Kelowna Artist Melany Nugent will be giving an artist talk on her work ‘Invisible Threads are the Strongest Ties’ at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art on November 18 at 7pm.

Continuing an area of research developed during Nugent’s graduate studies at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, this presentation provides an overview of the artist’s experience participating in the inaugural Convergent Studio Residency, supported by the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art and the Okanagan co-lab, in September, 2016.

During the residency, Nugent was supported by a series of mentors in the technical development of personal beacons that measure GPS and proximity data that is translated into a sensory experience using lights that grow brighter when people are closer, and dimmer when further apart.

This 45 minute presentation will provide an overview of the development of the beacons during the residency, the nuances of bridging a project across the arts and technology sectors, and broader applications for the project that are being explored in business and community capacity-building sectors. It will also include a demonstration of the beacons and question period.

Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Melany Nugent is an inter-disciplinary artist living in Kelowna, British Columbia. She has a Masters of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, in Vancouver B.C.

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is an artist-run centre located in Kelowna, BC at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, 421 Cawston Avenue. The Alternator is a registered non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the development of the creative community. Since 1989 the Alternator has shown the work of emerging Canadian artists and focused on innovative and non-traditional mediums engaged in social and cultural issues.