InterAccess is a Canadian

artist-run centre An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

and electronic media production facility in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. In August of1981, Bill Perry and Ric Amis started "Telidon at Trinity Square Video", with a "Norpak Telidon Information Provider System" given to Bill by Bell Canada. The project was so popular, within 18 months, Bill Perry, Nina Beveridge and Geoffrey secured operational funding and premises to establish a separate, artist run organization called Toronto Community Videotex, incorporated in March of 1983. The founding directors were Bill Perry, Nina Beveridge, Geoffrey Shea and Paul Petro. Known today as InterAccess, it is Ontario's only exhibition space devoted exclusively to technological media arts. The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art places the founding of InterAccess as a key moment in both the history of Canadian electronic art but also within a timeline of developments in international art, science, technology and culture.

History

In 1983, InterAccess was incorporated as a not-for-profit, artist-run access centre, under the name Toronto Community Videotex (TCV). It provided artists access to the Telidon system, a precursor of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

. The early conception of electronic art placed the organization within the production cooperative system in Canada. TCV's members created artworks which fell within the more systems-based notions of art production, rather than the beaux-arts aesthetic of the museum. The name change to InterAccess in 1987 reflected a new focus on

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

graphics,

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

production and a dial-up artists’ network (much like a

Bulletin Board System A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as ...

, or BBS) known as Matrix. InterAccess moved to a larger facility in 1995 allowing InterAccess to offer a gallery and production space that expanded its activities beyond simply access to multimedia production. The exhibitions began to emphasize the finished production and there was a particular focus on establishing an international presence for the centre. The exhibition ''Pandoras Box'', a collaboration between InterAccess and Fylkingen New Music and Intermedia Art in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

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in 2000, was billed as "the first international interactive encounter with art using remotely controlled robots." In 2005, InterAccess moved to a renovated two-floor, three thousand square feet stand-alone building, allowing for more production space, a surround sound studio and a machine shop for constructing large-scale physical computing projects and installation. The exhibition ''This must be the place: Vera Frenkel, David Rokeby,

Nell Tenhaaf Nell Tenhaaf (born in 1951 in Oshawa, Ontario) is a Canadian artist, teacher, writer and feminist. Nell received a B.F.A. in 1974 and a M.F.A. in 1989 both from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. The bulk of Tenhaaf’s art was produced du ...

and

Norman White Norman White (born January 7, 1938, San Antonio Texas) Canadian New Media artist considered to be a pioneer in the use of electronic technology and robotics in art. Life White was born in San Antonio Texas in 1938. He grew up in and around Bosto ...

'' was a reconsideration of the centre and as well the place of electronic art within art history. The four featured artists are pioneers in electronic and interactive art and have a history with InterAccess as both members and exhibitors. In May 2006, InterAccess received a Canada Council Media Arts Commissioning Grant for ''The Networked City'', a series of five outdoor interactive installations on Yonge Street in Toronto. In Dec 2015, InterAccess announced that it had acquired Vector Festival, a game and new media art festival dedicated to showcasing creative media practices. Vector Festival was founded in 2013 as the “Vector Game Art & New Media Festival” by an independent group of artists and curators: Skot Deeming, Clint Enns, Christine Kim, and Katie Micak, who were later joined by Diana Poulsen and Martin Zeilinger. In 2016 InterAccess presented Canada's first exhibition related to drones, ''Once Is Nothing: A Drone Art Exhibition,'' "an art show completely dedicated to the rise of these suddenly ubiquitous machines, one that raises questions about borders, surveillance, identity and place".

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Official websiteVector Festival Official website
Arts organizations established in 1982 Art museums and galleries in Ontario Artist-run centres Organizations based in Toronto Culture of Toronto Art galleries established in 1982 1982 establishments in Ontario

History

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