A group of college-aged poets selected by our members Urban Word and City Lore have attended a how-to workshop on digital projection and animation for the past five weeks. They learned the in’s and out’s of how to use an image remixing program called Modul8, and produced a multimedia exhibit that transformed their written words into an artistic display using projected light. They’ll be performing these works live this Saturday at the Bring to Light Festival in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  Bring to Light is a free, nighttime event that brings together artists from around the globe to build site-specific – and mainly light-based – art installations.

All of their works will be displayed with the help of the POEMobile, a former DHL truck that has since been modified as a large-scale projector.  The POEMobile was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for City Lore and the Bowery Arts & Science Collective.  Live performances will take place at 7pm and 8pm, and their projections will continue to loop between 9pm and midnight.  Additional details can be found in our press release.

Urban Word and City Lore collaborated with other artists from the festival and Modul8 experts to help these youth create something far from a traditional poetry slam.  We think this is important work for the Hive Learning Network to be engaged in because it begins with what ignites the passions of the youth. The participants from Urban Word are deeply invested in the art form of spoken word poetry and storytelling. They are incredible poets who are engrossed in their craft and the rigor it takes to grow as artists. Hive NYC helps them see how their passions can be combined with digital tools, strong mentors and larger platforms than they normally have access to. In this process they have interacted with poets like mentor Jon Sands, as well as interactive artists like Julia Vallera and Chris Jordan, to help shape their growth as learners and artists. Jon, Julia, and Chris all also agree how much they have learned from working alongside these youth. The participants have even driven the development of the software tool they have been using, providing feedback to Modul8 developer Boris regarding improvements, bugs and new use scenarios as they prepare for the festival. Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Mark Surman blogs about how these kinds of friendship and mentor relationships are transforming how we view learning in a connected society.

Here, the students give props to Boris from Modul8, and everyone else involved in the project:

We hope you’re able to attend and show your support, and if you do, please comment here and share your feedback.