Presented by EyebeamEyebeam invites you to witness innovative live streaming performances of the pioneering cohort of multidisciplinary artists from their pilot residency program, Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future. Volumetric Performance Toolbox takes place within Mozilla Hubs virtual social space. Built in just two intense weeks of remote collaboration by artists who have never worked together before, performers will appear in 3D from their own living spaces, using the low cost performance kits developed by Volumetric Performance Toolbox. In this work, explore four diverse landscapes of cultural treasures, communion with celestial bodies, historical ruins, and share movement in a meditative healing space. Performances will be screened as a live video projection installation on the Abrons Arts Center street-level windows, on February 19th from 4:30pm-7pm ET, with a recording screened February 20th and February 21st. A QR code will be displayed for audiences to view the experience more intimately on their own device. As part of Eyebeam’s Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future program, Volumetric Performance Toolbox is a project empowering marginalized artists with resources to extend and amplify their voices using live volumetric video. ABOUT VOLUMETRIC PERFORMANCE TOOLBOX Our starting question was, “How can we radically reinvent live performance and dance creation during a global pandemic? In direct response, Volumetric Performance Toolbox was born under the vision of making a new way for artists to collaborate remotely and safely from their own living space, using minimal equipment. In a collaboration between performing artist Valencia James, digital experience creator Sorob Louie and tech software studio Glowbox, VPT is a project aimed at amplifying the stories of diverse voices.Led by the shared values of decolonization and liberation for all who have been harmed and/or excluded by the media and various systems of oppression, VPT prioritizes using emerging technology as a new way for artists to both strengthen and sustain their craft. This is accomplished by providing performers with 1) boundless imagination in creating positive digital environments, 2) making low-cost equipment and custom software accessible via workshops and onboarding tutorials and 3) building a community of creators working with volumetric performance. The toolbox consists of low-cost performance kit hardware and custom 3D video live-streaming software for use in Mozilla Hubs and Spoke, a free social virtual reality platform and virtual environment builder. For more information, follow VPT on Medium and Instagram. ABOUT RAPID RESPONSE FOR A BETTER DIGITAL FUTURE On February 17 - 20 Eyebeam will present, From the Rupture: Ideas and Actions for the Future, a 4-day, multi-venue arts & ideas festival that is free and open to all, with today’s most radical artists and thinkers. The festival is in celebration of their first fully-digital fellowship, Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future, which supports artists who are reclaiming virtual space from surveillance capitalism. PARTNER BIOS Valencia James is a Barbadian freelance performer, maker and researcher interested in the intersection between dance, theatre, technology and activism. She believes in the power of the arts to inspire change. Valencia’s work explores how emerging technologies like machine learning and computer vision might enhance creativity in her contemporary dance practice and vice-versa. She has presented her work at several international forums such as the 2015 International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires and TEDxGoteborg. She is a 2020 Rapid Response Fellow at Eyebeam and a Spring 2021 Remote Resident for Open-Source Art Tools at Carnegie Mellon University. [Twitter] [Website]Eyebeam provides both space and support for a community of diverse, justice-driven artists. Our annual fellowship program, highly engaged community of alumni, advanced tools and resources, shows and events help our artists bring their work to life and out into the world.Eyebeam enables people to think creatively and critically about technology’s effect on society, with the mission of revealing new paths toward a better future for all. [Instagram] [Website]Sorob's diverse background in electronics and interactive programming, fused with a strong interest in emerging technologies, guides his passion for creating experiences that explore the possibilities of communication. Through 3D design and animation, prototyping, research, and programming, his work as an interactive developer supports multiple aspects of the development process. Sorob is the founder of Virtu Labs Interactive Agency. [Instagram] [Website]Glowbox is a spatial interaction lab which partners with artists, designers and institutions to develop immersive experiences that blend the physical and virtual worlds. Glowbox explores the human experience through shared realities built to connect, inform, and inspire. [Instagram] [Website] Image Credit: Valencia James and Volumetric Performance Toolbox