This week, Frequencies Toronto highlighted an intersection of art and digital connectivity. Attendees were treated to a showcasing of the IRL dot com series, an innovative project pushing the boundaries of generative art and audience participation.

The series, created by artists Brittany Beheshti and Evangeline Brooks, explores the vibrant possibilities when online communities and physical gallery spaces interact in real time. With the assistance of the Canada Council grant, I oversaw the creation of interactive new media “paintings” hosted both in a physical space, alongside an online gallery.

At the core of IRL dot com is a custom piece of code designed to bridge the gap between audiences and interactive visuals. Built using Processing, a Java-based library, this code enables any Processing sketch featuring interactive visuals to directly receive and process online chat messages.

I posted a call for applications in March 2024, and formed a cohort of creative coders including Rupali Morzaria, Bridget DeFranco, Elizabeth Farrell, Peter Ha, Morgan Green, Evangeline Brooks and I. The group met a total of 7 times over the course of the creation phase of the project. We discussed the goals of the gallery along with the limitations and requirements of the TICC API. Artists pitched pieces, received feedback, shared knowledge, and asked questions.