Sparking an annual tradition, Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, now in its sixth year, will transform its Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square into an art installation for the duration of the festival, June 8–17, 2012.
The installation, Windscape, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, unites both naturally-occurring and artificial wind to shape, and affect, the entire space. A wide band of ribbon sweeps through the square and envelops the Luminato stage. Over 100 metres long and six metres high, the wind-activated overhead ribbon frames the entire Square.
Residing at Windscape’s centre is an array of animatronic fans and windsocks called the Wind Garden (see zone 10 in the aerial image of the Hub, below). Created in collaboration with artist Mitchell F. Chan, these programmable, interactive sculptures swivel and rotate, swell and deflate, change in colour and levels of intensity. The result is an ever-evolving mechanized choreography of colour and light.
Call for submissions
We are inviting artists to submit proposals for a 4-5 minute choreography that animates the windsocks, to musical accompaniment, to create a unique aerial dance. We welcome artists from diverse disciplines to apply. Four artists will be selected to develop their concepts through a collaborative process supported by professional designers and choreographers.
The artist will be able to control each windsock position and movement by rotating and pivoting the windsock on its 2 axes. The artist will also be able to control the intensity of the fan and the colour and intensity of light illuminating each windsock internally. Luminato will provide a technician to translate the storyboard of movements to the computer-controlled unit which operates the windsocks.
The artist will also be able to select music drawn from Luminato’s diverse musical program. The Festival’s line-up features a diverse range of artists and music created by both contemporary and classical composers. Please see the comprehensive list at the bottom of this page.
The finished pieces will be played in rotation, at half hour intervals, throughout the Festival.
Benefits
Successful applicants will receive a $1000 honorarium, a chance to work collaboratively with a creative team, supported by experts, and an opportunity to showcase their work on a high-profile, large-scale stage.
Wind Garden technical features
- 9 – 25 ft tall windsock support poles
- 9 – 11’ long windsocks rotating on dual axes supported by 2 single kilowatt motors
- 9 – 36” fans pushing over 12,000 cubic feet of air per minute
- Each windsock will have integral RGB LED coloured lighting to illuminate it
For images, please see: http://www.akimbo.ca/submissions/?id=41020
Project timeline
- Full-day design workshop/charette: April 21, 2012
- Group presentation of finished work: May 19, 2012
- Scheduled 1:1 meeting with the technician, to test and program the choreography:
one morning or afternoon between May 20 and June 5, 2012
- Site visit to see finished pieces in location: June 5, 2012
- Pieces played in rotation at the Luminato Hub from June 8 -17, 2012
Submission guidelines
Please include the following with your submission:
- CV and short artist bio (300 words max)
- Images or short DVD of past work (5 images max, under 700KB each or 10 minute DVD)
- Brief description of windsock choreography proposal (300 words max)
- Sketches or renderings of choreographic vision presented in a short storyboard, to convey main concepts
Send in your submission by April 6, 2012 to Sarah Miller: smiller@luminato.com. Successful applicants will be notified by April 13, 2012.
About Luminato
Luminato is Toronto’s fifth season when the festival stages the best of our city and invites the world to celebrate and transform it with us. Luminato is an annual multi-disciplinary celebration of theatre, dance, music, literature, food, visual arts, film, magic, and more. For more information, please visit luminato.com.
About Diamond Schmitt
Diamond Schmitt Architects ranks among the world’s top ten cultural sector design firms. Their award-winning portfolio of multidisciplinary work—spanning opera houses, concert halls, libraries, academic, research, commercial and residential buildings—includes Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. Donald Schmitt was the Founding Chair of the Public Arts Commission in the City of Toronto.
Luminato’s music program
Phillip Glass, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Stewart Goodyear, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Canadian Children’s Opera Company, Errol Gay, K’NAAN, Kae Sun, Krystle Warren, Teddy Thompson, Royal Wood and Alejandra Ribera, Loreena McKennitt, Jayme Stone, Ernest Ranglin, Jay Douglas, Everton “Pablo” Paul, Calypso Rose, Kobo Town, Michael Rose, Debo Band, Abyssinian Roots, Nomadic Massive, Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Kid Koala, Deltron 3030, Fatoumata Diawara, Bassekou Kouyate, Toumani Diabate, Kassey Mady Diabate, Djelimady Tounkara, Eliades Ochoa, AfroCubism , Michael Franti, Quique Escamilla, Telmary Diaz, Jovanotti, Dan Mangan, Kathleen Edwards, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Shantel, Kevin Fox, Ohbijou, Aaron Copland, Howard Shore, John Williams, Malcolm Forsyth
