Statements and Bio's

SpaceProbe Participants, last updated May 1997 (not a complete list)

Robert Bernecky designs computer languages and compilers, and is also involved in art & technology.

Karen Chapelle is an accomplished artist and metal sculptor, whose work often involves the human figure. She is interested in using electronics to animate her sculptures.

Rob Cruickshank considers himself to be primarily an electroacoustic composer, but has also produced several works of visual and installation art. His musical compositions have been programmed in festivals in Canada, the United States and France, and he has had audio installations in Toronto, and Hakushu, Japan (collaboration with Sarah Peebles and Hiroshi Sakaguchi).

Paul Davies is an interactive media artist living in Toronto, Canada. His work explores issues of technology, culture, and the individual through the medium of technology. His interactive installations make use of electronics, robotics, computers, controllers and reclaimed technology to allow users to discover and explore the themes of our culture.

Robert Erlich claims to be a charlatan.

Peter Flemming is a transmedia artist who does not specialize in anything. He is a recent graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, and has always maintained an active position in the local arts community. He has exhibited consistently for years, and is currently a member of the JAWA media art / science / magick collective, O HUGE VAULT OF VASELINE experimental sound performance group, and co-coordinator of Symptom Hall and the 7a*11d performance festival.

Jimmy Green: These days, I define myself loosely as "a robot builder fascinated by the universe we call home and the mysteries and potentials in it". As such, I seem to have freedom to cross over boundaries, break out of stereotypes, and do whatever I need to do in persuit of what I feel is right in my heart and truthful as I see truth around me. The robot, I feel, is simply yet another attempt at human self-agrandizement which amuses me, and a tool of human self-speculation which excuses me. As well, the robot can be seen as a summation of all earlier human technologies. The robots of today I feel will become deeply integrated with the human technology of tomorrow. It is important therefore that technology builders like myself take a responsible approach to human and ecological issues. Within this framework is my greatest hope that I, with the growing number of conspirators of conscience will mark the trails of technological empowerment so that we hurded masses will choose not to crush underfoot, the potential forests of the future.

Colin Harry has a wide range of interests, and finds that building machines brings them together.

Gita Hashemi works with text and image on paper and screen. She has worked in theatre and film and exhibited in Iran, the US and Canada. She is currently an active member of the arts community in Toronto, Ontario, where Common Sense doesn't include cultural production.

Colin Hinz studied engineering, and works with robotics, sound, and video.

Yod Lafarge has diplomas in Electronics Engineering Technology from Ryerson Polytechnic, and in Photo/Electric Arts from the Ontario College of Art. He has been an active member of several kinetic art groups, and has completed and exhibited a number of electronic installation works.

Tom Leonhardt has been heavily involved with InterAccess and the arts community since his student days at the Ontario College of Art in the Photo/Electric Department. His interests and work as an artist and designer lie with interactive, intermedia environments which relate information intelligence to the physical world.

Jeff Mann is a creator of electric art, in the fields of interactive installation, sound, video, and telecommunications art. Since graduating with honours from the Photo/Electric Arts department of the Ontario College of Art in 1987, he has exhibited and performed in over twenty-five shows, received various grants, awards, and residencies for his work, operated a private gallery of electric art, and spoken internationally on issues in art and technology in lectures, print, and on radio and television. He is a long-standing and active member of the Board of Directors of InterAccess, Canada's premiere artist-run Electronic Media Arts Centre, and is founder and coordinator of Toronto's Art & Robotics Group art and technology collective.

He currently resides and works in Toronto as an independent electronic media artist and as freelance producer, educator, and artistic and technical consultant to various organizations and artists. He has been employed as a faculty member in media production at the Ontario College of Art and the International Academy of Design; as network-art specialist at the Banff Centre and at InterAccess; technician at the Music Gallery and Art Metropole; as technical manager of Trinity Square Video, and currently as digital video technical consultant at Charles Street Video.

Diane McGrath has been creating multidisciplinary new media work for over six years. She has worked in Painting, Holography, Metal, Mouldmaking and Electromechanical Sculpture. Her work is primarily concerned with issues of identity, technology, and gender. Movement and Humour are integral elements to the work that reflect the movements of nature, society and the body and induce a situation where the audience is a direct participant in the experience of the work.

Steev Morgan graduated from the Photo Electric Arts Department of the Ontario College of Art and also studied Electronic music at Carlton U and fine crafts at Algonquin College. He currently resides in Toronto where he works as a web page designer and teacher at the OCAD. His video and multi media works have been exhibited both in Canada and internationally. He has curated several shows of electronic media. These include "Net@works", a show of Canadian new media art at the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico in 1995 as well as "A Life of Its Own", co-curated with Norman White, an exhibition of robotic art at the CNA in 1997.

Rod Prouse is well known for his work in traditional media for over three decades. "My work is figurative with a strong sense of location, not so much to represent place, as to celebrate unique encounters with the 'Natural World'. I have a fascination with process, materials, and tools. My dialogue with the naturual world suggests that I am planted somewhere in the Romantic movement."

Derek Robinson has been a faculty member of the Integrated Media Programme of the Ontario College of Art since 1985. His specialties include neural nets, statistics, and AI; text retrieval, compression, and indexing; data mining, and pattern recognition.

David Rokeby is an interactive sound- and video-installation artist based in Toronto, Canada. He has been creating interactive installations since 1982. His work has been exhibited in shows across Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. He was awarded the first Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts in 1988 and the Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art (Austria) in 1991. He is currently working on a new installation entitled The Giver of Names. One of his interactive systems, Very Nervous System, is now being used to enable a paralyzed woman to speak and write.

Jim Ruxton is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art New Media Program and the University of Ottawa's Electrical Engineering Department. After working for a few years as an engineer he went to OCA to explore more creative uses of electronics. He presently is the owner/operator of Cinematronics, a Toronto electronic film special effects business. As well as working in film, Jim uses electronics to create effects and devices for theatre, dance and installation.

Victoria Scott has worked as a sculptor for over eight years, making mechanically driven sculptures and kinetic installations. Scott uses motion, metal, and motors as a means of expressing emotion and illustrating personal stories. Victoria is fascinated by vibration, repeating cycles and repetitious behaviour within humans, nature, and technology. It is her belief that humans cannot embody technology, to live fully within its perimiters, but that it is possible to inject the rituals of our spirituality and sexuality into the repetition of the machine world. Her work has been seen in Venice, Mexico, and Canada.

Graham Smith is the President and CEO of Telbotics Inc.and is the driving force behind the company. He has been an inventor in the fields of virtual reality, robotics and virtual art for more than a decade and created the Telbotics telepresence systems. Mr Smith currently holds the position of Research Fellow at the internationally acclaimed McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, where he researches the effects new technologies play in shaping culture. Additionally he is an accomplished artist who has exhibited his virtual reality and robotic artwork in over 10 countries around the world.

Mike Steventon has worked in video with England's "Despite TV" group. He now resides in Toronto where he has worked with various electronic media, and has taught at the International Academy of Design and other schools.

Jean Trivett is a novice electronic artist who has benefited from her long association with the New/Integrated Media Programme at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

Peter Venuto attended the Ontario College of Art, and works primarily with electronic music.

Veronica Verkley is an artist and sculptor who works with found materials and is interested in incorporating electronics into her sculptures. She also works in the film business with props and animatronics.

Brian Wagner participated in the cut-up/collage program of CFFF FM in Peterborough, '86-'90, and attended the Ontario College of Art, '90-'95. He works with experimental musical instruments and performance, both solo and in collaboration with Neela Chinanara and Neil Mercer. His work has recently resumed, being inspired by his participation in the SpaceProbe project at InterAccess. His visual arts work has been shown with the Symbiosis, 1,2,3, and other collectives. He recently completed construction of his screen-printing shop.

Wendy Whaley is an Associate of the Ontario College of Art, and a board member of the Photon League of Holographers. Her work involves holography, computer animation, film, video, audio, electronics, and various 3D technology. It is about experiencing and sharing sensations and opening our minds to the infinite possibilities that exist in the cosmos and beyond.

Since the mid-60's, Norman T. White has been designing and building electronic kinetic art machines designed to investigate the origins of chaos, and the behavior of living creatures. The generally-unpredictable behavior of his artificial organisms usually depends upon real-time analysis of sensor data in the light of past experience. White also teaches courses in Digital Electronics, Mechanics for Sculpture and Installation, Introductory Computer Programming, and Intermedia Studio at the Ontario College of Art and Design, where he has been an instructor since 1978.