The BBMC start off the New Year with the presentation of our very first commissioned AR (Augmented Reality) artwork – “I Have Been There” by Chun Hua Catherine Dong. “I Have Been There” is a free AR app for iOS and Android devices. The app gives users the opportunity to place a three dimensional rendering of the artist in any location, offering people the chance to participate in Dong’s evolving “I Have Been There” performance art work.
‘“I Have Been There” is an on-going performance that Chun Hua Catherine Dong started in 2015. Each time Dong travels to a new place, Dong creates a duvet with Chinese traditional fabric. Covered by the duvet, Dong lies on the ground in front of historical sites, landmarks, and other significant places around the world. Dong repeats this performance as a poetic expression of their diasporic identity and engagement with different cultures and spaces. Dong expands this performance to augmented reality (AR). Dong hopes that people will be able to access the performance and experience it on their mobile devices.’ Photo Credit, left and above: Manar Gad Timounna; Photo credit below: Chun Hua Catherine Dong.
Search your app store with “I Have Been There” and download the app for free. Place the artist anywhere in your world.
There is more coming from Chun Hua Catherine Dong’s commission with the BBMC; stay tuned throughout 2023.
About the Artist
Chun Hua Catherine Dong (she/they) is a Chinese-born Tiohtià:ke/ Montréal-based multimedia artist. Dong received an MFA at Intermedia from Concordia University and a BFA at Visual Art from Emily Carr University Art & Design in Canada. Dong has exhibited their works at The Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne in France, Quebec City Biennial, The International Digital Art Biennial Montreal (BIAN), MOMENTA | Biennale de l’image, Kaunas Biennial, Canadian Cultural Centre Paris, The Aine Art Museum in Tornio, Bury Art Museum in Manchester, Museo de la Cancillería in Mexico City, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, DongGong Museum of Photograph in South Korea, He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, Hubei Museum of Fine Art in China, Art Museum at University of Toronto, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, and so on.
Dong has performed in many international performance art festivals, such as Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival in Chicago, 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art in Toronto, ENCUENTRO Performance in Santiago, The Great American Performance Art in New York, Place des Arts in Montreal, Infr’Action in Venice, Dublin Live Art Festival in Dublin, Experimental Action/ Performance Art in Houston, Internationales Festival für Performance in Mannheim, Inverse Performance Art Festival in California, Miami Performance International Festival, Nuit Blanches in Montreal, Visualeyez Performance Festival in Edmonton, M:ST Performance Art Festival in Calgary, and many public art galleries and spaces in Europe, North and South America. Dong’s video work has been screened in Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, and so on.
Visit their website to learn more about Catherine and their work: Chun Hua Catherine Dong
“I Have Been There” is a commissioned work created for the VR Forward Project by the BBMC. It has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada Digital Now Program.
Supported by La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, and diffused in their digital publication [espace variable | placeholder].[espace variable | placeholder] is also funded by the Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Now program.
