May 21 – 24, 2024
Opening Reception | May 21: 6–8PM
​Gallery Hours | May 22 – 23: 11–6PM, May 24: 10–5PM

The language of cinema was born not out of static theatrical views but out of urban motions.

–Guiliana Bruno

Over the past two decades, gaming metaverses have expanded dramatically, reshaping the ways we interact and engage with digital space. As tech giants fuel this shift, public gathering places are increasingly migrating from physical plazas to virtual landscapes. In 2024, 3.2 billion gamers generated over $159 billion in revenue—an indicator of just how deeply online worlds have become sites for community-building, identity formation, and even governance. Virtual real estate is no longer just a novelty—it’s a new terrain of social life.

In Magpie Online, this migration is explored from material public spaces to online environments, focusing on a multiplayer platform called Decentraland. Much like “real” life, users create avatars and construct homes, parks, clubs, and other urban infrastructures. One user likens Decentraland to a magpie’s nest—an externalized archive of selfhood, where each collected object becomes a reflection of identity.

The installation weaves together interviews with four Decentraland users, platform footage, original animation, machinima, and archival imagery tracing the evolution of North American public space. Drawing from urban analysis, Magpie Online explores how virtual worldbuilding reshapes our sense of belonging, embodiment, and community. How is identity forged in digital realities? What do we gain—and lose—when our social lives are mediated through code? And, to what extent should we distinguish between “real” and “virtual” life? Magpie Online invites viewers to consider what it means to belong in a world increasingly built on-screen.

Presented as part of IA Gateway and Doors Open Toronto with special thanks to York University and the artists' family and friends. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Christina Dovolis is an interdisciplinary filmmaker and urban planner, often working with cutting-edge technologies to explore how our built environments shape community and identity. Hailing from the Midwest, Christina draws inspiration from themes of girlhood and gossip, religious mythologies, and the complexities of urban development. As an educator, Christina is committed to making new media programs more accessible to the public, particularly focusing on empowering women and marginalized groups. She is the recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship and has achieved acclaim for her projects, with presentations at Museum of the Moving Image, Nuit Blanche, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Available Light Film Festival, and more. Christina holds a MA in Urban Planning from the National University of Singapore and a MFA in Film Production from York University.

Related Programming 

MOVES: Interactive Dance Installation

MOVES documents the Toronto community as an ever expanding digital dance floor. Stop by to be added to the project; no dance expertise necessary, just a willingness to move your body!

Studio Tours

The doors are open to our production studio! Come explore the space, engage with interactive technologies, and see where new media art gets made.

ABOUT IA GATEWAY

The InterAccess Gateway (IA Gateway) program facilitates low-barrier, no-cost access to gallery space for new media artists within our community. “Gateway” is an entry point; the term refers to network gateways, telecommunication devices that allow for the flow and translation of data between separate networks – an apt metaphor for the responsibility of organizations to provide resources and support to the artists in their community. IA Gateway was first held in 2024. 

ABOUT DOORS OPEN TORONTO

Each May, Doors Open Toronto invites the public to explore the city’s most-loved buildings and sites, free of charge. The event provides rare access to buildings that are not usually open to the public and free access to sites that would usually charge an admission fee. Since its inception in 2000, it has attracted more than two million visits to nearly 700 unique locations and remains the largest event of its kind in Canada.