Fountains of Data – Exhibition

September 22 – October 8 2025
Sound Studies Gallery, 3-47 Arts Building
10:00 – 5:00 Monday – Friday
Closed Sept 29 and 30 for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
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Read more about the Artist Talk on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 – Add talk to calendar

Fountains of Data: Evocation Zones is a virtual reality (VR) artwork that explores the evolving landscape of healing in the digital age. The work was originally inspired by ancient Celtic healing fountains in the Brittany region of France. Many of the fountains, which date as far back as 5000 BC were, and still are believed to be places of healing, often of very specific ailments, and were part of a larger culture of water as a healing agent. For SSI, we present three VR scenes which each focus on a different fountain. The first is Fontaine de la Vierge in Bulat-Plestivien, where mothers would come to drink and pray for an abundance of milk and good health for their children. Fontaine de la Vierge is a deeply sunken fountain, enclosed by deep granite stone walls that create a powerful reverberating space for the sounds of trickling water, birdsong, church bells, foot steps and in this age, airplanes. Fountains of Data: Evocation Zones begins in darkness, with a shifting field of particles derived from the Celtic Ogham alphabet. These coalesce into a point cloud scan of the fountain. Visitors interact using swim-like arm movements, which transform the soundscape and gradually resolve the imagery—from abstract particles to LiDAR scans, 360° video, and ambisonic recordings from the actual site. In shadowed corners, whispers of contemporary Reddit conversations related to the specific healing property of the fountain blend ancient and modern spaces of care. The scene concludes with a 360° video sphere captured from inside the fountain’s healing pool, acting as a portal to the next environment, linking physical tradition with digital connection in a layered meditation on how we seek solace across time.

Fountains of Data: Evocation Zones is created using 360 video, LiDAR scans and ambisonic sound recordings captured by Oliver and Smallwood, which are publicly available on the University of Alberta Aviary platform. 

https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3170

Marilène Oliver works at a crossroads somewhere between new digital technologies, traditional print and sculpture, her finished objects bridging the virtual and the real worlds.

Scott Smallwood is a sound artist, composer, and sound performer who creates works inspired by discovered textures and forms, through a practice of listening, field recording, and sonic improvisation.