New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit media arts organization based in South River Ontario that presents performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art.
NAISA operates the NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, a short distance from Algonquin Park. The center has a wheelchair accessible small exhibition/performance space along with a café and community access space.
NAISA’s annual events include: the Deep Wireless festival of Radio & Transmission Art, the Sound Travels Festival of Sound Art, the SOUNDplay festival and Springscapes.
The objectives of NAISA are to foster awareness and understanding locally, as well as nationally and internationally, in the cultural vitality of experimental sound art in its myriad forms of expression. This objective is achieved through the exploration of new sound technologies in conjunction with the creation of cultural events and artifacts.
New Adventures in Sound Art is located in the traditional territory of the Anishinabewaki peoples covered by the Williams Treaty (1923) and Robinson-Huron Treaty (1850). New Adventures in Sound Art recognizes the significant ongoing contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples to aural culture in Canada.
Upcoming Events
The Decomposing Piano
Open Everyday
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
FREE
Open Everyday
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
FREE
Learn more
The Decomposing Piano is a semi-permanent outdoor installation exploring the effects of the Northern Ontario climate on an upright piano. The piano is available to play 24/7 in all types of weather conditions. In addition to watching the live webcam feed above you can also explore past performances on the Decomposing Piano Video Playlist.
Why put a piano outdoors? Lately there has been interest among arts organizations in the phenomena of the Ruined piano. A ruined piano is a piano left in a natural environment for an extended period of time (see https://bolleter.wixsite.com/warpsmusic for further insights). This project is starting at the stage where the piano currently is still playable despite some tuning deficiencies, but over time will become more and more difficult to play. However, in the gradual "decomposition" of the piano over time, new sounds will be uncovered with the aid of contact microphones and subtle forms of material born amplification. Through its entire decomposition process, the public is invited to play the piano and experience its transformation over the next year to 2 years.
The Decomposing Piano is a semi-permanent outdoor installation exploring the effects of the Northern Ontario climate on an upright piano. The piano is available to play 24/7 in all types of weather conditions. In addition to watching the live webcam feed above you can also explore past performances on the Decomposing Piano Video Playlist.
Why put a piano outdoors? Lately there has been interest among arts organizations in the phenomena of the Ruined piano. A ruined piano is a piano left in a natural environment for an extended period of time (see https://bolleter.wixsite.com/warpsmusic for further insights). This project is starting at the stage where the piano currently is still playable despite some tuning deficiencies, but over time will become more and more difficult to play. However, in the gradual "decomposition" of the piano over time, new sounds will be uncovered with the aid of contact microphones and subtle forms of material born amplification. Through its entire decomposition process, the public is invited to play the piano and experience its transformation over the next year to 2 years.
Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) launches its 22nd annual Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art on February 4th at its brand new location at 313 Highway 124 in South River. NAISA will present two months of in-person and online events that includes an exhibition, performance, two talks, and an audio screening as well as a new online compilation album of radio art.
“Radio in the 20th Century built human connections in the public across multiple and remote locations. Radio Art evolved from artists and writers across many disciplines to add their diverse approaches to the way time, space and content could be re-imagined over the airwaves and later through digital streaming formats. The content in this year’s festival adds to that tradition with stories told through digital interactivity, public forums, documentaries, interactive art, DJing, poetry and sound art. The theme of Remote Connections will provide the through-line for connecting listeners to stories on the periphery of most online and broadcast media." — Darren Copeland, Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art
“Radio in the 20th Century built human connections in the public across multiple and remote locations. Radio Art evolved from artists and writers across many disciplines to add their diverse approaches to the way time, space and content could be re-imagined over the airwaves and later through digital streaming formats. The content in this year’s festival adds to that tradition with stories told through digital interactivity, public forums, documentaries, interactive art, DJing, poetry and sound art. The theme of Remote Connections will provide the through-line for connecting listeners to stories on the periphery of most online and broadcast media." — Darren Copeland, Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art
Forced Migration by Michelle Wilson
February 4 to April 3, 2023. Open 10 am to 4 pm everyday except Tuesdays and Wednesdays
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Pay by Donation
In this interactive textile map, Michelle Wilson stitches together organic and technological material to memorialize specific bison killed, captured, or bred in an effort to save the species from extinction.
February 4 to April 3, 2023. Open 10 am to 4 pm everyday except Tuesdays and Wednesdays
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Pay by Donation
In this interactive textile map, Michelle Wilson stitches together organic and technological material to memorialize specific bison killed, captured, or bred in an effort to save the species from extinction.
Round Table Discussion - I Am Calling Home
By Geronimo Inutiq
Feb 16 @ 2 pm - NAISA North Media Arts Centre, South River
Feb 16 @ 8 pm - Digital Creator Lab, North Bay (access from rear entrance of Capitol Centre)
FREE
Contribute your voice to an ongoing conversation about Home in the north. NAISA guest artist Geronimo Inutiq leads the conversation during two round table discussions that are taking place on Feb 16 at both NAISA (2 pm) and the Digital Creator Lab in North Bay (8 pm). The discussions will be primarily in English, but participants are welcome to share their stories and perspectives in French or Inuktitut as well.
By Geronimo Inutiq
Feb 16 @ 2 pm - NAISA North Media Arts Centre, South River
Feb 16 @ 8 pm - Digital Creator Lab, North Bay (access from rear entrance of Capitol Centre)
FREE
Contribute your voice to an ongoing conversation about Home in the north. NAISA guest artist Geronimo Inutiq leads the conversation during two round table discussions that are taking place on Feb 16 at both NAISA (2 pm) and the Digital Creator Lab in North Bay (8 pm). The discussions will be primarily in English, but participants are welcome to share their stories and perspectives in French or Inuktitut as well.
Performance/Broadcast - I Am Calling Home
By Geronimo Inutiq
February 18, 2023, 7:00 pm
Performance at NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River. Audio stream at NAISA Radio and broadcast outdoors at Ice Follies, Shabogesic Beach, North Bay.
General $12, in-person tickets here. Free for broadcast.
Geronimo Inutiq returns to South River with his ongoing radio art project Uvattini Uqaalajunga - J' Appel chez nous - I Am Calling Home. The content of this performance will remix voices recorded at round table discussions on Feb 16 in South River at 2 pm and North Bay at 8 pm.
By Geronimo Inutiq
February 18, 2023, 7:00 pm
Performance at NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River. Audio stream at NAISA Radio and broadcast outdoors at Ice Follies, Shabogesic Beach, North Bay.
General $12, in-person tickets here. Free for broadcast.
Geronimo Inutiq returns to South River with his ongoing radio art project Uvattini Uqaalajunga - J' Appel chez nous - I Am Calling Home. The content of this performance will remix voices recorded at round table discussions on Feb 16 in South River at 2 pm and North Bay at 8 pm.
Inductance.03
By Hector Centeno and Tetsuo Kogawa
By Hector Centeno and Tetsuo Kogawa
Learn more
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) presents "Inductance.03" by Hector Centeno and Tetsuo Kogawa recorded in May 2012 at the Deep Wireless of Radio and Transmission Art.
Kogawa's pre-recorded video performance is combined with a performance by Centeno to create a no input transmission duet of mysterious ambient beauty. Centeno and Kogawa create complex feedback circuits using radio transmitters and receivers and the conductive properties of the human body. Inductance.03 is a quadraphonic “trans-feedback” micro-FM transmitter performance.
Tetsuo Kogawa is a performance artist who—aside from being a university professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Tokyo Keizai University, the director of the Goethe Archive Tokyo, and a prolific writer on media philosophy, information technology, film works, Kafka, and various contemporary themes—has been teaching workshops for many years, showing people how to build their own FM transmitters from simple electronic components. He has been likewise challenging radical experiments of radio art using and exhibiting his invented devices in various cities in Japan as well as in Europe and North America.
Hector Centeno is a sound artist, music composer and multimedia producer (video/web/graphics). He first composed exclusively for instrumental music ensembles but since 2004 his work has been devoted to the sonic arts, transforming soundscapes and other recorded sounds. He also works doing sound design for film, soundscape recording and multichannel sound diffusion and mixing.
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) presents "Inductance.03" by Hector Centeno and Tetsuo Kogawa recorded in May 2012 at the Deep Wireless of Radio and Transmission Art.
Kogawa's pre-recorded video performance is combined with a performance by Centeno to create a no input transmission duet of mysterious ambient beauty. Centeno and Kogawa create complex feedback circuits using radio transmitters and receivers and the conductive properties of the human body. Inductance.03 is a quadraphonic “trans-feedback” micro-FM transmitter performance.
Tetsuo Kogawa is a performance artist who—aside from being a university professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Tokyo Keizai University, the director of the Goethe Archive Tokyo, and a prolific writer on media philosophy, information technology, film works, Kafka, and various contemporary themes—has been teaching workshops for many years, showing people how to build their own FM transmitters from simple electronic components. He has been likewise challenging radical experiments of radio art using and exhibiting his invented devices in various cities in Japan as well as in Europe and North America.
Hector Centeno is a sound artist, music composer and multimedia producer (video/web/graphics). He first composed exclusively for instrumental music ensembles but since 2004 his work has been devoted to the sonic arts, transforming soundscapes and other recorded sounds. He also works doing sound design for film, soundscape recording and multichannel sound diffusion and mixing.