The technology that helped put humans on the moon and the sounds that changed hip-hop both have roots in Hampton Roads..
Now the tools are changing again.
On August 28, Ted Patterson of the AI Collective and Brian Owens of Black BRAND are taking over Assembly in downtown Norfolk for Resonate, a creative-tech festival built around a simple idea: artists and technologists aren’t nearly as different as we’ve made them out to be.
“Half of art is tech,” Owens said. “Recorded music is tech. Graphic design is tech. You use theater lights—that is tech.”
Even the name Resonate comes from that connection. Music resonates through vibrations in the air. Technology uses frequencies of its own. Patterson and Owens want to get the people behind both operating on the same frequency.
And right now, no technology is challenging that relationship more than artificial intelligence.
Resonate isn’t about convincing artists to let AI make their art. In fact, tech skeptics are specifically invited.
“We want to drive home the point that even though this is a tech-based conference, human-centric is the number one priority,” Owens said. “Artistic integrity is the number one goal.”
Owens compares AI to the difference between letting a Tesla drive for you and using a rearview camera to become a better driver. An artist doesn’t have to use AI to make a song, painting or film. But could it help market their work, find opportunities or handle the business surrounding their craft?
For Patterson, there’s also a bigger concern about who benefits when new technology arrives.
“If you pay attention to history, in revolutionary moments—Model T Ford moments, printing press moments—artists and diverse edges of the community are left behind in a pretty radical way,” Patterson said.
That’s part of the reason Resonate is partnering with the AI Collective to give creatives direct access to emerging technologies without asking them to sacrifice their artistic integrity.
And don’t expect four hours of sitting through panels.
Resonate will activate spaces throughout Assembly with music production, DJing, emerging technology, creative workshops, live performances and opportunities to actually make something.
Owens calls the concept “adult face painting.”
At a festival, a kid doesn’t attend a panel about face painting. They sit down, participate and leave with something. Resonate wants to create the grown-up version of that experience.
“You will not just be leaving with advice and suggestions,” Owens said. “You’ll be leaving with actual assets.”
Patterson puts it another way: “You can physically touch a record player and learn how to use it. You can physically talk to someone who uses AI and learn how to do that yourself.”
Attendees can learn something, build something, meet someone—or simply head to the rooftop, grab a drink and dance.
There’s also a bigger Hampton Roads story underneath Resonate.
The region has produced artists including Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliott and Timbaland while simultaneously building a deep history in science, engineering and technology.
Resonate isn’t trying to manufacture that creative-tech community. It’s bringing together the one that’s already here.
“We have folks in here who are moving the needle,” Owens said. “So rather than talking about what we could be doing, we’re going to be highlighting what is happening.”
Produced by Black BRAND, Resonate runs August 28 from 6 to 10:30 p.m. at Assembly in Norfolk. Tickets are $19, with volunteer opportunities and scholarships available.
Not everyone needs to make the same sound.
Sometimes they just need the opportunity to resonate.
Learn more about Resonate and get tickets
