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Installations presented in 2025
Foresta Inclusive: (ex)tending towards
made in collaboration with Hrysovalanti Maheras, Faadhi Fauzi and Ilze Briede (Kavi)
By Jane Tingley
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Pay by Donation
The interactive artwork Foresta Inclusive: (ex)tending towards explores the complexity of the natural world, as it plays out beyond limited human sensory perception. The work uses data collected during the summer of 2022 from a tree at the rare Charitable Reserve in Cambridge ON, as a driver for nearly all aspects of the visual, acoustic and olfactory elements in the work. The work is an interactive and sensorially rich environment that can be experienced in a parallel winter-time synchronicity at the NAISA Gallery and Café.
This is a two part distributed project: Foresta Inclusive - the sculptural sensor pods installed in a forest that transmitted forest data to the Internet of Things (IoT) prototyping platform Shiftr, and (ex)tending towards - the multi-sensory interactive installation created from this data stream. The in-gallery installation visualizes the more-than-human experience of the tree in real time and expresses this complexity through a combination of light, sound, and scent.
(ex)tending towards gives form to human/forest alliances, and is driven by the following questions: What does it mean to be alive and have agency?, How can we re-train ourselves to slow down and listen to voices that have been marginalized for millennia?, and What sort of perceptual and mental shifts must occur in order to recognize and value the liveliness and precious vibrancy of individuals that do not share the same language nor temporal reality?
This work explores ways to slow down human engagement, and also makes visible the daily experience of a tree. Inspired by tree rings as evidence of yearly growth, the visualization uses the same logic to image the last 24hrs of the tree’s life, where the outer ring shows contemporary values and each subsequent smaller ring the values from the previous hour. The interface for the visualization is a one-meter-tall cork cylinder that is also a scent sculpture that releases the scent of geosmin (the smell of a forest after it rains) every time it rains in real-time. To interact with the visualization, the participant can hold their hand 3” above the interface and slowly move it forward, enabling them to explore the 3D space. Additionally, there is a point cloud visualization of the tree that was sensed during the summer of 2022. This visualization was created from a LIDAR scan done by the Modelling and Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Waterloo using a very large drone. This point cloud representation also contains the sensors on its trunk and is affected in real time by the recorded data. To tie all of the elements together, earth has been imported into the gallery – holding the original sensor pods as well as the cylindrical interface. In its entirety this installation creates an embodied and exploratory space where the deep time of a tree’s life is remembered, and the human body is slowed down in the engagement.
The sound component of the work was created specifically for this exhibition. It too is generated from the data, but instead of using recordings of the forest soundscape at rare, synthesized sounds analogous to the sounds that would have been heard, are used. This work is the first in a series exploring ways of using technology as a tool to place human and non-human into a dialogical relationship, where both voices are equal despite perceived differences (temporal reality, im/mobility, non/verbal).
Production Credits:
Hrysovlanti Maheras: Max 8 and collaborative sound design
Faadhi Fauzi: Three.js programming
Ilze (Kavi) Briede: 3D modelling and Touch Designer programming
Marius Kintel: Firmware support
An Vu: Pod hardware duplication
Grace Grothaus: Photogrammetry
Thank you:
rare Charitable Reserve, Cambridge, Ontario for site hosting of Foresta Inclusive
Dr Derek Robinson, Modelling and Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Waterloo, ON. CA for Drone and Lidar scanning
Financial Support:
York University
Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada
Environments of Change Partnership Grant, Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada. University of Waterloo. ON. CA
made in collaboration with Hrysovalanti Maheras, Faadhi Fauzi and Ilze Briede (Kavi)
By Jane Tingley
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Pay by Donation
Click Here to Listen and Interact
The interactive artwork Foresta Inclusive: (ex)tending towards explores the complexity of the natural world, as it plays out beyond limited human sensory perception. The work uses data collected during the summer of 2022 from a tree at the rare Charitable Reserve in Cambridge ON, as a driver for nearly all aspects of the visual, acoustic and olfactory elements in the work. The work is an interactive and sensorially rich environment that can be experienced in a parallel winter-time synchronicity at the NAISA Gallery and Café.
This is a two part distributed project: Foresta Inclusive - the sculptural sensor pods installed in a forest that transmitted forest data to the Internet of Things (IoT) prototyping platform Shiftr, and (ex)tending towards - the multi-sensory interactive installation created from this data stream. The in-gallery installation visualizes the more-than-human experience of the tree in real time and expresses this complexity through a combination of light, sound, and scent.
(ex)tending towards gives form to human/forest alliances, and is driven by the following questions: What does it mean to be alive and have agency?, How can we re-train ourselves to slow down and listen to voices that have been marginalized for millennia?, and What sort of perceptual and mental shifts must occur in order to recognize and value the liveliness and precious vibrancy of individuals that do not share the same language nor temporal reality?
This work explores ways to slow down human engagement, and also makes visible the daily experience of a tree. Inspired by tree rings as evidence of yearly growth, the visualization uses the same logic to image the last 24hrs of the tree’s life, where the outer ring shows contemporary values and each subsequent smaller ring the values from the previous hour. The interface for the visualization is a one-meter-tall cork cylinder that is also a scent sculpture that releases the scent of geosmin (the smell of a forest after it rains) every time it rains in real-time. To interact with the visualization, the participant can hold their hand 3” above the interface and slowly move it forward, enabling them to explore the 3D space. Additionally, there is a point cloud visualization of the tree that was sensed during the summer of 2022. This visualization was created from a LIDAR scan done by the Modelling and Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Waterloo using a very large drone. This point cloud representation also contains the sensors on its trunk and is affected in real time by the recorded data. To tie all of the elements together, earth has been imported into the gallery – holding the original sensor pods as well as the cylindrical interface. In its entirety this installation creates an embodied and exploratory space where the deep time of a tree’s life is remembered, and the human body is slowed down in the engagement.
The sound component of the work was created specifically for this exhibition. It too is generated from the data, but instead of using recordings of the forest soundscape at rare, synthesized sounds analogous to the sounds that would have been heard, are used. This work is the first in a series exploring ways of using technology as a tool to place human and non-human into a dialogical relationship, where both voices are equal despite perceived differences (temporal reality, im/mobility, non/verbal).
Production Credits:
Hrysovlanti Maheras: Max 8 and collaborative sound design
Faadhi Fauzi: Three.js programming
Ilze (Kavi) Briede: 3D modelling and Touch Designer programming
Marius Kintel: Firmware support
An Vu: Pod hardware duplication
Grace Grothaus: Photogrammetry
Thank you:
rare Charitable Reserve, Cambridge, Ontario for site hosting of Foresta Inclusive
Dr Derek Robinson, Modelling and Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Waterloo, ON. CA for Drone and Lidar scanning
Financial Support:
York University
Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada
Environments of Change Partnership Grant, Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada. University of Waterloo. ON. CA
Jane Tingley is an artist, curator, and Assistant Professor at York University in Toronto (CA). She is interested in how interactivity combined with art objects and installation can be used to explore contemporary experience. She received the Kenneth Finkelstein Prize in Sculpture and the first prize in the iNTERFACES – Interactive Art Competition in Porto (PT). She has participated in exhibitions and festivals in the Americas, Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Deep Wireless Listening Room
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Enjoy radio art and sound art works in a comfortable high quality listening environment. This curated listening experience is comprised of works from the Deep Wireless 19 Radio Art Compilation on the theme "There is Art in Our Nature." Visit the radio page for details on the works.
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Enjoy radio art and sound art works in a comfortable high quality listening environment. This curated listening experience is comprised of works from the Deep Wireless 19 Radio Art Compilation on the theme "There is Art in Our Nature." Visit the radio page for details on the works.
Local Stories on Radio Café
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Grab a radio in the Café at NAISA and tune in to a curated selection of stories told by Seniors in the South River community. Learn about the experiences of people and families over the past decades. Visit the web page South River Seniors Telling Stories in order to listen to stories on demand.
January 9 to March 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Grab a radio in the Café at NAISA and tune in to a curated selection of stories told by Seniors in the South River community. Learn about the experiences of people and families over the past decades. Visit the web page South River Seniors Telling Stories in order to listen to stories on demand.
Almaguin Community Soundscapes
April 3 to May 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm everyday except Tuesdays and Wednesdays
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Almaguin Community Soundscapes is an exhibition that surrounds one with the sounds of spring using a multi-channel speaker system and recordings made by residents of the Almaguin Highlands. The spring season is a special time of the year in the region as the snow melts, the ice breaks up on the lakes and the arrival of insects and birds is loudly announced by the sounds made by peepers.
If you live in the Almaguin Highlands and wish to contribute spring soundscapes from your home then please get in touch (naisa at nasia dot ca). Listen to a selection of the recordings by visiting Aporee.org
To contribute sounds from a location you know in the Almaguin Highlands consult these guidelines or visit us at NAISA.
April 3 to May 31, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm everyday except Tuesdays and Wednesdays
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
Admission by Donation
Almaguin Community Soundscapes is an exhibition that surrounds one with the sounds of spring using a multi-channel speaker system and recordings made by residents of the Almaguin Highlands. The spring season is a special time of the year in the region as the snow melts, the ice breaks up on the lakes and the arrival of insects and birds is loudly announced by the sounds made by peepers.
If you live in the Almaguin Highlands and wish to contribute spring soundscapes from your home then please get in touch (naisa at nasia dot ca). Listen to a selection of the recordings by visiting Aporee.org
To contribute sounds from a location you know in the Almaguin Highlands consult these guidelines or visit us at NAISA.
Haptic Voices
Interactive Installation
By David Bobier and Jim Ruxton
June 12 to September 15, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Haptic Voices is a large scale ten channel vibrotactile wall with the potential for 10 independent streams of sound signals. Visitors are invited to stand against the wall to experience vibrations that are controlled using an iPad.
Five sound compositions, designed explicitly for the vibrotactile experience, were commissioned for the wall. The composers include Toronto-based John Gzowski and Ravi Naimpally, Deaf Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain and Haptic Voices co-creator Jim Ruxton.
Using vibration as the final output, Haptic Voices is equally accessible to the Deaf, hard of hearing and able-bodied communities to experience the wall.
Video of the June 20 artist talk includes demonstrations of the piece and background on previous VibraFusionLab projects.
Interactive Installation
By David Bobier and Jim Ruxton
June 12 to September 15, 2025. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday.
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Haptic Voices is a large scale ten channel vibrotactile wall with the potential for 10 independent streams of sound signals. Visitors are invited to stand against the wall to experience vibrations that are controlled using an iPad.
Five sound compositions, designed explicitly for the vibrotactile experience, were commissioned for the wall. The composers include Toronto-based John Gzowski and Ravi Naimpally, Deaf Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain and Haptic Voices co-creator Jim Ruxton.
Using vibration as the final output, Haptic Voices is equally accessible to the Deaf, hard of hearing and able-bodied communities to experience the wall.
Video of the June 20 artist talk includes demonstrations of the piece and background on previous VibraFusionLab projects.
David Bobier is a disabled artist whose creative practice is exploring vibrotactile technology as a creative medium. This work led to his establishment in 2012 of VibraFusionLab, a creative multi-media, multi-sensory centre that has a reputation as a leader in accessibility for the Deaf and disability arts movement in Canada and internationally. As a practicing artist his exhibition career includes 18 solo and over 30 group exhibition projects across Canada and internationally.
David Bobier has served in advisory roles in developing Deaf and disability arts Equity programs for both Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council and a presenter at the Global Disability Summit in London, UK. He has recently been nominated by the Canada Council for a Governor Generals Innovation Award. Website: Vibrafusion Lab
Jim Ruxton has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa and is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design . He works as an artist and engineer in installation, performance, theatre, dance and film collaborating with many other artists throughout his career. Jim is a founder and former Director of Programs for Subtle Technologies, a Toronto based organization that has created links between artists and scientists . Jim is a member of the Hamilton based VibraFusionLab collective, an organization that works to foster media arts within the Deaf and disabled arts community.
Voice of the Water
Interactive Installation
By Eric Powell
Opening July 18 (Thurs-Mon, 10 am to 4 pm)
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Voice of the Water is an interactive rotary telephone-based listening station. Using sounds collected from inside the lakes and rivers around South River, Voice of the Water encourages listeners to connect with the local waterways as they explore the boundaries and overlaps between planes of existence. The Artist's goal is to create a venue for contemplation, catharsis, and a deeper engagement with the surrounding environment.
Sound Fishing Invitation
Go on a listening expedition with a staff member from NAISA to record underwater sounds in the vicinity of South River. Equipped with a recorder, hydrophones and other sensitive microphones you will explore the sounds of the world in intimate listening proximity to one of the many water ways within 30 KM of the village of South River.
The sounds you record will be included in Voice of the Water. Participation is FREE and the invitation is ongoing. Call NAISA or Email to make a 2 hour (maximum) appointment to record sounds at a nearby lake, river, stream, or creak. All weather conditions are possible save for thunder and lightning storms. Dress appropriately for the conditions, including bug protection.
Interactive Installation
By Eric Powell
Opening July 18 (Thurs-Mon, 10 am to 4 pm)
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Voice of the Water is an interactive rotary telephone-based listening station. Using sounds collected from inside the lakes and rivers around South River, Voice of the Water encourages listeners to connect with the local waterways as they explore the boundaries and overlaps between planes of existence. The Artist's goal is to create a venue for contemplation, catharsis, and a deeper engagement with the surrounding environment.
Sound Fishing Invitation
Go on a listening expedition with a staff member from NAISA to record underwater sounds in the vicinity of South River. Equipped with a recorder, hydrophones and other sensitive microphones you will explore the sounds of the world in intimate listening proximity to one of the many water ways within 30 KM of the village of South River.
The sounds you record will be included in Voice of the Water. Participation is FREE and the invitation is ongoing. Call NAISA or Email to make a 2 hour (maximum) appointment to record sounds at a nearby lake, river, stream, or creak. All weather conditions are possible save for thunder and lightning storms. Dress appropriately for the conditions, including bug protection.
Eric Powell is a sound artist, composer, teacher, and tinkerer. His practice brings together maps, interactive technologies, and field recording to create unique interfaces for exploring both rural and urban sound environments. His work invites users to listen in new ways, challenging them to rethink the role of sound in their daily lives. He is a founding member of several media arts organizations, and has served on the board for both the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology and the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. Eric regularly collaborates with other artists and academics, enabling him to share his work around the world.
Ice Voices
By Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant
September 26, 2025 to January 5, 2026. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Ice Voices is an interactive sound-photo installation by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant that invites visitors to listen to what the disappearing ice is trying to tell us and to use their sense of touch and vision to explore further. Underwater recordings of ice “voices” play in the artwork which can be both fascinating and destabilizing. They pull listeners into their evocative vortex, coaxing them to listen more intently to the non-human world.
By Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant
September 26, 2025 to January 5, 2026. Open 10 am to 4 pm Thursday to Monday
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario.
Admission by Donation
Ice Voices is an interactive sound-photo installation by Joan Sullivan and Robin Servant that invites visitors to listen to what the disappearing ice is trying to tell us and to use their sense of touch and vision to explore further. Underwater recordings of ice “voices” play in the artwork which can be both fascinating and destabilizing. They pull listeners into their evocative vortex, coaxing them to listen more intently to the non-human world.
Joan Sullivan is a photographer, writer and artivist. Her climate change photographs oscillate between documentary and abstraction. Her current series of experimental photographs, JE SUIS FLEUVE, explores the fleeting nature of the disappearing ice on the Saint Lawrence River as a metaphor of impermanence in a rapidly changing world.
Robin Servant is a sound artist whose installation work and electroacoustic compositions are anchored in territorial soundscapes and the people who inhabit it. Convinced that listening to our sound environment creates empathy with it, he has listened to and documented many soundscapes in the Lower Saint Lawrence region for 20 years.