The Black Bag Media Collective (BBMC) is a Toronto-based artists’ collective dedicated to creating innovative and experimental work at the intersection of art, technology, and live performance. With a focus on interdisciplinary practices, the collective’s projects often blend various media to create hybrid-reality events that merge the live stage with audio, video, and virtual world/game environments.
Founded in 2004, BBMC remains vital through its production and project driven approach. The collective operates across both traditional art spaces and digital platforms, and is known for their exploration of virtual spaces and immersive technologies. BBMC pushes the boundaries of art in the digital age, aiming to provoke thought, stimulate dialogue, and create work that reflects on the complex relationship between technology, identity, and the human experience.
BBMC also has a longstanding history of producing audio recordings, live performances, rock shows, and digital artworks by members and collaborators. They have presented dozens of video screenings, conferences, networked performances, symposia, and workshops that support and showcase the collective’s efforts. The collective continues to work across digital media, media arts, live performance, music, audio, and emerging technologies.
Recently, BBMC has experimented with merging Virtual Reality, machine learning, and quantum computing to create groundbreaking artworks and performances. BBMC has also been experimenting with creating artworks for headset VR and recently have transformed the work of Toronto poets into Virtual Reality experiences, currently installed in VR Chat and Second Life. BBMC continue to operate galleries and art-based installations across multiple Virtual Reality platforms, including VRChat, Second Life, and Resonite.
BBMC’s ongoing commitment to innovation and experimentation has solidified the collective’s position as a leading voice in Canada’s contemporary art scene, particularly in the fields of new media and virtual art.
photo of BBMC Founding members Marcel Levandier, Liz Solo, and Mike Kean by Rhonda Pelley