Q&A: New artists, new genres infuse this year's New Forms Festival
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 19:51:51 +0000
When: Sept. 25-29, various times
Where: Various venues
Tickets and info: newformsfestival.com
The trio of co-directors behind the 2019 New Forms Festival (NFF) includes CCL, JS Aurelius and Lauren Goshinski. All three are new media artists working in the points where visual, sound and other media intersect and have an impressive list of past achievements to their names. All three are based in the U.S., but have had long-running relationships with Vancouver-based non-profit New Forms Society (NFMS). The society was founded in 2000 and produces the annual festival to promote Canadian and international artists engaging in multi-media explorations.
Owing to the busy touring schedules that the festival co-directors maintain, they answered questions by email for this interview.
Q: New Forms has been around for a long time. How do you keep things “new” and engage audiences?
CCL: We wanted to honour the legacy that NFF created while also bringing in some new artists, genres and partnering with local crews that haven’t been present before. For example, bringing Memphis rap legend Tommy Wright III together with younger experimental artists from Vancouver celebrates other electronic music histories and inspirations, while making ties to what New Forms has been known for.
Goshinski: We are new co-directors from different cities, so how we and our partners built this year is an experiment of sorts. We host showcases and free learning events over five days to give you room to explore, and we take you through seven venues with very different vibes, but there is a shared energy and set of values that run through it all. Buy a pass and marathon it, or dip in a few days here and there. Find yourself head-banging to disco, pensive at 140bpm techno, crying to ethereal pop, raving to breaks or slow-dancing to trap. Festivals shouldn’t always be predictable.
Q: One of the key issues that keeps arising in terms of electronic arts, in particular music, is that it is male-dominated. Other events have arisen to give women and non-binary artists a showcase. How has New Forms addressed this issue?
CCL: Sure, electronic music is male-dominated, but really it’s white-dominated, able-body dominated and upper-class dominated, too. As curators, we teamed up with local and international partners/collectives to make sure the festival also enacted their visions in hopes of supporting their goals, many of whom have been doing work to dismantle this in their local community.
Q: What trends do you see emerging at the moment and is there any sort of a thematic focus going into this year’s event?
Goshinski: There wasn’t an explicit thematic focus, but we curated artists who are also forces within their scenes as organizers, educators, engineers, label heads, role models, etc., that work hard for the betterment of others. While artists have always occupied multiple roles, we think the way these artists work is indicative of larger cultural shifts. There is a strong contingent of North American talent, as it seems like most festivals still gravitate to booking mostly EU talent. We also made sure there was support for artists to come from scenes farther away such as in Taiwan and Uganda, that are heavily influencing experimental and electronic music around the world right now.
Q: What are some highlights of this year’s festival?
CCL: I’m super excited to see all of the A/V showcases come together. The breadth and range of different talent in some of these showcases gets me really excited. On Saturday for the NuZi Showcase there’s everything from the wide-ranging DJ sets from the likes of Philly’s BEARCAT, to a dance performance from Houston’s House of Kenzo with interactive visuals from Sam Rofles, beautiful vocals from Prado and the futuristic Drexcyian sounds of Afrodeutsche.
Q: With the city and province heralding our burgeoning digital entertainment and arts industry, does it feel more than a little ironic to be turfed out of your long-term location due to development in Vancouver?
Goshinski: Yeah, of course. It reinforces how much we need to rally around events like New Forms as a broader community. Visibility and critical mass mean something. Folks around Vancouver can take this opportunity to come together. Spend the $20 you were saving for drinks and put it towards a show. It goes into the pocket of artists, venues and organizers who are working hard to retain space for culture here and all over the world. If you can’t attend, but care, you can hit that DONATE button on our website (newformsfestival.com).
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.