B!G ART
The TUNNEL
On display November 4–13, 2022
Calgary, Canada
Some of our most imaginative adventures start with a door, or portal, or a gate. Passing through these structures indicates the start of a journey beyond the known world into something … transformative. The TUNNEL is a series of strange, 13-foot-tall cosmic structures that create a passage of magical light for a one-way trip to another side. Viewers become pilots using an interactive device to manipulate the array of arches, creating an infinite number of patterns of light and sound to guide their path through the structures. The 3D design uses more than 200 LED bars, consisting of 12,000 pixels, video-mapped to create a vortex of light pulling you through the structures.
Biography
B!G ART: We are built for one purpose: make more public art. We design, build, and promote interactive and immersive works of wonder so we can inspire the next. From fire-shooting portals to code-talking cubes from another dimension, we live for interactive and immersive art installations. Advancements in technology have allowed us to realize creative dreams we never thought possible, and in that spirit, we embrace the technology of yesterday, today, and tomorrow to create large-scale, tour-ready, turnkey installations and experiences. We are passionate about what we do and are committed to delivering inspiring encounters.
Paul Magnuson, a self-described “artistic charlatan,” believes his technical creations are less art and more experiments in alternative, interactive public entertainment. Each piece utilizes accessible, but hacked, consumer technology in unique combinations and unexpected situations to evoke surprise and wonder. Like moths to flames, people are attracted to the glitz and glamor of bright lights, video, lasers, fireballs, and other special effects, interrupting our regularly scheduled lives, and Magnuson wants to be the one who turns on the light.
Matthew Waddell is a Calgary-based digital artist and educator, investigating modern relationships between humans and technology. For the last 15 years, he has been exploring the different ways in which art and technology come together to create provocative, inspiring, and entertaining experiences. He is both fascinated with and deeply apprehensive of modern technology and internet culture. Art-making helps to deal with the dichotomy of attraction and repulsion he feels every time he picks up his phone. His work spans 3D animation, projection mapping, interactive programming, and audiovisual design for live performance. Since 2010, Waddell has been nominated for 14 audiovisual design awards (winning four), and has presented work at Mutek, Summerworks, High Performance Rodeo, GLOW Festival, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and the Prague Quadrennial. Waddell is a co-founder of Axis Z Media Arts, a collective of artists who produce large-scale, projection-mapped installations and promote digital arts literacy in Calgary. He is an active board member for the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society. Waddell offers annual workshops in audiovisual creation and has taught at the National Theatre School of Canada and the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
Devin Giles was born in Calgary in 1980. He grew up in a household filled with the oil paintings of his grandfather and the handmade carpentry tools and steam trunks from his paternal grandfather. Influenced by this environment, he would spend hours in his room drawing or building fantasy worlds with his toys. In 2008, Giles received a bachelor of fine arts from the Alberta University of the Arts, and a few years later he would obtain his Red Seal in welding from Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. While working at the legendary Hifi Club in Calgary, he curated and participated in numerous group shows with local artists, including Matt Luckhurst, Jane Trash, and Josh Ruck. In 2013, Giles became a founding member of Le Cirque de la Nuit, an event and entertainment group focusing on immersive experiences and the circus arts. His primary role would see him design and build numerous props and set pieces for various themes, ranging from vaudeville and steampunk to Alice in Wonderland. Giles continues to live and work in Calgary, using his broad skill set to create art reminiscent of those fantasy worlds he knew as a child.
B!G ART was invited to participate in the 2022 Canal Convergence as a returning artist in celebration of our 10th anniversary. B!G ART first exhibited at Canal Convergence in 2021 with The DOOR(S).