Ecstasy//Normal 002 by Tobias Williams
a part of Vector Festival 2018, Born Digital
A video installation at The Brandscape (1136 Dupont St.)
July 12 – July 16, 24 HOURS
FREE

Ecstasy//Normal 002 is an animation which came out of a body of work exploring the designs used for ecstasy pills sold on the black market. The imagery used to mark these drugs represent a unique form of semiotic communication and aesthetic choices which are derived from a combination of networked cultures and the illicit nature of the drug trade. These forces come together to create a unique underground ecosystem for design, free of the limitations of copyright which runs parallel to global consumerism.  Research for this project was conducted by studying pill designs from online pill testing websites and social media platforms.

The full Vector Festival 2018 program can be found at vectorfestival.org.

About the Artists
Tobias Williams is a Toronto based artist and educator. His art practice is concerned with the relationship between society and technology. His latest work explores the concept of “Digital Ontology;” how we conceive of objects in digital spaces and how these digital objects interact with our perception of the physical world. Tobias has exhibited in a variety of local and international gallery spaces including recent shows at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Banff Centre in Alberta. He currently works as an instructor at OCADU Humber College and the Toronto School of Art.

About Vector Festival
Now in its sixth year, Vector Festival showcases emergent, critical, and experimental new media art across a series of events that include exhibitions, performances, workshops, discussion panels, and screenings and is presented annually by InterAccess. Vector Festival was founded in 2013 by a revolving collective of curators, artists, and scholars. Foundational members (2013-2015) include Skot Deeming, Clint Enns, kris kim, Katie Micak, Diana Poulsen, and Martin Zeilinger.

About the Festival Curators
Katie Micak is an artist, curator, and researcher, whose work includes video and performance art practices, collaborative design, and an investigation of the integration of chatbots/robots into physical environments. Micak is a founding member of Vector. She holds an MFA from Syracuse University in Transmedia Studies, and is a recent MA graduate from OCADU’s Digital Futures Program. Micak is also an educator in new media art practices. She has served as the Gallery Director of Spark Contemporary in Syracuse, NY and Propeller in Toronto, and was the Digital Media Department Manager at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. @KatieMicak / katiemicak.com

Martin Zeilinger is a new media researcher, curator, and practitioner based in London, UK, where he works as Senior Lecturer in Media at Anglia Ruskin University. He has been the co-curator of Vector Festival since 2014. Zeilinger’s work on appropriation-based creative practices, digital art, financial technologies, and theories of cultural ownership has been published, screened, and exhibited widely. Current projects include ‘MoneyLab#4’ (London, UK, 2018; on contemporary art and financial activism) and 'Rethinking Affordance’ (Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, 2018; on digital art and design theory). @mrtnzlngr / marjz.net

Image: Ecstasy // Normal 002 by Tobias Williams (2016). Courtesy of the artist.