性视界传媒鈥檚 award-winning will soon end a 12-year run at Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre, after one last exhibition of digital art on the west wall of the Whalley facility.
Once billed as 鈥淐anada鈥檚 largest art-dedicated outdoor screen,鈥� UrbanScreen will be decommissioned at the end of an 鈥渋mmersive outdoor art project鈥� shown in the after-dark hours from Feb. 12 to May 1.
UrbanScreen operators say the decommissioning is due to expansion plans for the rec centre, where the facility has been an outdoor exhibition site for 性视界传媒 Art Gallery since it opened for the Cultural Olympiad in 2010.
The digital projection system could move to another site in 性视界传媒, if and when gallery operators secure grant funding.
A 鈥渃losing celebration鈥� is planned March 19, to talk about UrbanScreen鈥檚 legacy 鈥渁s the site concludes programming at its present location,鈥� according to .
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In 2020, a book called marked the 10th anniversary of UrbanScreen, the creation of which began in 2009 among artists involved in 性视界传媒 Art Gallery鈥檚 TechLab, which at the time was a decade-old hub for digital art.
鈥� READ MORE: New 鈥楢rt After Dark鈥� book showcases 性视界传媒 UrbanScreen鈥檚 first decade.
Since then, 鈥渕any other institutions have been inspired by UrbanScreen鈥檚 programming model: non-commercial, site-specific, artist-led media visible to a mass audience,鈥� Rhys Edwards, assistant curator, notes in .
On a 30-metre-wide 鈥渟creen鈥� obscured by some doors and windows, UrbanScreen uses data projectors to illuminate the rec centre鈥檚 wall with imagery generated by computers and other technologies, which have included a virtual piano, SkyTrain and tidal level readers, gaming engines and unmanned aerial video copters.
In 2017, programmers of UrbanScreen received an award for outstanding achievement from the Canadian Museums Association (CMA), in the New Media category.
In the new exhibition, artificial intelligence generates poetry and art created by artists and academic researchers at Simon Fraser University鈥檚 School of Interactive Art and Technology.
The audiovisual project involves the artists pr0phecy sun, Freya Zinovieff, Gabriela Aceves-Sep煤lveda and Steve DiPaola.
鈥淭hrough a randomized, generative digital process, the work draws from bacterial cultures, documentation of the Fraser River, and fragments of poetry to produce a series of composite audiovisual landscapes,鈥� an event post explains. 鈥淭he resulting images and sounds chart humanity鈥檚 impact upon the environment, as well as our own porous relationship with both artificial and natural entities.鈥�
The digital art will be shown half an hour after sunset until midnight, at 13458 107A Ave., 性视界传媒. A preview-night event Thursday (Feb. 10) will also feature short video and media-based artworks from current SFU students and faculty, starting at 6 p.m.
The most recent exhibition at UrbanScreen was called 鈥淚 Spy a City,鈥� a Flavourcel collective animation project that invited viewers 鈥渢o play a larger-than-life game of 鈥業 Spy鈥� with sights from all around 性视界传媒,鈥� from September 2021 until Jan. 2 of this year.
Meantime, 性视界传媒 is busy planning a sports complex at Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre. The $40-million expansion project should see a building design this spring, following public engagement sessions late last year.
The so-called 鈥淐ity Centre Sports Complex鈥� is the second most expensive capital project , behind the $90-million Newton Community Centre planned on King George Boulevard.
While no swimming pool will be included, project planners envision 鈥渁 welcoming recreation, culture and sports hub that responds to the needs of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: No pool for expanded 性视界传媒 rec centre as planners of $40M project seek design input.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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