UKAI Projects

[WEDNESDAY] Shipwreck: Pizza Lunch Meet & Greet Join us on April 9 for Pizza lunch to engage with Shipwreck, a durational work under development by UKAI Projects at Milieux Institute. This immersive and interactive experience explores the powerful act of making home amidst the ruins of potential futures, exploring how we navigate ecological, cultural, and technological devastation. https://lnkd.in/eKAu6sur

🌊 Ready to be Shipwrecked? We're very excited to announce that UKAI Projects is taking over the institute for a 12-day residency organized in partnership with the Applied AI Institute! During their residency they will be developing "Shipwreck," an immersive and collaborative installation exploring how we navigate ecological, cultural, and technological devastation. From April 5th to 9th, artists Meghan Moe Beitiks, Eija Loponen-Stephenson, and Gabriel Junqueira will be intervening on the initial setup, creating a unique and evolving experience. Join us for these key events 👇 📅 April 4th, 1 PM: Meet the artists and discover "Shipwreck" over coffee. (EV 11.705) 📅 April 9th, 12 PM: Learn about the artists' contributions, witness the evolution of the installation and envision potential connections to your own work (pizza is on us!) (EV 11.705) 📅 April 10th, All Day: We encourage researchers, artists, and all the Concordia community to join us and shape the "Shipwreck" narrative by interacting with the installation. (EV 11.705) ℹ️ Learn more about "Shipwreck": https://lnkd.in/eGrSGNBp 📸 Photo Credit: Antoine Simard-Legault 🧑🎨 Slide 1: Arna Beth (IS) Slide 2: Luisa Ji (CA) Slide 3: Arna Beth (IS) Slide 4: Nermine El Ansari (IS) and Michael F Bergmann (CA) Slide 5: Tom Manoury (IS) 🤝Université Concordia Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University Réseau Hexagram Fenwick McKelvey Lindsay Rodgers Bart Simon

UKAI Projects is taking over Milieux Institute at Concordia University for a 12-day residency exploring how we navigate ecological, cultural and technological devastation. Shipwreck is an evolving collaborative installation asking participants to take part in the artistic process. From April 5th to April 9th, artists Meghan Moe Beitiks, Eija Loponen-Stephenson and Gabriel Junqueira will intervene on our initial set up. Join us this Friday, April 4th, 2025 at 1PM to discover Shipwreck and meet the artists around coffee☕ 📅 April 4th | 1 PM | EV 11.705 👋 See you there! On April 9th, let’s discover together what Moe, Eija and Gabriel created to answer the proposition. 📅 April 9th | 12PM | EV 11.705 🍕 Come grab a bite, meet the artists and start thinking how you can contribute to Shipwreck! 📅 April 10th | all day | EV 11.705 🫵 Now it’s your turn to get Shipwrecked. Join us and shape the narrative by adding, modifying and interacting with the existing installation. Get creative! 🔗 Link in bio for more info on Shipwreck This project is supported by the Milieux Institute and the Applied AI Institute. 📸 Photo Credit: Antoine Simard-Legault 🧑🎨 Slide 1: Arna Beth (IS) / @arnabeth Slide 2: Luisa Ji (CA) / luisalyji Slide 3: Arna Beth (IS) Slide 4: Nermine El Ansari (IS) / @nea2elansari and Michael F Bergmann (CA) / @mfbergmann Slide 5: Tom Manoury (IS) / @tom_manoury UKAI's programming is supported through the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada

Excited to be back in Montreal and delivering a version of UKAI Projects Shipwreck project at Milieux Institute at Concordia University This work invites local collaborators and audiences to make a home in a strange and devastated world. https://lnkd.in/gXQAf4Q8

On March 26th at 10 am MT, I'll be discussing the interconnection between skin tone representation and technological advancements such as camera algorithms, digital replicas and AI assistance, from equipment manufacture to the post-production of media arts projects. If like me you're passionate about this topic, join the conversation online by signing up through https://lnkd.in/g2PryqRB. Amandarenea Nemes from Tecno Mobile (leading smartphone manufacturer in Africa), Luisa Alvarez Restrepo from ACTRA Toronto (union representing Canadian media,TV and film performers) and Marcus LeVere from Savepoint (Canadian company empowering celebrities and athletes with their own digital replicas) will share their experience and expertise. I'll also introduce the latest news about Inclusive Pixels, an educational platform developed in collaboration with UKAI Projects and Ryan Kelln thanks to the financial support of Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada.

We are leaving. More details can be found at https://lnkd.in/gGcfYs7r Come say hi during our grand send-off week Mar 21–29 2025 ✨ Farewell to The Bridge 🌉 (no star swipes unfortunately) Bodyshop Studios (Carnival of Algorithmic Culture, June 2023) - closed Artscape Launchpad (Carnival of Algorithmic Culture, June 2023) - closed Spadinababy (Carnival of Shipwreck, October 2024) - closed 
UKAI at the Bridge (August 2023 - March 2025) - closed We moved into our studio in August of 2023 and since then we have hosted over 5,000 folks and showcased work by over 300 artists through a range of workshops, open studios, parties, exhibitions, planning sessions, and more. One of our goals has been to connect disparate communities and scenes. Connections made through the space have led to innumerable collaborations, friendships, and events. On March 31, 2025, UKAI will be exiting this space as part of a broader trend that is seeing experimental cultural spaces disappear. We did the things we were supposed to do. We followed, despite their betrayal, the advice of Malcolm Costello and his anonymous investment firm. Earned revenue now accounts for around 25% of our total. We reached out to the primary funders to see about operating support for our work. The Canada Council let us know that operating funding wasn’t really a possibility as there were so many legacy institutions drawing on a diminishing pool of money. The Toronto Arts Council encouraged us to apply. We were unsuccessful, and received feedback from a jury member that perhaps “we were not really art”. We solicited corporate support, though few companies were open to supporting work that called into question the fundamentals of how they make money and who is left in the cold as a result. We wish there was some easy villain to point our fingers at. The developer that owns the space has been understanding and flexible. The leaseholder for the Bridge has done as best they can while holding down full-time jobs and staying in step with their listed charitable purpose. And we are certainly not alone, as the list that precedes this letter suggests. Kasra Goodarznezhad Luisa Ji Jerrold McGrath Neha Kohli Tristan Sauer Simon Rojas Jutta Brendemuhl, M.A. Kasey Dunn Michael F Bergmann Albéric Maillet

Next event for Experimental Artists of Toronto (EAT) is tomorrow (February 26, 2025). Toronto’s experimental arts community is under pressure. Infrastructure favors large institutions. Funding cycles are lengthening while the total pool is shrinking. Artists and small organizations are left scrambling—not just to produce work, but to sustain themselves. This isn’t about scarcity. It’s about how resources are distributed. Join us on February 26, 2025 (2:00–5:00 PM) at The Bridge (379 Adelaide St. W, 4F, Toronto) for a working session to move past strategy into action. We’re convening a group of artists, organizers, and producers to develop concrete strategies for resource sharing, space access, and audience coordination across Toronto’s experimental arts sector. If we want the work to survive, we need infrastructure that supports the instability experimental art requires. 🔹 Proposed Activities: → Working Group Development: A support network to coordinate efforts and sustain initiatives. → Strategic Planning Workshops: Public sessions to co-develop adaptive strategies for artistic production and presentation. → Resource Sharing Coordination: Building mechanisms to share spaces, equipment, and knowledge. → Audience Engagement Programs: Collective approaches to building and retaining engaged audiences. We don’t need to compete for the same shrinking pool of funding—we need to rebuild the conditions under which experimental work happens. This is an experiment. Step in. 📍 RSVP or learn more: https://lnkd.in/gbspAe3n #ExperimentalArt #Toronto #ArtistsSupportingArtists #ArtsInfrastructure #CultureForWhatsComing

Experimental art doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in the overlaps, the interruptions, the makeshift spaces between the gig economy and the grant cycle. It happens in late-night conversations where half-formed ideas collide with practical constraints. It happens in the fragments of what’s left after an institution moves on. The problem isn’t making the work. The problem is seeing it. Finding it. Knowing where it’s happening and how to step into it. https://lnkd.in/d9shust6 That’s why we’re building EAT (Experimental Arts Toronto)—a shared platform to list, document, and support experimental work across disciplines. No gatekeepers, no algorithms dictating visibility. Just a classified-style event board where artists and organizers can list their shows, their happenings, their disruptions. 🌀 Hosting an experimental art event in Toronto? Send us the details (DM or home@ukaiprojects.com) and we’ll add it. 💡 We’re also testing: → Labour exchanges → Transparency around artistic resources → Artist-to-artist interviews → New models for sustainability This is an experiment. Step in. 📍 Link in bio. #EATToronto #ExperimentalArt #ArtInProcess #CultureForWhatsComing #ArtistsSupportingArtists #TorontoArt

In 2023 we published a book about living alongside volatility. It argued that accelerating uncertainty brought about by climate change, ubiquitous AI, and rising authoritarianism will demand personal and cultural responses. Those responses, in turn, would derive from practices that have too often been forgotten or neglected. The book feels even more relevant today. Those that have read it speak highly of it and we hope you will to. https://lnkd.in/gpRiZtFF

Experimental Art in Toronto Needs a Home. EAT is That Home. Experimental art refuses to stay in place. It bends disciplines, disrupts expectations, and makes space for uncertainty. But finding and supporting it in Toronto has never been easy. That’s why we built EAT (Experimental Artists of Toronto). EAT is a new shared resource designed to document, promote, and support experimental art in the city. It’s an open-access event listing, a space for artists to articulate their work, and a testing ground for new models of sustainability. No gatekeepers. No algorithms deciding what matters. Just artists and organizers shaping the platform together. What You’ll Find Here: 📌 Event Listings – A non-curated, classified-style directory for experimental performances, exhibitions, and happenings. 📝 Artist Perspectives – Short interviews, essays, and audio snippets from artists in their own words. 💡 Labelling for Art – A prototype system that makes the labour, money, and resources behind experimental art transparent. 🔄 Collaborative Prototyping – Testing new ways of supporting artists and audiences, from structured hospitality at events to shared access passes. Why Now? Because experimental art is the prototyping space for culture that’s coming. Because it doesn’t fit neatly into existing platforms for event promotion or arts writing. Because, if we don’t create ways to see and support the work happening around us, it gets lost. This is an experiment. Step in. 📩 Submit your event, writing, or media. Let’s make the work more visible—without flattening it. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d9shust6 #ExperimentalArt #Toronto #EAT #ArtistsSupportingArtists #CultureForWhatsComing