A TRIBE CALLED RED: INDIAN CITY 360°

Photo by Michelle Breslin

The acclaimed Indigenous hip-hop crew A Tribe Called Red crosses boundaries between traditional and modern worlds. In this piece, featuring a group of pow wow dancers battling a crew of hip hop dancers in a front of a monument at Fort York, gradient audio allows viewers to change the soundtrack depending on where they look. Users can mix hip-hop, electronic and pow wow sounds into a custom audio experience that explores how cultures overlap in modern society.

An animated reticle will appear on screen to indicate gradient audio by degree. When users are looking at the pow wow dancers and hearing Indigenous sounds, the circle will appear as a drum icon, and when users are looking at hip hop dancers and hearing electronic sounds, the circle will appear as a vinyl record icon. Headphone icons in the sky are sound triggers; when users gaze at them, they will activate either air horns, or Indigenous vocalizations.

 The piece was directed by Jon Riera and shot by Connor Illsley, of the VR team, Combo Bravo.