Debby Friday in Residence

Description:

While in residence at Western Front, artist Debby Friday developed, produced, and presented a new audio-visual play titled V FOR VIRTUAL. The work was the final instalment of her sci-fi sonic theatre trilogy that began with her graduate thesis project, LINK SICK (2021), followed by the immersive installation VOW (2021). 

Following Friday’s proclivity towards hybridity in art making, this project incorporated a fusion of new media approaches to visual and sound art, including multichannel audio, experimental music production, neural networks, generative art, chroma keying, algorithmic composition, and references to mixed reality. Her process in creating V FOR VIRTUAL  included close collaborations with musicians, special effects technicians, and primarily non-professional actors. By creating an immersive environment for viewers to enter into the world of VIRTUAL, the physical and sonic presence of Friday’s three-channel video installation in the Grand Luxe Hall reflected the work’s greater theme of transcending the boundaries between online networks and those in real life. 

The residency concluded in screenings of V FOR VIRTUAL over the span of three days in Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall.