What do we hear when phrases break, directives dissolve, and continuity is withheld?
Confirm humanity
This year’s What Is festival is a disruption: we’re testing noncompliance and are asking you to join us in practice. Or refuse: the only rule is that there are no rules.
For our last and fourth night of What Is: noncompliance, we centre durational pieces in our practise of refusal and disobedience.
The program is split into two parts.
- THE WORKSHOP at 4:30 PM: how to become an insubordinate listener with Nidus. A durational workshop on listening protocols, cochlear and not, paranoid and distracted, primed, hallucinated and algorithmicized, deep and shallow alike, to brainstorm together how to wield listening as an ongoing, situated, political practice.
- THE PERFORMANCE at 6:30 PM: Nidus performs tectonic sounds that drift between minimalist and maximalist electronics and improvisation, followed by a performance that turns sonic structure inside out with multi-disciplinary artist Shara Lunon
- THE INSTALLATION: Christina Dovolis’ Sidewalk 3000 will be playing throughout the festival. Sidewalk 3000 is a short experimental film depicting countless scans of Toronto’s sidewalks—captured one pass at a time with a portable paper scanner.
This is a low capacity workshop, tickets buyers are encouraged to not wait.
- Participants do not require any preexisting skills.
- Workshop participants are invited to bring a cosy element for the durational listening session.
- Workshop tickets include access to the full night.
NOTE: This is not a typical workshop and is not free to MG members. However, the usual membership discounts still apply.
Christina Dovolis’ work was curated by Evangeline Brooks of InterAccess.
ABOUT SHARA LUNON
Shara Lunon is a Brooklyn-based transdisciplinary artist, musician, curator, and educator working across sound, poetry, visual art, and community practice. Rooted in curiosity, wonder, and Black American traditions, she approaches the voice as both instrument and antenna for memory and transformation. Through improvisation, electronics, and found materials, her work explores identity, care, and illusions of freedom.
With a deep intention to congregate, she creates immersive sonic experiences and collaborative spaces grounded in deep listening and possibility. She is the founder of Heavy Florals and has collaborated with Ches Smith, Luke Stewart, Lesley Mok, and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
ABOUT NIDUS
Nidus (i.e., Matthew Ramolo, John Oswald, Marc Couroux) is a perpetually engendered origin revealed by morphing vibrational geometries – a sonic accumulation drifitng on the amorphous continuum that binds the oneiric and political, the autonomous and the integrated, genesis and terminus.
ABOUT CHRISTINA DOVOLIS
Christina Dovolis is an interdisciplinary filmmaker and geographer, often working with cutting-edge technologies to explore how our built environments shape community and identity. Hailing from the Midwest, Christina draws inspiration from themes of girlhood and gossip, religious mythologies, and the complexities of urban development. As an educator, Christina is committed to making new media programs more accessible to the public, particularly focusing on empowering women and marginalized groups. She has achieved acclaim for her projects, with presentations at Museum of the Moving Image, SXSW Sydney, Nuit Blanche, Calgary Underground Film Festival, and more.
TICKETING & ACCESSIBILITY INFO
REFUND, NO-SHOW, & RUSH LIST POLICY
Sometimes our shows sell out, and that can be a bummer for folks who didn’t get a ticket. We’ve developed a new ticketing policy that applies to advance ticket holders and those wanting tickets to ensure a fair, transparent process for releasing additional tickets to a sold-out show. Please read our full policy here.
TICKETING
Our new ticket type invites you to Pay What You Can Afford (PWYCA) which means that you can choose an appropriate level and where possible, help to offset community members attending at a discounted rate. Levels are decided by you based upon your income and financial flexibility and are not verified at the door.
ACCESSIBILITY INFO
Masking and social distancing is strongly recommended for attendees who are able to and audience members are encouraged to arrive scent-free to the performance.
For additional questions or accessibility needs, please contact: matthew@musicgallery.org.
COVID POLICY
We strongly encourage masking at all times. For our full policy, click here.
SAFER SPACE
We expect all attendees and community members to respect one another, and to respect the work that was created for you to explore. We will not tolerate harm or harmful behaviour of any kind. View our policy here.
