Canal Convergence 2021 In Scottsdale Brings Together Art And Tech

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Canal Convergence, a free 10-night public art event in Scottsdale, is bringing together art and technology.

The event starts at 6 p.m. each night and runs Nov. 5-Nov. 14, at the Scottsdale waterfront along the pedestrian pathways, bridges, and in and above the Arizona Canal, between Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard.

The annual event features works from local artists and some from around the world, based on this year's theme of "Art and Technology." The theme coincides with CODAsummit, a three-day conference for people and companies involved in "creating large-scaled, commissioned art to consider how technology-infused art installations can change the way environments are experienced."

The CODAsummit conference is set for Nov. 10-12 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Some of the pieces featured in Canal Convergence include state-of-the-art technologies, and others focus on the event's themes of water, light, sustainability and interactivity, according to a news release from Scottsdale Arts.

But Canal Convergence is much more than just a public art display, it also includes performances, creative workshops, educational artist talks, augmented reality experiences and food and drink for sale.

The event is produced by Scottsdale Public Art in association with other branches of Scottsdale Arts.

Activities for attendees beyond viewing and interacting with the artwork:

• An augmented reality scavenger hunt, a virtual tour of the Arizona Canal’s history and engineering with Salt River Project and the opportunity via augmented reality to meet the artists behind the pieces on display. Attendees can experience the event's augmented reality features via the Hoverlay app. You should download the app for iPhone or Android prior to attending.
• Workshops for kids, teens and adults delivered by a diverse group of local, national, and international artists. This includes the chance to make robots and LED lanterns, contribute to research in drone design, explore various art-making software, and combine science, technology, and art using watercolors. Most workshops require advance registration, and many include fees.
• Beer and wine garden at Soleri Plaza, food trucks on the weekends and live entertainment nightly.
• Live musical performances from a wide variety of genres like jazz, R&B, rock, country, J-pop, mariachi, Americana and folk.
• Live poetry, storytelling and dance performances including two special dance performances by Nicole Olson's MovementChaos.

Click here for a complete schedule and more information.

Featured artworks include the following, according to Scottsdale Arts:

• "AeroGels" by Phoenix artist Roy Wasson Valle of Fireweather Studios, portrays the experiences of an artist on Mars in the year 2268 through augmented reality.
• "Arc ZERO: Oculus" by artist James Tapscott of Melbourne, Australia, is an immersive gateway with a fiery glow, made simply from light and water.
• "The DOOR(S)" by Paul Magnuson / B!G ART, of Calgary, Canada, are portals to discovering alternate realities, with scenes that change each time one of The DOOR(S) swings open.
• "Entwined Meadow", by San Fracisco artist Charles Gadeken, is a grove of 10 floral clusters with individually programmable light pixels, controlled by the public from a smartphone or tablet.
• The Valley’s own Walter Productions returns to the Scottsdale Waterfront with "Floom", a series of fire-spouting flower sculptures with nightly choreographed fire performances.
• "illumaphonium: Halo" by the artist duo illumaphonium of Churchstanton, United Kingdom, is a series of nine interconnected, interactive towers that create ever-evolving patterns of light and sound through audience participation.
• "Light Falls" by artist Vigas of São Paulo, Brazil, is a towering waterfall of light with a range of colors and ambient nature sounds.
• "Mini Nova" by Los Angeles-based artist Abram Santa Cruz and Liquid PXL, is a collection of four sculptures that use hundreds of colorful LED animations to create brightly mesmerizing bursts of light.
• "Mirage", an augmented reality artwork by the Los Angeles-based Nancy Baker Cahill Studio, portrays a swirl of water droplets that rise to meet an hourglass before transforming to sand and streaming back down toward the Arizona Canal.
• "The Planets" by PITAYA of Lyon, France, is a series of sculptures that that bring the cosmic beauty of our solar system down to earth, creating a disco ball effect in the surrounding environment.
• "Say What You Will" by the Boston-based MASARY Studios, invites participants to speak into kiosks along the Arizona Canal as the art installation transforms their voices into expressions of video.
• "Time Stream" by Phoenix-based artist Casey Farina, is an interactive artwork where participant movement is captured and projected into a virtual space.