Draft:Kyle Yip

Yip was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1988 to a family of mixed Chinese and white-settler heritage.^[2] At age three, he began experimenting with animation after receiving instructional VHS tapes from Walt Disney Studios, later refining his drafting skills in church basement classes during adolescence.^[3] He attended the Arts York Visual Arts Program at Unionville High School, graduating with both the Arts York Visual Arts Advisory Council Scholarship and the Technological Design Award. He went on to study in the Baccalaureate of Animation program at Sheridan College and later Sculpture/Installation at OCAD University, while also taking courses at the Toronto School of Art, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), and Off Centre DJ School.^[4] His first exhibition took place in 2006 at the former home of Group of Seven painter Frederick Varley.

Yip’s professional career developed alongside his studies, with early public work in electronic music. By 2007 he was releasing work under the name DJ Discrete.^[5] In 2008, his bootleg remix work drew on-air attention on BBC Radio 1 via Kissy Sell Out’s “Killer Remix of the Month” segment.^[6] He subsequently streamlined the moniker to Discrete and, at age 21, signed with Brickhouse Records for “To All the Killers” (2010), his first international label release.^[7]

In 2011, Yip founded the independent imprint Savvy Records, launching it with a label night at Sleeping Giant Gallery in Toronto; he went on to program further events under the ME+APHYSICAL/Metaphysical banner in unconventional spaces including galleries, bars, studios, and warehouses throughout the 2010s.^[8] He also appeared within the local fashion–art circuit, providing DJ sets at Toronto Arts & Fashion Week in 2010, 2013, and 2014–2015 as the event moved to venues such as 213 Sterling and Daniels Spectrum.^[9] A notable club appearance was an RA Pick for the queer fetish rave Klubnacht (2018), where the listing highlighted “Dungeon equipment on-site” and a “Clothes check.”^[10]

Concurrently, Yip developed a multidisciplinary visual practice he termed Hypersurrealism, transcribing images first conceived in dreams. Early exhibitions included participation in Nuit Blanche Toronto projects at The Red Head Gallery—Insomnia Salon Soirée (2015) and Bright Lights at Night (2016)—that combined installation, image, and performance contexts.^[11][12] His work was later included in the Geoform program at JanKossen Contemporary, New York (2017).^[13]

In 2015, Yip released his debut album The Midas Touch on Savvy Records; the recording earned a nomination for Electronic Album of the Year at the 2016 Juno Awards.^[14] He continued producing and releasing music and, from 2019, expanded into film with In My Room (artist/producer; dir. Colin Greenfield), which screened at festivals internationally and was shortlisted for Best Cinematography (Irish Music Video) at the Kinsale Shark Awards (Ireland).^[15][16]

Yip’s DJ career continued in parallel. In 2019 he launched the monthly radio program Metaphysical with Discrete on Data Transmission Radio (Henfield, UK), carrying forward the Toronto Metaphysical club series format into a broadcast context.^[17][18] He also appeared as a guest on European FM radio, including GDS.FM’s Fantastic Friends (Zürich, 2022).^[19]

By 2020, Yip’s Hypersurrealist practice had broadened to large-scale paintings, sculpture, and installation. His Dream Painting series (debut 2019) was followed by object-based works such as Dream Alarm Clock A1 and Dream Mirror A1 (both 2022). Recognition in this period included first prize at the INFINITY exhibition (The Holy Art, London, 2021) and features in RICE Contemporary Art Magazine (Vol. 2), Create! Magazine (Healing From Within special mention), and Al-Tiba9 issues 10–11.^{[20][21][22][23]} In 2021–2022 he also participated in programs at the CICA Museum in South Korea, with work subsequently included in the museum’s New Media Art 2023 publication (Phaidon Press).^[24]

Yip’s interdisciplinary approach—linking music, visual art, design, and film—culminated in a 2023 solo exhibition, RENAISSANCE SHOW, presenting dream-derived painting and object works alongside documentation from his audiovisual projects.^[25]

• TMNT (2022–) ^[38]
• DON’T YOU KNOW YOUR ABCS? (2022–) ^[39]
• WASD@? (2021–) ^[40]
• AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (2021–) ^[41]
• RENAISSANCE SHOW (2020–) ^[42]
• FRAGILE (2020–) ^[43]
• 𝓒𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝔂𝓮𝓼, 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮. (2020–) ^[44]
• ONEIRIC MANIFESTATIONS (2019–) ^[45]
• YIN/YANG (2018–2019) ^[46]
• CUTTING THE HABIT (2017–2019) ^[47]
• VEXILLUM (2016–2019) ^[48]
• WATCHING MY MOVES (2010–) ^[49]

Short Films Matter’s Oliver Sandhurst reviewed the video (dir. Colin Greenfield) as follows:

“Colin Greenfield’s direction on Discrete’s music video has brought an eerily beautiful visual experience in five minutes. With Ben Apgar playing the part of a construction surveyor, the video quickly sets up an ambiance of isolation and paranormality… The music composition from Discrete has a compelling beat that meshes well with the unravelling visuals… The cinematography is mind-boggling – elegant and breath-taking at the same time… To sum it up, the collaboration works perfectly, delivering a gratifying experience. From the direction to the music and the cinematography, every aspect comes together fittingly to engross the audience in a bizarre dimension.”^[50]