I’ve hinted at this series a couple of times lately, and even posted a picture of a piece-in-progress last summer. Transit and Transience is a new series of large-scale digital images I began in 2007. Below is a gallery of the nine images I’ve completed, followed by some background information.
Monthly Archives: June 2008
New Series: Incidentals
In the summer of 2007 I started a new series called Incidentals, which was a departure from the lush textured digital images that I had created in my Encounters series. The images are quirky and fun. Below is the full gallery of 16 images, complete with titles.
Visual Arts Summit (Ottawa, November 2007)
This article is long overdue for posting here on my blog. It originally appeared in the CARFAC Saskatchewan Newsletter in January 2008. It’s the final version I submitted to my editor, so there might be a few rough spots. My raw notes for the article weigh in at about double the length of the article. Please let me know if you’d like to see them.
Visual Arts Summit
November 25–27, 2007 in Ottawa, Ontario
The Visual Arts Summit, a gathering of over 450 individuals representing a cross section of the visual arts in Canada, was held in Ottawa at the end of November. The conference featured two and half days of discussion and events designed “to bring Canada’s visual arts sector together.” This was the first time in over 40 years that such an event had been organized.
The main purpose of the summit appeared to simply be to get the various interest groups within the sector talking to each other in an attempt to find common ground. This is in contrast to the usual order of business, where each group tries to get as much as they can in a competition for scarce resources.
The immediate outcome of the summit was the creation of a Collective Agenda for the Visual Arts, a document which outlines the goals and aspirations for the sector. This agenda will be covered in greater detail elsewhere in the newsletter, but the opening statements bear repeating:
Art is the face of Canada.
We, as artists, curators, collectors, dealers, educators and supporters, are united to enhance the opportunities for Canadian art to be created, seen, understood and enjoyed. We came together in the largest gathering of the visual arts in our history, to proclaim the critical role of the visual arts in an innovative and compassionate society in the 21st century. We know what is needed: we call on the governments, nations and peoples of Canada to join us in realizing our potential.
There is no morning-after pill for internet idiocy
I don’t really have time to elaborate, but the title of this post came out of my mouth today in a conversation about online behavioural standards. We were talking about youthful indiscretions (not mine), digital cameras (not mine), and online social networks (not mine), and the combination of which can be embarrassing and/or incriminating. As you can guess from the “not mine” declarations, we were talking in abstract terms, of course.
I’ll repeat the phrase to satisfy my ego. It wants me to win a round of the great internet catchphrase generation game, and this is one statement of the obvious I haven’t seen before: There is no morning-after pill for internet idiocy.
ArtTomorrow (Winnipeg, November 2007)
This article originally appeared in the CARFAC Saskatchewan Newsletter in January 2008. It’s the final version I submitted to my editor, so there might be a few rough spots. My raw notes for the article weigh in at about double the length of the article. Please let me know if you’d like to see them.
ArtTomorrow forum on the future of contemporary art institutions
November 1–3, 2007 in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Art Tomorrow took place in Winnipeg on the first weekend of November 2007. It was hosted by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art. The speakers included a high-profile cross section of artists, arts workers, and academics, some with deep roots in Winnipeg, and others from abroad.
The intention of Art Tomorrow was to bring together national and international experts to talk about the research, presentation, and documentation of contemporary art. At its heart, the conference was a very public kickoff to the process of defining the future of Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art. There was a great deal of discussion of Plug In’s role—in the Winnipeg art community, nationally, and internationally—and talk about various options for a radical change in direction for Plug In. These included the possibilities of a partnership with the university, Plug In perhaps buying, renovating, or building a permanent space, and various ideas about financially self-sustaining business models.
Each of the two days of the conferences was packed with panels, special presentations, and group discussions. The first day’s topics were mostly about history and context, and the second day examined civic planning, infrastructure, and education. While the overall focus of the conference was on the institution and its various roles and strategies, the idea of the artist and artwork as a key part of the institutional mandate was never far from anyone’s mind.
Husk: Chapbook Launches June 18
Last year I wrote about Cryptic Species, a proposal for a chapbook collaboration with Lia that we had proposed to JackPine Press. That proposal was accepted, and we got to work. We delivered the finished product to JackPine in May.
After a punctuated evolution, the final title is Husk, and we think it’s a beautiful object. If you would like a copy, click here for availability and purchase information. If you want to skip straight to the pictures, click here.
Lia has posted all the information about the launch and garden party being held in Betsy Rosenwald & John Penner’s Garden (734 7th Avenue North in Saskatoon) at 8pm on June 18, 2008. I’ve given enough information to get you to the launch, but click here for the post on Lia’s blog if you want to find about the other two books being launched that night.
Read on for a description of the finished piece, and information about the edition size, availability, pricing, how to buy a copy, technical details, as well as a sneak peek at some of the interior pages.
Back from the Dead (Again)
This is yet another long-overdue post. My life since joining the Mendel Art Gallery has been a little busy. Things are settling down a bit, which is part of the reason I have time to write this post. Plus I’ve gotten a few other projects mostly out of the way. Regarding the Mendel, shortly after I started as Communications Assistant I became Communications Coordinator, and did both jobs solo for about six months. Read on for a summary of what I’ve been doing.