New Media alumni exhibit work at MULTIfest
Two New Media graduates, Angelina Almanza and Marko Cindric displayed work at MULTIfest, (external link) Toronto’s week long experiential art festival at STACKT Market.
Both graduates presented work that they first developed as their New Media Thesis project where in their final year of study, students are tasked with creating innovative new media productions at an advanced level. 
It's been really exciting getting to revisit my New Media thesis for MULTIfest, and so encouraging to see the positive response to the piece from people who hadn't experienced it before! Toronto has definitely needed a festival like this for a while (we have so many amazing local artists working in this space) and it's been an absolute pleasure getting to be part of the inaugural one—especially at such an interesting exhibition space as Stackt Market.
Marko Cindric
Marko Cindric presented his interactive audiovisual installation, Fiat. (external link) Marko writes that Fiat (external link) was developed using the free and open source Godot game engine. As audio data from the microphone is received by the software, an FFT spectrum analysis is performed, its values printed to a row of pixels in an image texture. Using a GLSL shader, this texture is then applied as a displacement map for a fixed three-dimensional plane, giving the appearance of islands that are being ‘flown over’ as new rows of pixels are added. Visual textures are applied to the terrain based on height, creating a gradient between wet sand at the shorelines and mossy rock at higher altitudes. A golden glowing edge is seen as new terrain is generated, accentuating the mystical, godlike nature of the experience.
Marko is currently pursuing his Master's degree in the Digital Media program at York University, focusing on digital eco-art and all the paradoxes and conundrums that come with that. Following the completion of the degree, he is hoping to take part in several artist residencies to immerse himself in a new environment and see what creative ideas emerge.
[There is] Something about those long days and nights in the New Media MakerSpace, being around all that intense, focused, sometimes frenetic creative energy, was so good for my creative practice and my sense of community. It's so lovely how much camaraderie there is, even between people who might be working with completely different artistic mediums.
A screencapture from Fiat.
Angelina Almanza presented her emergent polyphonic experience, Resonance (external link) . The project consists of 8 singing pillars, electronic “brains” access data to see notes sung by their peers and join in at the same frequency, before ascending or descending to a note in a relative interval. Through combining 'listening' with computational actions, Resonance allows for a completely emergent song - all based on electronic performer's whims to create harmony or dissonance.
A version of Resonance presented during Angelina Almanza's time in the New Media program.