The cross-country array of artists includes Montreal restaurateur Bruno Ricciardi-Rigault and St.John’s, Newfoundland comic, Kent Brown’s Fish Cake Snowmen and Christmas Lobster. In Calgary, performance poet Sheri-D Wilson goes In Search of the Perfect Tiramisu, while Paul Wong prepares Portabello Condo By The Sea – a main street dinner for the homeless in Vancouver. (See contributor bios below)

Beginning Monday, December 16, visit HorizonZero/ZeroHorizon to sink your teeth into the delectable contributions to EAT! Then, Saturday, December 21 from 7pm to midnight, EST, pull up a chair and join the feast. Martha Ladly, director of HorizonZero and Sara Diamond, Artistic Director, Media & Visual Arts at The Banff Centre are hosting the cocktail hour, and will moderate the evening from their dining room table in Toronto.

EAT! is issue number five of HorizonZero, the lush new bilingual Web space covering digital art and culture in Canada, which went live on August 1, 2002. HorizonZero is produced by the Banff New Media Institute at The Banff Centre, in collaboration with the Department of Canadian Heritage. It explores artists’ work through interviews, reviews, and new interactive modules. Each issue covers a different element of the fascinating terrain where art and science meet.

To read the media release announcing the launch of Horizon Zero on August 1, 2002, click here.

Kent Brown, St.John’s, Newfoundland
Recipe: Fish Cake Snowmen and Christmas Lobster
Kent Brown lives in St.John’s, Newfoundland, where he is a writer, actor, comedian, and new media producer at Zing Studios. He recently finished the production of George Street TV, a half-hour comedy variety show for which he writes and acts, alongside fellow Newfoundlanders Greg Malone and Donny Goobie. Kent is also working on several other new media projects at Zing Studios, including an online comedy video channel based in St.John’s. Kent’s personal interests and hobbies include American politics and foreign policy, nanotechnology, history, flying, red wine, and a good party.

Martha Ladly and Sara Diamond, Toronto, Ontario
Recipe: Martha’s Solstice Fizzle and Sara’s Martinis
Martha Ladly is the Director of HorizonZero produced by the Banff New Media Institute at The Banff Centre. In her spare time she teaches new media, mentors with the Interactive Project Lab, makes digital art and debates with her two teenage daughters. Sara Diamond is Artistic Director, Media & Visual Arts / Executive Producer, Television, New Media and Research, The Banff Centre. Sara is a television and new media producer/director, video artist, curator, critic, and teacher who has represented Canada at home and internationally for many years.

Skawennati Tricia Fragnito and Jason Lewis, Montreal, Quebec
Recipe: Roast Turkey with Laurel’s Stuffing
Skawennati uses both new and not-so-new media in her art, writing and curatorial projects. The same can be said for her cooking activities, where she has experimented with open flame, charcoal, electric and gas stoves, and the microwave. She has found that, very often, the recipes on the backs of canned and jarred food products are excellent. Learn more about her work at www.skawennati.net. In the few spare moments when Jason Lewis isn't eating, he's experimenting with computer-based media. He's currently producing a performance piece in which he plays a professor of digital image and sound at a university set in Quebec. Other recent work can be seen at www.thethoughtshop.com.

Bruno Ricciardi-Rigault, Montreal, Quebec
Recipe: North African Couscous
Bruno Ricciardi-Rigault is the programmer-producer for SAT_Digital Scenes at the Society for Arts and Technologies (SAT) in Montreal. He is also the co-owner of Café Laïka on St. Lawrence Boulevard, a gathering place for the entire arts community. Previously, I also worked in dance, theatre, filmmaking, music, photography, fashion and much more, all over the world. I’m not really an artist myself, I see myself rather as a catalyst within different sectors of the arts scene. I do my best to make magic happen. And I think it’s worth it.

Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak, Toronto, Ontario
Recipe: Oysters
Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak have worked exclusively in collaboration since 1983, producing videotapes, performances and photo/text works that are exhibited nationally and internationally. Steele and Tomczak are the founders of Vtape, a Toronto media arts centre, and teach at the University of Toronto where Steele is the Associate Chair of the Visual Studies program.

Mike Steventon and Michelle Kasprzak, Toronto, Ontario
Recipe: Cryptographic Alphabet Soup
For 20 years Mike Steventon has worked collaboratively with people who wish to use creative technologies to create media outside of the mainstream. Mike is on the Board of Toronto’s InterAccess electronic artist run centre (www.interaccess.org). Michelle Kasprzak is researching interdisciplinary practice, performance and collaboration. She develops and delivers curriculum for the Canadian Film Centre's new media programs. Mike and Michelle have collaborated for nearly three years as _badpacket_, and are part of a team developing the Art Interface Device (AID), a microprocessor platform for building electronic art distributed under the General Public License.

Sheri-D Wilson, Calgary, Alberta
Recipe: In Search of the Perfect Tiramisu
Sheri-D is a distinguished poet, playwright, performer, essayist and teacher, often called "the Mama of Dada." Her unparalleled performance style is rich with erotic jazz, infused with a sharp feminist sensibility, and laced with dangerous wit. Her five books of poetry include Girl’s Guide to Giving Head (1996), The Sweet Taste of Lightning (1998), and Between Lovers (2002).

Paul Wong, Vancouver, BC
Recipe: Portobello Condo By The Sea
Paul Wong is a media artist. David Jackson (Houseboy) is a professional underwater diver involved in the harvesting of urchins on the west coast. He also works on oilrigs on the east coast. Annastacia McDonalda (Chef) is a professional shopper for the movie industry and for private clients. She is also an extraordinary hostess.