Christopher Dela Cruz

Biography

Christopher Paolo Dela Cruz is a Philippine-born, Scarborough-based artist whose works investigate the sociotechnical relationships between objects, identities, and aural cultures. His interdisciplinary practice is composed primarily of sound, electronics, kinetics, sculpture, and technology. Dela Cruz deconstructs sonic signatures within acoustic landscapes and objects, and examines the function of technology within the realms of interculturality. He is the recipient of the 2019 Ontario Prize for BMO 1st Art and has exhibited at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Mayten's Projects, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (Art Museum), Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), among other institutions. Dela Cruz works as the ACM Technician for the Department of Arts, Culture, Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, and as the Audio Director of "Festival Italiano di Johnny Lombardi" at CHIN Radio/TV International.

Education

H.B.A., University of Toronto, Canada

Teaching Interests

Sound & electronics in art-making, un/sounding sculptures, art & micro-controllers

Research Interests

Sonic signatures, aural landscapes & territories, constructions of aural cultures, sound technologies & sonic explorations, critical listening as practice, sonic archives, art in/and/of computer programming

Awards and Grants

Artist Support Grant, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA
Ontario Regional Winner, BMO 1st! Art Competition, Toronto, CA
Graduation Prize, University of Toronto, CA
Equity & Diversity Grant, University of Toronto, CA

Exhibitions

Conversation (Group Exhibition) September 10, 2021 – October 23, 2021 Mayten’s Projects, Toronto, CA https://www.maytens.com/conversation-exhibition Image courtesy of the artists, photographed by Eric Slyfield

BMO 1st Art (Group Exhibition) November 21, 2019 – December 16, 2019 Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, CA https://1start.bmo.com/2019-exhibition.html Image courtesy of the artist

Twenty Something (Group Exhibition) June 25, 2019 – July 30, 2019 Doors Open @ Bluff’s Gallery, Scarborough, CA

FUNHOUSE (Public Art) June 15, 2019 - December 31, 2019 FUNHOUSE @ 101 Lisgar, Toronto, CA https://funhousetoronto.com/

Reflections (Group Exhibition) May 4 2019 – May 16, 2019 Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, Scarborough, CA and Doris McCarthy Gallery, Scarborough, CA https://dorismccarthygallery.utoronto.ca/programming/projects/reflections Image courtesy of the artist

Wunderkammer (Group Exhibition) April 12, 2019 – April 17, 2019 Doris McCarthy Gallery, Scarborough, CA https://dorismccarthygallery.utoronto.ca/exhibitions/wunderkammer Image courtesy of the artist

Making Silence Salient (Solo Exhibition) March 11, 2019 – March 15, 2019 Gallery 1265, Scarborough, CA Curated by Rashana Youtzy https://www.gallery1265.com/ Image courtesy of the artist

Long Winter (Group Exhibition) November 16, 2018 Long Winter @ The Tranzac, Toronto, CA Curated by Dorica Manuel & Tiffany Schofield of Y+ Contemporary http://www.torontolongwinter.com/year-seven

Nuit Blanche Toronto (Public Art, Independent Project) September 29, 2018 Campbell House Museum, Toronto, CA, and Albert Campbell Square, Scarborough, CA https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/nuitblanche/nuit-h... Image by Alan Peng

Performances

SYNTAX ERRORS (duo with Eric Slyfield) September 23, 2021 Gallery Weekend Toronto and Mayten’s Projects, Toronto, CA 58 minutes & 45 seconds https://www.maytens.com/performance/syntax-errors Image courtesy of the artists

Rat-Drifting II (Solo performance) May 8, 2021 Arraymusic, Toronto, CA Organized by Dr. Martin Arnold 43 minutes & 20 seconds https://livestream.com/accounts/15801205/events/9559505/videos/22091263343 Image courtesy of the artist

YOU- (Group performance, invited) December 12, 2020 Streamed at Resonance Extra, London, UK Organized by Dr. Christof Migone 11 hours, 54 minutes, & 56 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYAqETt6ao Image courtesy of the artists

Quiet Concerts (duo with Philippe Melanson) October 6, 2019 Toronto Public Library Cedarbrae Branch, Scarborough, CA Organized by Christopher Willes 1 hour https://www.christopherwilles.com/quiet-concerts Image courtesy of Christopher Willes, photographed by Claire Harvie

 

Public Engagement

In Conversation with artist Christopher Dela Cruz (Interview)
October 25, 2021
Mayten’s Projects, Toronto, CA
https://vimeo.com/638759312

It’s Time to Build (Artist Talk / Conference)
November 11, 2019
Hart House, Toronto, CA
Hosted by Northside Hip Hop & Dr. Mark Campbell
https://harthouse.ca/events/its-time-to-build-dig-build-rep

CBC Our Toronto (Interview)
June 1, 2019
CBC and Funhouse, Toronto, CA
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1530862659886

There’s only One Toronto… (Article)
September 25, 2018
Toronto Star, Toronto, CA
Written by Gilbert Ngabo
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/09/25/theres-only-one-toronto-nuit...

Nuit Blanche sound exhibit bridges the gap between downtown Toronto and Scarborough (Interview)
October 3, 2018
RUtv News, Toronto, CA
Hosted by Nicole Di Donato
https://rutvnews1.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/nuit-blanche-sound-exhibit-br...

Projects

Professional Practice

MUSIC & FILM CREDITS
2017 - Boom Operator, Britt MacLennan: Demo Reel, Toronto, CA
2017 - Camera Operator, My City My Six at UTSC, Scarborough, CA
2017 - Sound Recordist, Canada 150 at UTSC, Scarborough, CA
2016 - Session Instrumentalist, PND (Co-production with Jxhn Carter), Toronto, CA
2016 - Producer, Ave Crux: The Expressionist, Toronto, CA
2016 - Session Recording Engineer, Rudolf Ray & Peter Sun: TRIC DADDY, Los Angeles, USA.
2015 - Audio Engineer, Rudolf Ray (Various Records), Scarborough, CA
2015 - Audio Engineer, REX World (Various Records), Scarborough, CA
2015 - Audio Engineer, Paulo Amour (Various Records), Scarborough CA
2015 - Audio Engineer, Cynthia Fay (Various Records), Scarborough, Canada.
2014 - Audio Engineer, MUTARI (Various Records) Scarborough, CA
2014 - Audio Engineer, Wayside (Various Records) Scarborough, CA