Kingtson is quickly becoming one of the XR leaders in Canada. The city is home to several organizations and initiatives that focus on XR art and embracing the new technologies that have become available to artists.
- Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA) – FOLDA aims to increase the rigour of live digital performance as it becomes more pervasive. They aim to show what is possible, provoke critical analysis, and share approaches that encourage experimentation.
- Single Thread Theatre Company – Single Thread Theatre Company creates immersive theatre experiences in Canada and internationally that seek to advance the art of immersive storytelling through innovation and the presentation of new works. The company is exploring the emerging medium of XR (augmented, virtual and mixed reality) as a means of telling stories to a broader audience through Single Thread XR.
- PXR Conference – PXR Conference, hosted by Single Thread and Electric Company Theatre, is a series of interactive presentations and discussions by Canadian artists and digital content creators on how they are using virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality (collectively known as XR) in the creation of live performance.
Swirls XaRt strives to contribute to the community’s growth in XR by acting as a starting point for artists to become acquainted with new technologies and softwares used to create art. In addition to hosting free workshops that cover various topics in digital art for all skill levels, we will be donating all equipment purchased to organizations throughout Kingston. These organizations will lend out the equipment for the community to use in order to keep it accessible to artists.
- Meta Quest 2 headsets will go to the Kingston Theatre Alliance, Modern Fuel Art Gallery, and the Kingston Frontenac Public Library
- Insta360° cameras will go to the Kingston Theatre Alliance, and Modern Fuel Art Gallery
- Zoom H3-VR 360° microphones will go to the Kingston Theatre Alliance, and Modern Fuel Art Gallery
Any additional equipment acquired by Swirls XaRt will be donated to these organizations. Stay tuned to learn more about how you can borrow equipment from these organizations after SwirlsXaRt concludes in November.