Personal Information
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Given name: Erin









Surname: Hill









Email: erin.lamontagne@pm.me









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Your contribution
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Title: Deep Gazing









Format: Performance (8)









Main language: English









Abstract:
The Sisters of the Celestial Order of Nephology is an interdisciplinary performance project by Horizon Factory (Erin Hill and Nina Vroemen). Formed in 2019 during a dance residency at Studio 303 (Montreal), the project takes the shape of a fictive religious order: two blue-cloaked atmospheric nuns devoted to the study of clouds and the ephemeral narratives they generate. Through this speculative framework, the Sisters engage with uncertainty, attunement, and ecological interdependence.

Central to the project are the practices of Deep Gazing and Scrying. Deep Gazing, a term coined by the Sisters and inspired by Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening, invites participants to attune to their environments through attention to the sky, bridging cloud identification and forecasting with embodied, sensorial, and intuitive modes of knowing. Complementing this, the Sisters practice Scrying—the art of prophesying through gazing—with the sky, identifying messages and meanings in the clouds beyond the art of forecasting. A storm does not end, but continues to move, to shift, and influence other systems. Together, these practices treat weather as a relational network, offering tools for cultivating intimate, personal connections to climate, community, and place. Working across performance, installation, workshops, and writing, Deep Gazing and Scrying are both artistic and pedagogical tools for thinking through life within complex, interconnected systems. 

The 45 minute performance takes place outdoors beneath the celestial sphere. The Sisters will have scouted a path with specific viewpoints, and will guide audience members between the chosen landmarks. The performance is accompanied by an audio piece (English, French) and the audience listen through headphones, allowing audience to move or lay down, stay close or stray far from the performers. The experience ends with a collective Scrying practice and participants are invited to share what they've gleaned from the clouds. 











Image: https://test.sar2026.ie/system/files/webform/submit_contribution/197/Sisters-03.jpg









Short biographies of the presenter(s):
- The Sisters of the Celestial Order of Nephology is an interdisciplinary performance project by Horizon Factory (Erin Hill and Nina Vroemen). Formed in 2019 during a dance residency at Studio 303 (Montreal), the project adopts the form of a fictive religious order: two blue-cloaked atmospheric nuns devoted to the study of clouds. The Sisters work with the practices of Deep Gazing and Scrying. Deep Gazing invites attention to the sky as a means of attuning to the environment and the self, while Scrying approaches clouds as sites of meaning beyond the conventions of forecasting. Working across performance, installation, workshops, and writing, the Sisters explore weather as a relational system connecting climate, community, and place.
- Nina Vroemen makes interdisciplinary work about ecology that is speculative and embodied. They live in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal), on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka. They are a MFA graduate from Sculpture and Ceramics at Concordia University, where they will begin an Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD in Fall 2026. Vroemen is a collaborator in three interdisciplinary performance projects (Horizon Factory + water%holding + HEaD) centered on awe and ecological justice. They are also an educator facilitating workshops and have taught in studio arts at Concordia University. interested in how art can activate an ecological way of thinking where intimate narratives seep through complex entanglements and unimaginable timescales.
  
- Erin Hill is an artist, birth support practitioner and a PhD student. Hill’s work is rooted in daily practice, building relations with ecological protagonists such as the sun (Sunrise Commitment, 2018) and the weather (Deep Gazing, ongoing). More recently, Erin’s practice is engaged by the nuances of beyond verbal communication in interspecies relationships, for which she is pursuing a PhD in Humanities at Concordia University. As a dramaturg and writer, Erin has worked with artists Sebastian Kann, Lucy M. May, Charlie Prince, Camille Lacelle-Wilsey, Maude Arès, among others. Erin holds a Master’s degree from DAS Theatre (formerly DasArts) in Amsterdam and makes home as a settler in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal.










Previous presentations or iterations of the research:
Deep Gazing has been presented in Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick), France and Australia in both its performance and exhibition formats. We have also published a book and been published in Bodies of Sound: Becoming a Feminist Ear (Silver Press 2024). We will present the performance as usual, responding to the specific landscape. We see this as an opportunity to present within an artistic research context, receive feedback and create links with people sharing similar research interests.














Requirements
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Additional information:
In 2024, we published Deep Gazing, a book of embodied scores and meteorological texts. We will bring a couple copies for people to look at after the performance and during the forum.










Spatial and technical requirements :
We require an outdoor space with a view of the sky. We will take a moment ourselves to do location scouting upon arrival. In the past, parks or beaches have been good locations for the performance.
Participants are requested to bring headphones and to download or stream the audio track from a device such as a smartphone.










Potential risks or ethical concerns:
One risk might be accessibility: people need headphones and a listening device. However, these days, most people have these things on hand. It is possible to have a couple people listen together on a bluetooth speaker or use the speaker on their phone. However, this is not ideal for the experience or fellow participants because of the sound leakage. This IS a good option for young children, if parents do not want them to listen through headphones.










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