2026 Artist in Residence
Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson
Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson are the creative duo known as The Automatic Message. They create surreal, emotional and immersive audiovisual experiences. Much of their work is psychological in nature and centers around themes of memory and the displacement thereof.
The 2026 Project
“How to Make a Monster,” (working title) is an interdisciplinary, multichannel, immersive installation by The Automatic Message. This project will dissect the messy, universal forces that create the monsters we carry inside - those internal critics, inherited judgments, and whispered warnings that shape how we think of ourselves and move through the world.
2026 Project: How to Make a Monster
At its core will be a ~20-minute multichannel film following a fluid, ever-shifting protagonist as they confront a cast of seven characters – “the jury” – each embodying a diLerent internalized voice: parental expectations, peer pressure, societal messaging, religious conditioning, and more.
The installation will not just tell a story—it will build a mind around the viewer. Surrounded on all sides, the audience will step directly into the protagonist’s inner workshop, witnessing the construction, distortion, and confrontation of their own personal monsters in a visceral, embodied experience of self-perception. Along the way, the work will also reveal subtle techniques for transforming negative self-talk into positive, empowering voices, giving viewers not just insight into the inner workings of the mind, but tools for navigating and reshaping it.
Biography: Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson
Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson are the creative duo known as The Automatic Message. They create surreal, emotional and immersive audiovisual experiences. Much of their work is psychological in nature and centers around themes of memory and the displacement thereof.
For over a decade, The Automatic Message performed live audiovisual sets across North America and Europe, most notably the legendary Berghain club in Berlin. Their live performances blend experimental techno with surreal, narrative-driven visuals.
Recently, their focus has shifted toward creating immersive film installations that expand on their cinematic and sonic language. In 2022, they received a Canada Council for the Arts grant to produce EMDR, a four- channel immersive film installation, that premiered in 2025 at VIVO Media Arts. Past works include a two- channel installation Cultivating the Witness, and a 55 minute experimental dance film for Cristian Vogel’s The Ballad of Agnete and the Merman, presented in 52-channel immersive audio at ZKM and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
They have just been named the 2026 Artists in Residence for Langara College and are very excited to be working on a new multichannel film installation, premiering in April of 2026.
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