Inclusive Artistry: Meet the Residents Behind our Pilot Residency Program

Led by the shared values of decolonization and liberation for all who have been harmed and/or excluded by the media and various systems of oppression, Volumetric Performance Toolbox prioritizes using emerging technology as a new way for artists to both strengthen and sustain their craft. This is accomplished by providing performers with:

1) boundless imagination in creating positive and collaborative digital environments

2) making low-cost equipment and custom software accessible via workshops and onboarding tutorials

3) building a community of creators working with volumetric performance.

In alliance with Eyebeam’s Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future program, VPT has brought together a cohort of 7 multidisciplinary artists from BIPOC, LGBTQ, and disabled communities to envision a decolonised, decentralised future for online performance.

We now invite you to get to know these powerful creators one at a time.

Alim Ringgold

Based in Portland, Oregon, Alim Ringgold is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily with video + sound, ceramic sculpture, and installation.

Alim draws from a deep interest in the esoteric, unexplained phenomena, and the nature of dreams, tapping in to these modalities to explore presence in a world that often feels uncomfortably concrete.

“ I truly believe that world building and the ability to construct an environment of personal significance and use is crucial to freely navigating our experiences in all of their complexity.” - @alim.samii

Catherine Ross

Catherine Ross is a researcher, creative technologist, and performance artist whose practice is centered in social and environmental justice as they relate to burgeoning technologies. Catherine has collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where they independently led a year long, community based research project in an Art+Science Initiative focused on labor dynamics within natural resource management across the Pacific NW, USA. They helped to create the Make+Think+Code Lab alongside mathematician, DR. Nandini Ranganathan, where they authored, organized, and facilitated various large scale creative projects.

Catherine currently works in collaboration with CETI, a Creative and Emergent Technology Institute, supporting a diverse and interdisciplinary community of artists, practitioners, professionals, educators, students, and researchers to design future communication architectures. It is within this collaborative model that the artist seeks the democratization of power and decision making, focused on equitable, cross-disciplinary, and creative problem solving.

“To create with these burgeoning technologies means to shape the aesthetics, norms, and conversations within XR performance, affording a crucial opportunity to de-link from colonial thought and frameworks within digital spaces.” — @sssad_sad

Carlos Johns-Dávila

Carlos Johns-Dávila is a 360º video maker and interactive technologist based in Brooklyn, NY. His work involves movement and gesture to control projections and sounds in open improvisation structures.

He develops these methods with theremin, quenacho, and dance to create hybrid performances that capture multiple dimensions of reality. His current interests are in 360º video and site-specific installations that create a feedback loop in the sounds of the natural environment and the ones being composed.

“I am excited to be part of this program because it fills my longing to have community with artist pioneers in the XR field. — @princeCarlosthe5

Terri Ayanna Wright

Terri Ayanna Wright, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in New York City. After graduating from Fordham University with a dual degree in dance and computer science, Ms. Wright traveled internationally as a dancer on tour with Ailey II, through which she was exposed to a wide-range of live production teams, settings, and audiences. She most recently finished her first season with The Met Opera, as an ensemble dancer in Porgy & Bess. Through this experience, she began exploring the many facets of putting on a live performance, beyond the act itself.

You may catch Terri live every Sunday and Wednesday, as an online Horton teacher for The Ailey Extension.

“My excitement continues as I participate in this program, mainly because it brings purpose and intention to the intersection of dance and technology, a personal passion that has led me pursue this exploration academically!” — @wrightitwithdance

Antoine Hunter

Bay Area native, Antoine Hunter also known Purple Fire Crow is an award-winning Internationally-known African-American, Indigenous, Deaf, Disable, choreographer, dancer, actor, instructor, speaker, Producer and Deaf advocate. He creates opportunities for Disable, Deaf and hearing artists and produces Deaf-friendly events, and founded the Urban Jazz Dance Company and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival. Antoine’s work has been performed globally, most recently in Turkey, UK and Russia. He has lectured across the U.S. including at Kennedy Center’s VSA, Harvard and Duke University, and the National Assembly of State Arts.

In 2019 alone, his company Urban Jazz Dance Company, an ensemble of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers, performed for and engaged more than 4,200 school children. His shoe company DropLabs and Susan Paley just released an innovative product to help people feel music through their shoes.

“This experience is so breathtaking…it’s something that I’ve never done before.” — @thegreatdancerah

Remi Harris

Remi Harris is a Barbados born and Brooklyn bred dance artist exploring the intersectionality between performance, new media and black female representation through movement improvisation, choreography, XR and curation. Recent work explores creating liberated and inclusive dance spaces under the performance/party project Yes! Yes! Yes! with Mark Schmidt and XR as an extension of performance.

She is currently the Programs Manager at CPR-Center for Performance Research. She is a Hofstra University alum graduating with a BA in Dance where she was on scholarship.

“I’ve been intrigued by the vast possibilities of incorporating XR into performance after working with 360 video. I’m curious about immersive storytelling, technology as means of creation, accessibility and finding ways to stay connected to the body in virtual spaces.”— @remiharris_

MaryAnn Talavera

MaryAnn Talavera is a creative technologist, filmmaker, and polyglot with a love for storytelling and travel. She studies immersive media, 360 video, XR, and virtual production in the Interactive Telecommunications Program(ITP) at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to graduate school, MaryAnn works as the Associate Director of Recruitment in the Office of Special Programs at Tisch. MaryAnn is also a member of Octavia Immersive, a mixed-reality label and production team.

MaryAnn taught English in Japan for several years as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

“I love getting to work with talented artists exploring the boundaries of creative expression and technology. I also love using movement to connect with people around the world; we’re not only building the future, but a community that can thrive during a time where people are so isolated.” — @cinemaryann

To keep up with this pioneering VPT program and remarkable work of all organizers, artists, and partners involved, follow us on social media and bookmark this Medium page for further info on how to get involved.

• Valencia James — Performing artist, researcher, VPT collaborator
• Glowbox — Tech strategy, software development studio, VPT collaborator
• Sorob Louie — Founder of VirtuLabs and RootStream, VPT collaborator
• Eyebeam NYC — VPT Produced by Eyebeam NYC’s Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future Fellowship.