Daniel Barrow and some other mushy stuff
Daniel Barrow
A performance based work that included rich illustrations, animated projections and a voice guiding you through them. Delayed by a soundcheck taking place on the main level of the Legion, Barrow's touching piece, Everytime I see Your Picture I Cry was well worth the wait. Visit his website at http://www.danielbarrow.com and realize what an idiot you were for missing it. I'm not trying to cheap out by not describing the show, alls I'm saying is that the experience was intense, mesmerizing and it kinda blew my mind when I started thinking of the immense time and craft involved.
K.
So you have descriptions of the shows to the left, and unlike the bands at Sled Island they will be around for a few more weeks. I know THAT EVENT WHICH SHALL NOT BE NAMED is happening July 4th, but why not take a day out and see some art. It won't give you heartburn like those midway corndogs. Those rides make me puke anyway.
Again I'd like to say thanks To Sled Island for having a solid art component this year. I'm still thinking about and rethinking how I saw a lot of great work. That comes down to good curators, excellent spaces and events that were all well attended despite the host of other things that were going on.
Art pal hugs all around.
-Courtney Thompson
Four Openings (Friday)
5 pm
Our night starts at the Glenbow. I’ve already enjoyed the Wildflowers of Manitoba installation and am ready to watch Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca “do it’s business”. The fifth in a series of what are essentially, shit machines, the Cloaca has had a host of incarnations. Beginning in 2001 with the Cloaca Original and continuing on with Cloaca–New and Improved (2001), Cloaca Turbo (2003) and Cloaca Quattro (2005). I have been waiting to see one since I discovered Delvoye’s work in 2005. I was charmed by his series of ornately carved construction pieces like concrete mixers and cement trucks and intrigued by his tattooed pigs. The idea of a machine engineered for a biological function that must be fed and maintained much like ourselves is amusing to me and I wondered on the output, dietary requirements and kinda if it would smell.
The addition of the studio of Rubens’ The Fruit Dance to the right of the machine was also a nice touch.
However, the machine seemed to be constipated and I can only surmise that perhaps there will be less cheese at the next opening.
Not to be missed on level three of the Glenbow is Peaches' Peach Pit (Fan Base), 2007. I dove into the carpeted cave of mementos; undies, contraptions of a sexual nature and a few things I declined to get close to. I watched the fans “Fuck the Pain Away” with their idol on the video loop and relived my moments at her show at the ballroom a few years back. I highly recommend it for a first date.
7:45 pm
We moved on to The New Gallery in Eau Claire, which has also moved within Eau Claire, sorta displaced really. Jackson 2bears’ projected The Stand-Off images and audio were lost in the space.
8:30 pm
At Truck gallery Dave Dyment was giving an artist talk. Dyment refers to himself as a sound artist but one that deals largely in silence. He is interested in the reworked, remixed, mashed up and the possibilities of sound. Ironically, I found myself unable to hear portions of Dyment’s talk as it was drowned out by next door shenanigans from Jazz Fest. His series of environmental sound records left out on the window to warp in the sun were almost one-liners in a show that seemed a little disappointing given the other work Dyment discussed in his talk. However, he did mention that a good sampling of work was available on his website. http://davedyment.com
9:45 pm
Our last stop of the evening, well for art anyway. Ideal Artspace is one of my favourite spaces in Calgary. The gallery’s many rooms allow for a space that seems unbelievable in a place like Calgary. This group exhibition included Craig Fahner’s Pizza Beats, a performance based on a machine’s ability to read the rhythms of a pizza dependent on pepperoni slices. I am always kind of terrified when I think of where Craig will be in 10 years. I mean seriously, what can’t he do.
S. Malik’s A Lover’s Army was a fully constructed alternate universe of felted grenades, sticks of dynamite and compasses that prompted hugs to the most needy. It was sweet, very well crafted in its authentic archival materials and above all, fun.
Ian Ward’s “Remember When We Met on the Roof?” was my favourite work of the night. Upon entering the space you are confronted with a roof complete with eaves trough. Above it are showerheads poking out of clouds raining a pleasant steady stream. When we arrived there were a few people standing on the roof, some gingerly approaching the rain with the umbrella provided. By 11 we were having a full blown roof top hang out. After a while I felt as if I was somewhere completely outside of Calgary on a warm summer night drinking and talking about West Side Story, Olafur Eliasson, and scotch.
I had wondered if Sled Island would be the same experience for me this year. Last year I had an amazing time with friends seeing bands that I probably won’t have a chance to see again. This year I saw twenty minuets of Wire and had an amazing time with different friends seeing art that I hope I get a chance to see again.
As always, check for images of the shows in the photos section of this site.
-CT
Wildflowers of Manitoba: Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob
Growing up in Winnipeg one of my favourite places to visit was The Museum of Man & Nature (now the Manitoba Museum). They had a host of memorable dioramas and “historical environments” that I can recall instantly. I was lost in those environments as a kid, buying into the experience of roaming Winnipeg in the 1920s in the Urban Centre, hearing the waves on the Nonsuch and the wind of the tundra as I gazed wide eyed at the Polar Bear looming over its fresh kill.
Last year when I visited the Glenbow I made a point of seeing the Mavericks Exhibition with its constructed environments. I was looking to reclaim that feeling of genuine wonder and to lose myself in the historical recreations. It didn’t happen.
Perhaps I was just too old to buy into these constructed environments. I didn’t really believe the experience I was seeing was a genuine attempt to put me in the world of the West.
I am happy to report that there’s a new diorama in town and I bought it hook, line and sinker.
Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob’s Wildflowers of Manitoba, 2007 is a fully constructed environment. Projected onto the screens that make up the Geodesic Dome is a utopian world. Within the piece lounges a young man who has all the accoutrements of the identity development kit: the influential novels, the record player, maybe even a sketchbook lying beside the mattress he rests upon. It’s unapologetically sentimental, yet you can’t help but be caught up within its possibilities.
Photos of the Artist Talk and installation can be found on the Thursday page in the photos section of this site (Images 99-101).
-CT
Guest Blog! A (Sled) Island of Wildflowers
Day 3.
It's always nice to get a fresh perspective.
Once in a while when the planets are aligned, I get the opportunity to hang out with a friend who says, "I don't know anything about art but I'd like to go with you to some galleries sometime." We'll go around, and then I'll ask them what they think and they freeze. They look at my face for clues and at that point I usually start laughing and tell them it's not a test.
I am certainly far from the last word in art criticism. And I'm always interested in what other people think, whether it's Art Blogs, podcasts, reviews in publications, my professors or people who wander into a gallery because they saw something through the window they just had to see closer.
Tyler Los-Jones is one of the members at 809 gallery. I ran into him yesterday at The Wildflowers of Manitoba talk and remembered why I always like running into him at shows. He likes to talk about art. I said he should blog about it too.
-CT
A (Sled) Island of Wildflowers
Thursday reminded me why I like artist talks with multiple people onstage. I went to hear Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob discus their work “Wildflowers of Manitoba”, which is currently installed on the second floor of the Glenbow Museum. Watching these two charismatic individuals in front of acrowd was a great way to introduce their collaborative work. (It may have helped that they got an animated introduction by Jeffrey Spalding, who showed the charm he’s been using to wrangle millions of dollars in donated art for the Glenbow). The two artists discussed their work without any annoying artsy awkwardness, and they managed to avoid sounding pretentious too! It was even more impressive to see how seamlessly each artist’s individual aesthetics came together in the work, which is a difficult balancing act in collaborative situations. They spoke clearly, concisely, and were un-apologetic about the nostalgic elements in their work.
The work itself is just as inviting and easy to be around as the presenters. Ill admit that at first I had voyeurs guilt, as I watched the handsome young man on a bed in the middle of his cozy geodesic dome. It was made more awkward by the homo-erotic images that where projected on screened sections of the dome above his head. The projections where like his naked little 60’s hippie, beach-commune fantasy that I accidentally peeked in on. I got over my voyeurism guilt quickly after having the humbling experience of becoming very aware of my role as a viewer. It’s confusing, but it happens so effortlessly when watching someone who is paying absolutely no attention to you (think how you felt around a Jr. High out-of-your-league-super-crush). During Luis talk, he mentioned making a sculpture in Toronto that was more an environment than a specific thing to look at. Noam and Luis managed to do just that in the small room at the Glenbow, making the environment stretch beyondthe one created for the actor, and into the viewer’s realm.
After the talk, there was just enough time for me to grab a beer and some nachos with some friends before going back to the Glenbow for,“Don Coyote” a play/performance by Matt Masters and Terrance Houle. This event can best be summed up by one of Matt’s lines near the end of the show, “An adventure with a hint of Dementia”. Matt and Terrance made for another male duo at the Glenbow that was creative, sensitive and hilarious at the same time. The 5-piece band served as a fantastic backdrop constantly sending out sly winks and rogue smiles which served as colorful mood indicators for the story line. Don Coyote runs until the 28th and is only $7! It should be at the top of the list for anyone else looking to take in some Sled Island fun on a budget.
Wildflowers of Manitoba, an installation by the infamous Peaches, and the amazing Cloaca No.5 by Wim Delvoye, all open Friday at the Glenbow at 5pm! Toss in some openings at Truck, New Gallery and Ideal, it will be a hell of a night!
Tyler Los-Jones
Sled Island Preview of Painting: Thick and Thin and Grreeden
The show is more than a conversation in painting. It is like entering a party of the full range of your friends, your party posse, your hours of coffee debaters and awkward acquaintances from work that you feel you should be closer to, but aren’t.
The show is well directed, beginning with Patrick Lundeen’s tripkitsch, Wanna See My Bacon Torpedo (2008). Set across from the ordered chaos of Chris Millar’s work and the slightly more subdued, Dave and Jenn pieces, the show starts off with an energetic burst of the potential and fun of painting. Terence Koh’s discrete but elevated sculpture,The Finger (2007), tucked in the corner, is a send off to authority and a nudge to the academics. The mood is a command of painting in one’s own language, one that bubbles over with excitement, like trying to eavesdrop at a party where you build the story from the snippets you overhear.
Kyle Beal’s work acts as a transition piece, literally a cushion, between the playful into the darker tones of Kim Neudorf’s series of Fele paintings (2005‑2006) my friend aptly described as, “like those dreams where you feel your teeth falling out.” They reminded me of the work of Ben Templesmith in his 30 Days of Night graphic novel series and are dark and lovely.
Shary Boyle’s the Clearances and Skirmish at Bloody Point (both 2007) were absolutely magical. The former is a twenty foot collection of drawings pinned to the wall with military men and mythological creatures directing the dispossessed. A timed sequence with overhead projectors illuminates the work and the end result is a multi-layered narrative. I saw elements reminiscent in the exploration of mythology and physical scope of Henry Darger with the basic technical aspects of Kara Walker’s work. However,this is only a superficial similarity and does not do the work justice in description.
Paulo Whitaker’s Five Abstract Paintings reminded me of contact prints in photography with their stenciled forms layered inexploration. However, I found myself distracted and wanting to wander back into Boyle’s imaginary world every time I heard the timer click.
GRREEDEN
The sister exhibition located in the Marion Nicoll Gallery is a conversation between Wil Murray’s paintings and Justin Evans lenticular prints. The show is successful in creating a dialog not only between the two but with the viewer as well. The inherent properties of the lenticular format require a side to side viewing, a physical study in curiosity of questioning how you are viewing the work and what you are seeing that spills over into Murray’s sculptural paintings which demand a viewing around the canvas to examine a process that projects outside of itself.
Photos from the show can be found in the Photos section of this site.
-CT
Circa Poster Show. Breakdown. Shakedown.
And we're off.
First let me start by saying how excited I am about the arts portion of Sled Island this year. Although I had heard there would be an increased presence of the arts in 2008 I was blown away on reading the program. With a solid team of curators, great spaces and a diverse selection of artistic practice on display, the arts component promises to hold its own in this year's festival.
The 2nd Annual Circa Poster Show was not only a great start to kick off the festival, but a nice introduction to the arts component as well. Bright, accessible and a steal from $15-20; the work on display ran the gamut from bold one liners in Marc Rimmer's Mogwai piece to Genevieve Simms fighting schoolgirls-complete with wound-related lettering for the Jonathan Richman show.
Curator Mark Hamilton has selected some of the best illustrators and designers up and coming in Calgary in addition to providing some international flair with UK based artists, Sing Statistics ( graphic designer Jez Burrows and illustrator Lizzy Stewart), who with Hamilton's 3 X 3 display offered another imaginary selection of artists for the Festival.
All in all, worth foregoing a few beers at the show for picking up a print.
Other artists include:
Julie Mclaughlin (Deerhunter), Katie Radke (Bobby Digital), Lil Tuffy (Sled Island Main Events Series), Drew Ng (Wire), Justin la Fontaine (Yo La Tengo), Colin Moore (Drive by Truckers),Thomas Dininno (Okkervil River), Mikhail Miller (Dodos), Wendy Wan (No Age), Marigold Santos (Jose Gonzales) and Brennan Kelly (Of Montreal).
Do not pass up Marigold Santos or Brennan Kelly's prints, at a limited edition of 40, you'll be kicking yourself if you miss out.
Big ups to Mason Hastie for photo.
-Courtney Thompson