Jess Conn-Potegal

Jess Conn-Potegal is a Montreal-based sound artist, musician, and DJ. His work centers on intuitive collaboration as a means of sonic exploration, drawing from his background in house music and percussive performance. His music curatorial work deploys his atmospheric auditory practice to construct custom sonic environments for companies internationally.

Conn-Potegal’s initial Research Residency was conducted in collaboration with JRSP Executive Director, Karun Koernig. This artistic investigation culminated in the report Sculpture in Elastic Space, which explored live musical performance in-situ at the JRSP. The intention was to facilitate a creation of a piece of music in collaboration with the sculpture park itself: Rubinoff’s legacy as an active interlocutor of the on-site musicians.

On returning to the JRSP in July 2024, Conn-Potegal pivoted the nature of his sonic exploration at the JRSP. Collaborating with fellow sound artist Daniela O’Fee, Conn-Potegal turned away from musical composition and toward organic soundscape. This 2-day investigation produced the collaborative sound artwork Coaxial: Collaborative Sound Exploration and Field Recordings. Together, O’Fee and Conn-Potegal explored the sonic environment of the JRSP in conjunction with that of surrounding Hornby Island. This practice yielded a dynamic interplay between Rubinoff’s sculptures and the natural environment at large. O’Fee also produced site-specific graphic scores of works being created in order to transpose auditory media into visual language – a lifelong project of Jeffrey Rubinoff’s.