Digifest at Ontario Science Centre


Charette TORONTO CATASTROPHE SLAM * Pre-registration Required * Key participants: Andrew Zdunich, Director, Public Safety and Security, Infusion Development - a featured presenter at the World Conference on Disaster Management (2007) Bill Baldasti, Director and Practice Manager, Infusion Development - JEPRS - Emergency Management Software David Etkin, Director, Emergency Management Graduate Program,York University Slam Developers: Bryce Johnson, Michelle Perras, Audrey Carr The Toronto Catastrophe Slam involves Toronto students, academics, and professionals in the field as well as representatives from the public sector. The purpose of this event is to exchange knowledge and ideas with others on the topic of catastrophe, disaster and emergency. This is a rare multidisciplinary engagement that will include informative keynotes and participatory challenges that will be designed to examine specific Toronto scenarios including Natural Disaster, Health and Security Crisis. For more details, click here Hosted by Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University	Toronto Catastrophe Slam Schedule: 10:00 am, Challenge Zone, Level D Introductions and presentations 12:00 pm, Challenge Zone, Level D Lunch and refreshments 1:00 pm, Labs, Level E Break-out sessions exploring HEALTH, SECURITY and NATURAL DISASTER scenarios in Toronto. 3:30 pm, Weston Family Innovation Centre, Level D Slam participants reconvene for final exchange of ideas. Register

Digital Art Show WORLD PROCESSOR Ingo Günther, Artist, Germany/USA This exhibition is a selection representing the photographic counterpart to the ongoing sculptural/installation project that Günther started in 1988. It has grown to more than 300 diversely themed illuminated thematic globes that address global issues. The resulting imagery offers a wide audience immediate, palatable, and synoptic access to otherwise abstract data and reveals the often harsh constituents of our planetary conditions. This installment of images of World Processor is supported by the Goethe Institute.
ON MY KNEES: A Public Divorce Ceremony Cathy Gordon, Artist, Toronto eight hours / eight installations @ eight stations a celebration of eight years of marriage crawling on her hands and knees through the streets /crawling to the water With a team of over 30 helpers including 3 videographers, an assistant director, a driver, a runner, 4 bridesmaids, 8 Station Captains and 1 ex-husband, Cathy began her epic crawl. Beginning in Kensington Market at 11:30am, she chopped off her long hair then crawled her way through the streets of Toronto (almost 8K) to a small west end beach on Lake Ontario, arriving on time at 7:30pm (the hour of her wedding ceremony). Of the eight installations along the way, highlights included Station 5, when Cathy and her ex Steve Marsh finally signed the divorce papers, Station 6 (event headquarters ˆ The Gladstone Hotel) where Cathy danced on her knees to a remix of their wedding song as composed by Steve, and the Station 8 where Cathy shed the wedding dress, rose to her feet and walked naked into the water
WATER IS LIFE Henk Hofstra, Artist, Netherlands In April 2007, the Moleneind, a road in Dratchen. The Netherlands, is painted blue to symbolize the water. It is 1000 meters long, 8 meters wide. It was created to form an urban river and recreate the path of a waterway that used to be where the road currently runs. They will start to dig a new canal here in 2008. The text WATER IS LEVEN is written on the blue road. The water will bring life again in the centre of Drachten.
ARK Melissa Shiff, Artist, Toronto ARK is an outdoor site-specific video installation that is the keynote project for the Jewish Museum in Prague's centennial year celebration. ARK is a 4.5-meter high structure made out of acrylic and aluminum that serves as a 3D projection screen. Shiff has created a 30-minute video that narrates the history of the museum and the Prague Jewish community during the last turbulent century. It reflects upon the museum as an ark (as a sanctuary for Jewish cultural and religious treasures) and an archive (that preserves the legacy of Jewish cultural memory) as well as on the function of the museum in general. ARK confronts man-made catastrophes such as the Holocaust and natural disasters such the recent floods in Prague (2002) as the powers of the formless that threaten the museological imperative to collect, order, and structure the archive.

Exhibitions BODY MAPPING: Women Navigating the Positive Experience in Africa and Canada Exhibition of compelling, life-sized paintings illustrate the impact of HIV on women's bodies. Each Body Map has been created by a woman from southern Africa who is living with HIV/AIDS. Body Mapping enables women living with HIV/AIDS to better understand HIV and its treatment, combat stigma, improve personal coping strategies and share their wisdom through art. Digifest provides your last opportunity to see these body maps in Toronto. Their next public display will be at UNAIDS in New York City. 72 HOURS PAVILION: Is your family prepared? Public Safety Canada In the event of a disaster, are you and your family prepared to take care of yourselves for 72 hours? Public Safety Canada staff will talk to visitors and hand out emergency preparedness guides.

Multimedia Performance REVELATIONS GLIESE 581 Campbell Foster and David Porter, Multimedia Performers, Toronto Revelations Gliese 581 is a deeper look into mans recent find of Gliese 581, a Red Dwarf Star and Solar System, 20 light years from Earth with atmospheres on one of its three orbiting planets (Gliese 581 d) found highly suitable for life. The Multimedia performance Revelations Gliese 581 features the amazing particle feedback synthesis and real-time Computer Electro-acoustic music of Campbell Foster playing the Electro-acoustic Sheet Metal Feedback Phone, accompanying spectacular motion video graphics by video artist David porter.

Public Challenge SHELTER CHALLENGE Open prototyping sessions offered by OSC staff, duration one hour. The Premise: "Psychologically, refugees are damaged. They have to stay in nice places." -Shigeru Ban The Challenge: Easily deployable, wind and waterproof shelters are needed for survivors of a tsunami and other natural or created disasters. The shelter must be light weight, easily transportable, easily deployed in 2 min.or less and must also have some element to make shelter attractive. The Background: Transitional shelters are strategies which seek to support communities back to permanent accommodation, minimising displacement, and taking into account town planning, sanitation, land tenure, human rights, neighbouring populations, the local economy, security, and cultural factors. In the narrower sense, a transitional shelter is a structure in which usually a family can live, with dignity, for as long as their permanent accommodation takes to build or restore. Ideally it will be built from local materials according to local methods, and be adaptable to climate and culture. It can be located adjacent to the destroyed accommodation, and can be disassembled and the materials reused or resold.

Performance AUDIO-O-CATASTROPHES I Audio Autopsy inside the secret activities of the turntable Martin Tétreault, Sound Artist, Montreal Audi-o-catastrophes is inspired by the potential for accidents happening during the manipulation of a customized turntable. Customized turntable? Yes, many tonearms, no records, prepared surfaces, sounds of motors, electricity, lo-tech…! Martin Tétreault, a leading sound innovator on the Montreal Arts scene will give two performances to accompany a surround-vision of catastrophe, ranging from the perspective of personal trauma to that of global urgency as seen through the eyes of visual artists. His audio autopsy improvisations will add focus and attention to the digifest theme.

Public Discussion CULTURAL JAM: De-Constructing digifest 2008 Key participants: Kevin Couch, Island Public School Teacher Shannon Bell, Associate Professor Political Science York University Kathy Nicholaichuk, AV Producer OSC "Common man reporters" use technology to document their own experience of digifest events at Harbourfront Centre and DX and bring them to the OSC in order to start public discussions.

Public Challenge ALTERNATIVE WATER COLLECTING DEVICES Open prototyping sessions offered by OSC staff, duration one hour. The Premise: Water is more than a natural resource, it’s a right. The Challenge: With ~3% of Earth’s water available as potable water, design & develop alternative potable water catchment systems for use in various regions. The Background: Water scarcity and water pollution pose a critical challenge. In many urban areas, it is becoming difficult for the authorities to manage water supply and wastewater. Strategies for water and wastewater reuse can improve urban water management. Physical alternatives to fulfill sustainable management of freshwater include the finding of alternate or additional water resources using unconventional methods.

Public Conclusion TORONTO CATASTROPHE SLAM Toronto Catastrophe Slam participants reconvene in the Weston Family Innovation Centre for a final exchange of ideas. digifest FAREWELL

Performance AUDIO-O-CATASTROPHES II Audio Autopsy inside the secret activities of the turntable Martin Tétreault, Sound Artist, Montreal Martin Tétreault Biography

IMAX Dome Films HURRICANE ON THE BAYOU This new IMAX® film is a haunting account of Hurricane Katrina's devastating power, a musical celebration of a magical city, and a compelling call to rebuild New Orleans and restore the wetlands so vital to its survival. * Additional Ticket Purchase Required (Adult $12, Senior/Youth $9, Child $8) For more information on IMAX dome films, http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/imax/default.asp

Ontario Science Centre 770 Don Mills Road Toronto, ON, M3C 1T3 Canada Phone: 416-969-1000 www.ontariosciencecentre.ca Click here for directions