SESSION 1 | Imagining Technological Festival Futures

Exploring our technological festival futures, the first session of the day is guided by the performative intervention of Taiwanese-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist and curator Nancy Lee. Staged in the speculative world of OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity, Lee in conversation with guerilla festival-maker Bani Brusadin, founder of Barcelona’s The Influencers festival, and speculative game designer Rilla Khaled of Concordia University, how future festivals may transcend technocaptialism and rethink our relationship with technology.

Participants will step into the world of OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity where a delivery app subroutine slowly develops consciousness after a corrupted update. Newly sentient, participants discover that the app is shutting down, and must mount a desperate bid for escape. Reflecting on the religion of workism and the precarity of gig economy labor, the unexpected, swirling landscape of OSMOSi confronts us with the everyday realities of technocapitalism. May we imagine future festivals that break out of these dystopian trajectories!

In trying to overcome the dystopian visions of OSMOSi, the session calls upon the audience to jointly chart new pathways for technological festival futures. Guided by Rilla Khaled and host Mouna Andraos, the interactive session mobilizes all present festival stakeholders to network and connect around the pressing question of technological cooptation.

"OSMOSi: 422 Unprocessable Entity" Credits:
Created by: Nancy Lee 李南屏
Choreography: Nancy Lee 李南屏 + Emmalena Fredriksson
Performance: Nancy Lee 李南屏, Kluane Peabody, and Camille Huang
Electroacoustic Composition: Nancy Lee 李南屏 + Aleksandar Zecevic
Sound Design: Aleksandar Zecevic
Voice over + Vocals: Nancy Lee 李南屏
Guzheng: Kayla Briët
Costume Design: Adam-Lin Bungag
Jewelry Design: Ian Nakamoto
Projection + Motion Graphic Design: Laine Butler
Illustrations: Eve Lee
Video editing: Nancy Lee 李南屏