Interactive Digital Media Incubator Media Release - Art Gallery of ...

LOCAL HAMILTON AND GUELPH ARTISTS WINART GALLERY OF HAMILTON INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA INCUBATOR COMPETITIONDigital media artist Jenn E. Norton creates virtual floating characters in her work.HAMILTON, September 10, 2012 – Louise Dompierre, president and CEO of the Art Gallery ofHamilton, today announced that Tyler Tekatch, an emerging Hamilton-based artist whosebackground is in film production and Jenn E. Norton, an early career artist living in Guelph arerecipients of the inaugural Interactive Digital Media Art Incubator competition.The goal of the Interactive Digital Media Art Incubator is to develop new digital technology skillsfor artists living in Ontario who want to create digital media artwork but do not have the technicalability themselves to realize the project. A Call for Entry challenged artists to articulate an ideafor an interactive digital media artwork. More than 50 artists applied.The Interactive Digital Media Art Incubator is a unique partnership among the Art Gallery ofHamilton, software engineers from McMaster University and gaming experts from SiliconKnights, a St. Catharine’s company. Experts in software engineering and gaming will work withthe artists to help them develop the skills they need to create their digital media projects.“The Art Gallery of Hamilton is increasingly a hotbed of creativity,” said Ms. Dompierre. “It is rareand very special to be able to support artists in the production of their work. We are indebted to1

our partners at McMaster University and Silicon Knights who are donating their time andexpertise.”Tyler Tekatch’s proposed work is a digital interface that uses an iPad that will enable AGHvisitors to choose the visual content of their surroundings. This will be his first interactive digitalmedia piece. Presented with a myriad of choices, a visitor will be able to select which movingimages they would like to see, evoking an uncanny and dreamlike experience. Mr. Tekatchcompleted the joint Communication and Culture program at Ryerson University and YorkUniversity in 2008.Jenn E. Norton’s work Precipice invites AGH visitors into a room with rear projections on all fourwalls. Once inside the space, which appears to be an office, the visitor will engage with aninteractive device to activate a virtual character who swims around the room. Disorienting andstrange, the piece will be a physically and emotionally engaging work. Ms. Norton beganexperimenting with interactive digital media in the past few years. She completed a master’sdegree in fine arts at the University of Guelph in 2007.“We are so fortunate to be able to commission these works,” said Melissa Bennett, Curator,Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. “The Art Gallery of Hamilton will be presentingan exhibition of the works in 2014. I can hardly wait.”The Interactive Digital Media Art Incubator is made possible through the generous support of theMinistry of Tourism, Culture and Sport through their Museums and Technology Fund.About the Art Gallery of HamiltonThe Art Gallery of Hamilton is the third largest public art gallery in Ontario. Established in 1914,the AGH permanent collection, which is focused on Historical Canadian, 19 th century Europeanand Canadian Contemporary art, now numbers more than 9,500 works and is recognized asone of the finest in Canada. The AGH is regarded as a vital centre of creative development andartistic engagement that brings art and people of all ages together. More than 170,000 visitorsfrom across Canada and beyond visit the AGH annually.Highlights of the exciting 2012 exhibition schedule include an exhibition of major works by EmilyCarr and the North American première of an exciting exhibition of 200 rare works of art andobjects owned and used by Napoléon, including gifts he gave. The exhibition is a once in alifetime opportunity to gain special insight into Napoleon the man, his personal life and aesthetictastes and the remarkable achievement of French painters, draftsmen and decorative artistsworking in the Empire style. To find out more about what’s going on at the AGH visitwww.artgalleryofhamilton.com-30-For more information contact:Steve DenyesManager, Communications, Art Gallery of HamiltonTel: 905-527-6610 ext. 255Email: steve@artgalleryofhamilton.com2