Contact Nicholas: (647) 289-7083  +  Longstaff.n@gmail.com

ShadowD
HarbourKIDS Festival Weekend
ENWAVE THEATRE - HARBOURFRONT - TORONTO
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Saturday to Monday:
May 16, 17 + 18
11:00 to 5:00
(Facilitations at 12:00, 2:00 and 4:00)FREE ADMISSION
to this and all the other events
(including the CIRCUS!) all weekend
for the whole family!

ShadowD dazzled Nuit Blanche 2008 in its prototype form.  Now it’s remixed, reprogrammed and realized BIG at the HarbourKIDS Festival FREE in the ENWAVE THEATRE - HARBOURFRONT CENTRE- TORONTO
Saturday to Monday: May 16, 17 + 18, from 11:00am to 5:00pm

It’s PLAYFUL:
ShadowD plays with time, space and colour; a little like a game and a little like a show …in which kids AND grownups are in lights!

Looks BEAUTIFUL:
Watching these larger-than-life shadows dance before you, it is hard not to smile.  The colours reflect back onto the faces of the participants and the onlookers; the whole room is alive with light and dark shapes.

Feels ACTIVE:
People of all abilities can trigger entertaining responses from ShadowD.  It is impossible simply to stand and watch – in fact, if you leave your shadow ‘still’ for too long, it gets bored and simply fades away …until you shake around to bring it back to life.

Sounds SUPERNATURAL:
You’ve never heard a shadow speak before?  Well ShadowD sings, giggles, gulps and responds to the shapes you make on its giant screen, all with the voice talents of renowned sound poets a.rawlings, Lillian Allen and Rob Read.

Ever ELLUSIVE:
ShadowD grew out of extensive research into the ancient folkloric character of the Trickster.  There are rules governing its behaviour, but they seem to change the longer you play with it, making the whole experience get richer as you spend more time getting ShadowD.

SHADOWS have danced through my artworks and plays for years.  From my early workings-out of how silhouettes could be painted to express character, to my experiments with shadow theatre, to the darker issues on which I like to shed light through my music and storytelling, shadows have become just as important to me as the sun.

HarbourKIDS: MAY 2009

MORE ABOUT ShadowD

ShadowD puts YOU in the spotlight, and plays in ways a normal shadow could never imagine.  This delightfully devious digital shadow can do everything that you can – and MORE!

Whether young or old, short or tall, professional dancer, novice or wheelchair rider, you will love the way ShadowD make you move… for every move you make in this magical light-and-shade environment gets mimicked by your digital shadow-twin.  Soon though, your twin decides to take the lead and you discover that you can grow and shrink, twist and melt, change colour and even disappear!

You’ve never heard a shadow speak before?  Well ShadowD can, by borrowing the voice talents of renowned sound poets a.rawlings, Lillian Allen and Rob Read it sings, giggles, gulps and responds to the shapes you make on its giant screen.  You’ll be laughing along too, as kids convince parents to wiggle and shake, and to play out little scenes in light and dark for friends to watch and enjoy.

Play solo, in pairs, groups or gangs; this one-of-a-kind installation will change the way you move, expand the way you think about the dark, and light up your imagination for years to come!

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BIO:     N I C H O L A S   L O N G S T A F F

Nicholas Longstaff creates music, theatre, video and art installations that grow from collaboration and play.  His work as a director, performer, and film composer brought him awards including both the Bravest and Most Daring productions, and Best Original Music. His Kastner Award-winning work “I’s and You’s” mixed video with live performance, and he is thrilled to bring the Harbourfront Centre ShadowD: a new digital video installation in which you – the participant – are the live performer.

Nicholas brings a wealth of his work experience with young people to HarbourKIDS; he ran the ArtsCore Theatre School in London, Ontario, coordinated entertainment for the Storybook Gardens, taught for Learning Through The Arts, and has developed collaboratively more than 15 popular plays for family audiences.

Installations, radio artworks, music and plays by Nicholas travel far – from communities like Petawawa, Ontario, to Chicago, USA …but the last time he exhibited in Toronto he was just across the Harbour on Toronto Island for New Adventures in Sound Art’s festival: Deep Wireless. Now he facilitates, educates and produces across all media.  He is an Associate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab.

………………..excerpted from the article written by Cristina Howorun

What the Dancers are looking at (a few seconds later!)

Toronto nightclub to showcase Shh Ahh Ohh
Shh Ahh Ohh, created by Rea McNamara and Nicholas Longstaff, is a shadow installation that refuses to be constrained by frames. At the media lab exhibit, the display encompassed an entire room, filling two large walls. Arguably one of the most popular exhibits, the interactive installation encourages participants to set into the crossroads of light and shadow.

Participants’ movements are mirrored and digitally projected as shadows on a large screen. Different movements trigger different colours, shapes and noises, including the seemingly random appearance of an animated crow.
Armed with only a budget of approximately $700, a $20 web cam, projector, screens and vvvv software [4] - open source software developed for real time video synthesis - the interactive exhibit is already enjoying some success. Next month Shh Ahh Ohh will be installed in Circa Nightclub, a 53,000 square foot, four-storey mega club, located in the heart of downtown Toronto’s nightclub district.

“We’re still working on the design specifics for the showing,” explains Longstaff, “but I’m excited about the possibilities, and to see how dancers interact with the screen, their shadows, the colours. I’d love to see floor-to-ceiling screens, where dancers from different floors could be projected and interact with the shadows from dancers in different areas of the club.”
Longstaff, like other graduates of the program, are hoping to bring investors on board. “I think this project can go beyond entertainment venues and has real potential as a learning tool.”

Drawing from his experiences as an educator, he cites colour theory and dance as potential educational venues for the project. “There really is quite a bit of possibilities,” he says, echoing the hopes of his fellow graduates.

………………..excerpted from the article written by Cristina Howorun

“shh aah ohh” by Nicholas Longstaff and Rea McNamara, in photos by friends!  contribute more?  PLEASE! longstaff.n@gmail.com

these two were in the installation forever.

this six year old figured out how to change his shadow

about 2:00AM things just kept on stayin alive

What the Dancers are looking at (a few seconds later!)

goes well with wine AND beer

acrobatic moves get acrobatic results

in this split second, the child figures out that he is being watched by a camera

the gallery description

shadowplay

the hand creating the shadowplay

the faces watching the shadowplay

the Shadows Invert

the Shadows Invert, 02

the Shadows Invert, 03the Shadows Invert, 04

I haven’t yet fully recovered from the show - nearly 200 people per hour from 7:30PM to 12:30AM, then it slowed to 150/hour till 3:00AM and leveled out near 100/hour until 5:00AM!

Pictures are starting to roll in - here are the first few:

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DOCUMENTATION OF FIRST PROTOTYPE:

shhaahohh_3m30s-low

demonstration of a first prototype for an interactive, responsive and delightful shadow projection artwork called “shh aah ohh” by rea mcnamara and nicholas a. longstaff. it was developed at the canadian film centre through the telus interactive art and entertainment program and features the tremendous voice talents of sound poets a.rawlings, lillian allen and rob read - who, each in her or his own way, gave voice to the Trickster, who lies at the bottom of it all.

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initial concept for the ShadowDancer, which preceded the Trickster concept that Rea and I hatched by about 3 weeks, but still seems to capture some of that energy we liked... NAL, watercolour

Title:
shh aah ohh

Project Form:
A participant-driven multi-channel audio-visual art installation

Artists:
Rea McNamara B.F.A. and Nicholas A. Longstaff A.O.C.A.D.

Short Description:
shh aah ohh is a participant-driven art installation in which a shadow is more than a place without light, and a sound or a movement carries more meaning than a sentence.

The work emerges from the folkloric character of the Trickster, whose many names and forms tell us that s/he is very much alive today, but no longer as a raven, fox, snake or god – Trickster now lives inside each one of us!

The installation uses digital projections and shadow screens, with delightful 3D sound-paintings created in collaboration with renowned sound poets Lillian Allen, a.rawlings and Rob Read. The resulting environment inspires participants to seek, discover, dance with and defy each other as the increasingly complex rules of the Trickster’s realm take effect upon their silhouettes.

[JULY 2008]

My Partner in this process at the Canadian Film Centre is Rea McNamara, and together we’ve been working out excatly where our interests and skills and passions overlap.  Here’s some of what that process looks like:

This is all regarding the first prototype - launched in August at the Canadian Film Centre.  The second phase of the project was launched (after refinement and redevelopment) at NUIT BLANCHE, Toronto, October 2008

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Project Brief
Form: participant-driven multi-channel audio-visual art installation.

This interactive audio-visual installation encourages participants to get into a sticky situation at the crossroads of light and shadow.  It is within this space that ‘trickster’ - the god, spirit, man, woman and animal - emerges. With the combination of digital projection, shadow screens and sound poetry, participants seek, discover and defy one another as the increasingly complex rules of the trickster take effect upon their silhouettes.

Participant Experience Brief

2 PARTICIPANTS step onto RISERS, one on either side of a WHITE WALL (see Fig 1).

installation drawings for first prototype. ~NAL

They discover, and move in response to, a PROJECTED VERSION OF THEIR OWN SHADOWS.

When both shadows OVERLAP the same area of both sides of the wall, each participant sees the other’s silhouette within the bounds of her/his own shadow.

Based on criteria like: the amount of the overlap, OR: the duration of the overlap, the physical rules governing the behavior of the two projected shadows, their relationship to each other - and to the boundaries of the screen – are manipulated in ‘Tricky’ ways, playfully defying the logical model each participant is creating in her/his mind regarding how the shadow responds, and what the shadow is.

It is within these moments that sound plays a vital role in shaping the participants’ experience, giving a sense of “oh! when I do this my shadows does that” or “hey, something important is happening – I don’t understand why, but the rules seem to keep changing”.

Over the course of the participant’s interactions, the audio should also deepen their improvised gesture narrative giving voice the many inceptions of the Trickster (from Eshu to Br’er Rabbit).

We believe this folkloric figure has transformed throughout the years from a spiritual deity, to an anthropomorphic animal, to an existence within our very selves (hence the shadow-in-shadow effect) and the technology we use to communication.

Physical Description:

Fig. 1 – The physical components of the installation

* Single room, divided in-half by a (9’ wide x 8’ tall) WHITE WALL.

* On either side of the wall is a 1’ tall RISER (measuring 8’ wide x 4’deep)

* The room light is low, with most of the illumination being cast by reflected light from a VIDEO PROJECTOR aimed at either side of the white dividing wall and from the backlight cast by a REAR CURTAIN, strung behind each of the two risers.

* TWO CONCEALED CAMERAS, built into the centre of either side of the wall, aim outwards capturing the participants’ movements on the risers

* Computer software separates the video signal into two parts (Silhouette & Background) and projects the processed image onto the white wall

* SEVEN + ONE SPEAKER CHANNELS (not included in Fig. 1) are arrayed near the ceiling of the room in the following pattern:
1+2 - Rear Curtain A: Left/Right

3+4+5 - Wall: Left/Centre/Right

6+7 - Rear Curtain B: Left/Right

8 - Two Sub-woofers: beneath the risers

NIXNEWS Volume>II :: Issue>i :: March 18>2008

Nicholas Longstaff, in brief.
(Boxer-briefs, actually, though that’s more than you wanted to know.)

Hi everyone,

Opening Disclaimer
A lot of friends and family have asked just what I’m up to
out here at the Canadian Film Centre, so rather than type
a hundred variations of the same message;
I offer this newsletter of sorts.

I recognize that you probably get too much email, period,
so please let me know if you’d prefer not to receive this -
or perhaps drop in on my facebook group (click here).

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The Telus Interactive Art and Entertainment Residency at the Canadian Film Centre