On Curation Mentorship Project
Curated by Anju Singh (Vancouver)
Mentor: Raven Chacon (Diné)
Pre-show artist chat moderated by Anju Singh
Zero Input Enclosure Movement (ZIEM) is an 8-channel sculptural sound installation created by Winnipeg-based artist AO Roberts. For this presentation, Roberts will create a second iteration of the work, reimagined specifically for this program.
This installation invites audiences to shift their sonic attention within a timed, spatially responsive environment structured through layered interactions of performance and audience engagement. For the evening event, three artists will collaborate with Roberts and the ZIEM system to develop responsive performances. These interventions are grounded in crip improvisation and collective dynamics. Following the event, the installation remains open for audience interaction, allowing the system’s sonic architecture to continue unfolding.
ZIEM amplifies unstable systems of feedback and drone within a provisional sculptural structure, engaging the sonic architectures of property, healing, and control. Roberts draws from research into the 18th-century British land enclosure movement, reactivating the bandstand—an architectural invention of that period. Using a zero-input mixing technique (where a sound system’s output is fed back into its input), ZIEM produces oscillating drones that echo the immersive tones of a sound bath yet drift into the spectral persistence of MRIs, HVAC systems, and power transformers.
The evening begins with a conversation between AO Roberts, Anju Singh, and invited artists, followed by a facilitated Q&A. A zine documenting Roberts’ process, produced in collaboration with UNIT/PITT, will also be available. Originally presented in SICKROOM at the University of Manitoba’s Art Gallery in 2022, ZIEM will be remounted by Vancouver New Music on February 14, 2026, following a residency at What Lab.
Photo: AO Roberts by Robert Szcolnicki
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