The Canadian Film Centre runs a very neat program called Habitat, and this past weekend they showcased prototypes made by graduates. Habitat is based on exploring the ever-changing world of 'New Media' and one can only hope that the future of media is what was shown this past weekend.

Five creative pieces were shown at the Gladstone Hotel, and each piece was unique. They ranged from a paint brush that paints - but doesn't - and masks that take you "on a journey from consumption to creation." Each piece relies on human interaction to work, yet they are each very unique.

If you want to make the internal external than

My Doki Doki is for you. A device reads your heartbeat and sends it to a remote "heart" that vibrates and lights up with your heart beat. You can literally wear your heart on your sleeve. The name itself was told to me to be Japanese for the sound that your heart makes. Jonathan Resnick, co-creator of My Doki Doki, would like to see the project expanded so people the world over can feel the beat of another person's heart.

Painting the Myth is an interesting way to explore the works and life of a painter, and it was covered earlier by the very website you're reading. I spoke with Anthony Saad about Painting the Myth and he sees great potential in this way of learning being applied to art shows. Painting the Myth looks at Group of Seven member Tom Thomson and his mysterious death; what better way to learn about him and the group than reliving (as best as an urban gallery can provide) the experience of painting the same location where he died. Anthony pointed out to me that the audio recording used to tell the painter about Thomson adapts to how fast the painter is painting - making it good for all age groups.

Kirstin Hargie and her cohorts created The Lunatics, a new form of participatory theater. People's outlines are projected onto a movie screen, participants then move around the room to interact with the 2D movie also projected onto the screen.To participate in the show one needs to wear a neat headdress/mask/hat contraption, Kirstin says that they are needed so people can simultaneously be someone else while knowing that they are still themselves since their bodies are projected onto a screen. The Lunatics sends a blatant message that consumerism is bad, it's how they presented their message that makes this adventure worthwhile.

For some reason people felt the need to tell me that Right or Left Unsaid had great capitalistic potential. I suppose then that it was a good juxtaposition to have The Lunatics and Right or Left Unsaid in rooms beside each other. Participants in Right/Left place their hands on a table and words automagically appear on the table connecting people's hands. The randomly-generated words encourage participants to examine their relationships with one another. A neat idea that - I'm told - could be sold to bars and clubs.

One piece of work that I didn't spend a lot of time with was Interference. I heard it was fun though. There is on real reason that I didn't look into this piece other than that I ran out of time.

A neat show it was, and I'm sorry that I didn't post about it before it finished. Keep your eyes open for other works coming from these artists, those that I spoke to all seemed to have something else already on the go.