Node 9 Summer Workshops combine creativity and technology
The McMaster live coding Cybernetic Orchestra performing in Montreal
Paula Gardner and David Ogborn, both professors in the Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia, will be opening up their labs starting June 4 for a free five-day series of master classes, instructional sessions and collaborative or individual guided work in the media arts.
The Node 9 Summer Workshops, which are part of McMaster’s ongoing Socrates Project, will bring together almost 30 participants from diverse backgrounds and experience levels, who will focus on streams in either multimedia storytelling or audio programming. At the end of the week, participants will present their performances or projects at the new black box theatre in L.R. Wilson Hall.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase the capabilities of two new labs on campus: Paula Gardner’s Pulse Lab and my Networked Imagination Lab,” explains Ogborn, who is – among other things – director of McMaster’s live coding Cybernetic Orchestra (pictured above) and is co-ordinating Node 9’s audio programming stream. “Because there’s no cost to the workshop, participants will have the chance to work with technology and facilities that they might not otherwise be able to access.”
All participants will be able to attend master classes with international experts, including game designer Emma Westecott and choreographer and coder Joana Chicau. Melissa F. Clarke and Margaret Anne Schedel will present a collaborative data-driven virtual reality project, taking advantage of the networked audio system in the black box theatre, while Suzanne Stein will explore the relationship between innovation, conflict and creativity. The master classes, which will be held in the black box theatre from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from June 4 to June 7, are also open to the public.
“This is an unusual model – two parallel streams with shared master classes,” explains Ogborn. “This is the first summer workshop we’ve offered, and it will be interesting to see what kind of cross-pollination will happen.”
For more information on the Node 9 Summer Workshops, go to http://pulselab.humanities.mcmaster.ca/current-projects/node-9-summer-school-2018/.
