in Vancouver, Canada, as a guest on the ancestral unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples. Her practice is defined by choreography as a relational practice in the expanded fields of dance, often collaborating with artists of other disciplines, creating choreographic experiences and dance for social events, film, galleries and performance. Born in Sweden, she received her training at Balettakademien in Umeå and at SEAD in Austria. Emmalena has presented choreographic work, performed and taught internationally with Daghdha Dance Company (IE), Canaldanse (FR), Malta University (MT), Pact Zollverein (DE), and Falmouth University (UK) among others. Based in Vancouver since 2013 her work has been presented locally at Dancing on the Edge, The Dance Centre, Edam, New Works at Night, Push Off and at the Audain and Access Galleries. Commissioned by the National Film Board she co-created Tidal Traces (2017) together with Nancy Lee. Emmalena holds an MFA degree from SFU and regularly teaches at Modus Operandi, Training Society of Vancouver, Harbour Dance Centre and SFU and UBC in Vancouver.

Laine Butler

Laine Butler is an audio visual artist whose multidisciplinary approach creates dense, textured environments that envelop the viewer. With a background in motion and interaction design (VR and AR), visual art, and music creation, Laine's work has been showcased at the Vancouver Mural Festival Winter Arts, Holt Renfrew Winter 2022 Campaign, and Neo Shibuya TV in Tokyo.

Hadis Fard

Hadis is a human being, a plant ally, and multidisciplinary artist, living, breathing, and creating in the ancestral land of shíshálh Nation. In her practice she explores alternative uses of technology, and bridges art x tech. She is an AV composer, listener, poet, sound designer, computer scientist, and curator. Hadis’ muses are rooted in ecofeminism, spirituality, science, and mythology.

Jessica Han

Jessica Han (she/her) is a Taiwanese-Canadian lighting designer, technical director, production/ stage manager, and filmmaker who is currently splitting her time between Taipei, Taiwan, and Vancouver, BC. She has been working and collaborating with local dance & theatre artists and companies since 2011. You can find more of her work at https://jessicahan.ca/

Kayla Briët

Kayla Briët is a multidisciplinary artist exploring themes of futurity and belonging. With works spanning film scores and documentary to virtual reality installations, she aims to amplify untold stories and write love letters to the diaspora communities she grew up in. Her work has been exhibited by MoMA, PBS, NYT, SXSW, Smithsonian APAC, and NMAI. Kayla was named a 2018 MacArthur Foundation x Sundance Indigenous Program x New Frontier Fellow, 2017 TED Fellow, Found Sound China Music Diplomacy Fellow, and 2022 Asian Cultural Council Fellow in Taiwan. Currently Kayla is exploring collective memory and archival as a Graduate Researcher at MIT Media Lab. // Photo by Abbey Sacks

Pia Yona Massie

Pia Yona Massie is a multi-disciplinary artist, born in Brooklyn NY now living in the unceded and traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil Waututh and Musqueam Coast Salish peoples. Massie’s work has been shown at museums, galleries, and film festivals in Canada, Europe and the United States, including The Museum of Modern Art, NYC and the grunt gallery in Vancouver, BC. The work has won grants and awards, including the BC Arts Council and Canada Council. Pia’s four decades of teaching includes universities, elementary schools and community programs. The time gardening, raising bees and as an eco-activist provide the wellspring for their continuing existence.