LUMINATO FESTIVAL, SARGASSO DOWNLOADABLE MP3 FILE LINK

Dear Friends!

Here is the accessible URL for our Audio Description of Sargasso- which is a
wonderful large-scale suspended sculpture at this year's LUMINATO.

 http://www.luminato.com/2011/download/sargasso

Select the URL to go directly to the downloadable audio file. You can
download this file and bring it with you to listen to on your mobile device
or mp3 player.

The press release about the exhibit is pasted below! Please enjoy and  bring
your friends! I welcome your feedback as well,

yours, on behalf of Picasso PRO/CT

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Luminato 2011 is June 10−19, mark your calendars!


LUMINATO INTRODUCES AUDIO DESCRIPTION PILOT PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP WITH PICASSO PRO/CREATIVE TRUST AND THEATRE LOCAL

The Luminato Festival is proud to announce the preparation of an audio description for “Sargasso,” a large scale suspended sculpture on display at the Allen Lambert Galleria in Brookfield Place from June 8 to 18, 2011. Users will be able to download the audio description as an mp3 file in advance or onsite with a smart phone device. This marks the first time that Luminato offers a descriptive service specifically targeted at the visually impaired community.

In his Luminato-commissioned installation, Philip Beesley’s “Sargasso” combines visionary design with high-tech digital engineering to transform a downtown public space – and to offer a glimpse of the potential future of architectural art. A worldwide pioneer in the fast-growing field of responsive architecture, Beesley and his team of collaborators from the disciplines of architecture, engineering, biology, and sculpture use interactive technology to infuse one of Toronto’s busiest spaces with astonishing new life.

From June 8-18, Beesley’s “Sargasso” transforms a familiar downtown locale: the sweeping atrium of the Allen Lambert Galleria in Brookfield Place. “Sargasso” is a vast canopy consisting of tens of thousands of lightweight, digitally-fabricated components which form an interconnected network of metal, acrylic, and mylar elements. Sargasso slowly shifts and floats above the pedestrian traffic, while shaping the nature of the environment itself.


Previous projects undertaken by this multidisciplinary group have been featured internationally, including in the Canadian Pavilion at the 2010 Venice Biennale in Architecture, and have won many awards, notably VIDA 11.0, FEIDAD, the Prix de Rome in Architecture, and the People’s Choice award at Toronto’s 2010 Nuit Blanche.

Audio Describer Rebecca Singh trained with Picasso Pro/Creative Trust and was last heard describing “More Fine Girls” at the Tarragon Theatre. Rebecca has also been a Fellow of the Luminato Festival* since September 2010.


The audio description pilot program is produced in association with Picasso Pro/Creative Trust and Theatre Local. This small project is serving as a pilot project, with the hopes that audio description can be integrated throughout the visual arts program in years coming.

*This position is generously funded by the Canada Arts Training Fund at the Department of Canadian Heritage, in partnership with Obsidian Theatre Company.