Sedimentary Futures

About

Sedimentary Futures brings together the five winning works of the 2024 Emerging Digital Artists Award as part of the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s experimental digital exhibition series. Through new media practices that include narrative game design and extended reality, the works Sedimentary Futures employ digital techniques to build a shared sense of how preservation and maintenance are woven through contemporary digital worldbuilding. Collectively, their efforts have the effect of presenting viewers with a sort of “digital bog”, an interactive and conceptual environment that facilitates the merging of physical and virtual space. Formed through pressure and strategies of collection, retention, and release, bogs can seem boundaryless. Equal parts composter and incubator, bogs create a territory for new life-forms to emerge through the act of breaking down what they inherit. Each award-winning work in this exhibition channels a kind of bog methodology, speaking to the role that resourcefulness and memory play in the future of digital practice.

Artists

The Backroom, 2023
Digital Image

The Backroom is a triptych of 3D-rendered black and white images that investigate the remnants of colonialism in the artist’s psyche as a Nigerian person of Yoruba ancestry. Set in an imagined museum and playing with aesthetics of afro-surrealism, each panel features selected elements of Yoruba culture. Though this space is speculative in nature and exists outside of our physical reality, it utilizes “western” museum display strategies typically reserved for representing colonized cultures and identities. Omubor subverts these tactics to facilitate deprogramming and to question associated narratives, leveraging the boundlessness of a place untethered by time or physical constraints.

For its installation in this online exhibition, we have adapted the 3D environments created by the artist to stage the still images. Visitors are led through the space in a manner that is sensitive to the elegant stasis hinted at in Omobur’s images, inviting further consideration of whether these virtual artifacts are colonial ruins within the psyche or evidence of a nascent institution in formation.

Moni Omubor is a Lagos-born visual artist and designer based in Lethbridge, Alberta. Her new media practice uses speculative fiction to explore the interconnectedness of Black diasporic realities and postcolonial Nigerian identity. She holds a B.Sc. in Architecture and an MFA in New Media from the University of Lethbridge and is a member of the Lethbridge-based Black art collective, We’re Here Too.

GRWM, 2024
Animation; 3:38
Audio by Apple Cabrera

GRWM is an acronym for “Get Ready With Me,” referencing a genre of videos by beauty influencers who transform their appearance on camera before going out in public. Created in response to the relentless cycle of ad-driven beauty recommendations that plague our social media feeds, the work features an amorphous, fleshy blob that is cut open, molded, pierced and adorned. GRWM serves as a cultural observation on the impact of social media beauty trends and the accelerated normalization of extreme body modifications, highlighting the absurdity of this pursuit that often comes at the risk of opposite outcomes.

The installation of GRWM within this exhibition is informed by the artist’s original vision for an experience that would envelop the visitor, much like the animated blob that hovers and bloats against the horizon within the work. Sumantry’s work reimagines the contemporary attention cycle as a voracious life form, in turn inviting the visitor to consider how embodiment and awareness are redefined in an era of hyper-connectedness.

Carmilla Sumantry is an interdisciplinary creative based in so-called Vancouver, with a background in industrial design, 3D art, and animation. Her practice explores the relationship between emerging creative technology and art through an existential lens informed by her second-generation Indonesian-Canadian heritage and queer identity.

(Caeleigh & Keara Lightning)

Mikiwam, 2023
Game art, dimensions variable

Mikiwam is an Indigenous fantasy narrative about complex relationships, magic, and post-colonial futures. The game features Awâsis, a young woman who recently moved back to her mother’s home community, where she struggles with visions she can’t control while navigating strained relationships with her family. After being taken on as an apprentice by the mysterious healer, Matsi, she learns how to use her unique Gift in seeing people’s moods as elements that can be influenced through magical teas. As Awâsis, players embark on her journey to reconnect with her estranged home and ultimately find her place in a fractured, healing world.

Storytelling, like game design, is a culturally significant means to weave world-building with self-discovery. The world conceived by Studio Ekosi is rendered with the same tenderness and gentle humour that we hope visitors will bring to their experience of this work. Mikiwam is represented in this exhibition through the recreation of a scene within Studio Ekosi’s original game design. Visitors are invited to experience the entire game in play mode via the link provided here.

Studio Ekosi is Caeleigh and Keara Lightning, mixed Irish and Nehiyaw sisters based in Edmonton, Alberta. Caeleigh is a Two-Spirit artist and illustrator whose work explores themes of queerness and interconnectivity, and Keara is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, where she advocates for Indigenous-led scientific research. Together, they create narrative games about Indigenous futures.

Stellar Narratives, 2024
Augmented Reality

Stellar Narratives bridges the gap between Anishinaabe night sky stories and the city. With each season, a new chapter unfolds, showcasing the constellations that have guided Anishinaabe wisdom for generations. Hopkins uses augmented reality as a new way of sharing stories, connecting audiences to the oral traditions that have long shaped Indigenous knowledge. In inviting urban Indigenous people to look up and rediscover the ancestral stories etched in the stars above them, the work serves as a reminder that the wisdom of the land is still with us, even in the heart of the city.

For presentation in this exhibition, Stellar Narratives has been adapted to function as a browser-based experience. Working in consultation and collaboration with the artist, we have introduced interactive components and imagery that place the original site for the project – Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works – within the EDAA online exhibition.

Quinn Hopkins is a Toronto-based artist working at the intersection of Urban Indigenous culture and new media, crafting a vibrant dialogue between Indigenous history, urban life, and futuristic visions. Rooted in Anishinaable-Métis traditions, he reimagines Indigenous iconography for the modern era. His digital creations and immersive installations have been presented at Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto; Thunder Bay Art Gallery; and Hart House at the University of Toronto.

the museum of the copy/pasted identities, 2022
Sculptural and multi-channel video installation

the museum of the copy/pasted identities features a series of digital sculptures set within a digital environment based on South American colonial architecture. The work delves into the visual history and legacies of colonialism in anthropological museums, exploring how otherness is produced through both exhibition displays and digital networks. Gonzalez-Rosas crafts a speculative archeology of the body through photogrammetry, 3D scanning, and CGI-generated avatars, challenging normative approaches to self-representation. The resulting multimedia installation exposes the performativity of contemporary digital self image-making and draws critical connections to strategies of representation within cultural institutions.

Translating a physical installation into an equally considered virtual experience is akin to creating a work anew. Gonzales-Rosas worked closely with the exhibition designers to create an experience which builds on the core visuals beyond the physical parameters of monitors and screens. Here, the museum of the copy/pasted identities is situated in a virtual environment that considers the forms of containment and control that are part of larger institutional narratives.

Francisco Gonzalez-Rosas (he/they) is a Chilean performance and new media artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Their practice explores existing and speculative crossovers between body and technology, emphasizing the politics of these encounters. Francisco holds an MFA in Intermedia from Concordia University, Montreal, and a BA in Acting from Finis Terrae University, Santiago, and their work has been included in exhibitions at Fondation Phi, Montreal; Centre Caravansérail, Rimouski; and Centre for Culture & Technology, Toronto.

Instructions

Getting Started

Browser Requirements: The exhibition works best on desktop computers using Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox browsers. Mobile viewing is not fully supported.

Audio: Several artworks include sound elements. When prompted, please allow your browser to play audio (look for notifications near your address bar).

Entering the Exhibition

From the main page, click on “Launch exhibition” to open the experience in a new tab.

You’ll begin by creating your avatar:

Enter a display name in the text field
Use the sliders to customize your avatar’s appearance and color
Click “Join” when you’re ready to enter

You’ll arrive in a small orientation area where you can practice moving around.

Movement Controls

Looking around: Use your mouse or trackpad to change your view direction

Moving your avatar:

W key – Move forward in the direction you’re facing
S key – Move backward
A key – Move left
D key – Move right

These instructions will appear on screen. Press the TAB key to dismiss them when you’re ready.

To continue, look for a sparkling portal labeled “Enter Exhibition” and walk through it.

The Bog (central area)

You’ve now entered the central area of the exhibition called “The Bog.” This shared space allows you to:

Explore freely using the movement controls
Interact with other visitors
Discover five portals that lead to the featured artworks

Chatting with others: Press the ENTER key to open the chat function. Any messages you type will be visible to other visitors exploring the space.

Artwork instructions

MONI OMUBOR

After entering the portal, walk to the right and face the “Continue” button.Click this button to begin a guided tour through the artwork. The experience will pause at key moments – click “Continue” again to move to the next scene. At the conclusion, a portal is presented to you that if walked through will return you to the central Bog.

CARMILLA SUMANTRY

Move to the right after entering, and turn toward the video screen.Your view will automatically lock onto the video. Please enable your browser’s audio, and turn your volume on. When ready to move again, press the ESC key. Use the portal on the viewing platform to return to the Bog.

STUDIO EKOSI

This installation is a preview of an interactive 2D game built in the Ren’Py engine. Upon arrival, turn right for the preview and head towards the end of the platform. Instructions are located on the book graphic to your left. Use the portal at the back of the viewing platform to return to the Bog.

QUINN HOPKINS

This installation is a preview of an adapted augmented reality experience for browser. Enter the portal to visit a space inspired by the work’s original location at Evergreen Brickworks. Walk your avatar to the platform displaying a preview image of Stellar Narratives. A new browser tab will open with the interactive experience. Return to the exhibition tab when finished. Use the portal on your left to go back to the Bog.

FRANCISCO GONZALEZ-ROSAS

This installation offers a guided tour. Upon arrival, move right and step inside the bubble, then stop.The bubble will automatically guide you through the artwork along paths chosen by the artist. You’ll visit two spaces, each featuring video work with audio.

If you accidentally leave the guided path you can use movement controls to explore on your own. Each area contains portals labelled “Continue” to move to the next space. “Start Again” portals return you to the beginning. “Return to Bog” portals take you back to the central exhibition area.

Acknowledgements

Sedimentary Futures is presented by the MacKenzie Art Gallery in partnership with EQ Bank and features works by the five recipients of the 2024 Emerging Digital Artists Award (EDAA): Carmilla Sumantry, Moni Omubor, Francisco Gonzales-Rosas, Quinn Hopkins, and Studio Ekosi. The exhibition was produced by Cat Bluemke and Brendan Lehman based on the artwork A Boundless and Radiant Aura by 2024 EDAA Featured Artist Diana Lynn VanderMeulen.

Sedimentary Futures marks the fourth iteration of the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s experimental digital exhibition series, designed to provide live, practical, and conceptual testing utilising the Gallery’s Digital Exhibitions Toolkit and Art Installation Launcher (DETAIL). Conceptualized by Digital Exhibition Consultant Cat Bluemke and funded by the Canada Council for the Art’s Digital Strategy Fund, DETAIL initiative seeks to redefine the possibilities of digital platforms for showcasing artistic expression.

About the MacKenzie Art Gallery:

Located in Treaty 4 territory, the MacKenzie Art Gallery is Saskatchewan’s oldest public art gallery, with a fifty-year history of championing Indigenous art from Indigenous perspectives. The MacKenzie embraces its unique position within the Canadian and international art landscape, celebrating the diverse perspectives of all artists within the plains region and Canada. It has a focus on Indigenous and contemporary art, contextualized through select historic and international work.

About the Developers and Featured Artist:

Cat Bluemke is an artist working primarily in game design, expanded reality, and performance. Previously working collaboratively as SpekWork Studio and Tough Guy Mountain, she has created games, performances, and immersive experiences that explore technology’s ability to obscure the line between work and play. Her work has been exhibited internationally with prominent institutions including Rhizome and the New Museum (2020) and the Venice Architecture Biennale (2018) as part of the American pavilion’s corollary exhibits. Recent exhibitions include the Fotomuseum Winterthur (2024), the Milan Machinima Festival (2024), the Singapore Art Museum (2023), Art Gallery of Regina (2023), and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (2022). As of publication, she is the Executive Director of the Centre for Art Tapes in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, NS).

Brendan Lehman is a neuroscientist, game artist, and arts programmer based in Toronto, Canada. Their projects in game development, biodata-driven interactive installation, and event production all aim to capture contexts of togetherness and help people connect with themselves, each other, and their natural environment in new and meaningful ways. Their installation work was featured at the 81e Mostra internazionale d’arte cinematografica Venezia Venice Immersive, they have worked at Muse: The Brain-sensing Headband, and have given talks or workshops at MIT Media Lab, A MAZE. / Berlin, The Science of Consciousness, Resonite VR, InterAccess, and others. They are Artistic Director of the Hand Eye Society, a video game art organization.

Diana Lynn VanderMeuelen is a multidisciplinary artist living in Toronto, Canada. Her practice is fluid between analogue and digital mediums with a focus on extended reality and cyclical material use as she develops expansive, multisensory environments. Alongside representation with Sky Fine Foods, VanderMeulen has been involved in many public and DIY ventures. Notably, she has shown at Canadian Embassy (Tokyo, Japan), CADAF Digital Art Fair (Paris, France), Constellations Festival (Metz, France), Lincoln Centre (New York, USA), Mutek.AE (Dubai, UAE) Société des arts technologiques (Montreal, CA) and Video Pool (Winnipeg, CA).

About the Emerging Digital Artists Award:

The Emerging Digital Artists Award (EDAA) is Canada’s award for critical experimentation in digital media, proudly presented by EQ Bank. Established in 2015, the annual prize celebrates the contributions of early-career artists working exclusively in virtual space. Each year, we seek artwork submissions from across the country that push us in new directions and challenge us to see the world through a different screen.

About EQ Bank:

EQ Bank is the digital banking platform launched in 2016 by Equitable Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank™. As a future-ready financial institution, fostering innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We firmly believe in the benefits of open banking and continue to invest in technology to serve the changing financial needs of Canadians.