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After 2 years of work, our interactive diner project is complete. “Saturday Mornings, The Diner” by Sarah Fuller, Lindsay MacDonald and Lia Rogers is on view on view at Botega in Banff from February 9 – March 5, 2010.
When will this happen? February 9 – March 4 2010 in Banff Alberta.
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– February 7, 2010
the WAR of ART was a little preachy for me, but I found enough interesting things to make it worth the read on the train to and from work. Subtitled Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, I initially put it on hold at the library because it was referenced on a site (which, of course, I don’t remember now). It is focused on writing but it can have applications to other art forms and event just stuff that is good for you, like exercising. There are three things that I should remember from this book: make a start, show up and act territorially.
The first part is about what the author calls resistance and the second part of the book how to fight it. There are several sub headings that are basically one or two pages. What I’m going to take away from this book is the sub headings and largely ignore the few paragraphs that explain them.
Resistance Is Invisible
Resistance Is Internal
Resistance Is Insidious
Resistance Is Implacable
Resistance Is Impersonal
Resistance Is Infallible
Resistance Is Universal
Resistance Never Sleeps
Resistance Plays For Keeps
Resistance Is Fueled By Fear
Resistance Only Opposes In One Direction
Resistance Is Most Powerful At The Finish Line
Resistance Recruits Allies
Resistance And Procrastination X 2
Resistance And Sex
Resistance And Trouble
Resistance And Self-Dramatization
Resistance And Self-Medication
Resistance And Victimhood
Resistance And The Choice Of A Mate
Resistance And This Book
Resistance And Unhappiness
Resistance And Fundamentalism. This was a particularly fascinating chapter actually – I’d recommend this book just for this chapter. Basically he argues that the artist and the fundamentalist come from societies at different levels. He argues that the artist is grounded in freedom and and seeking a truth that is still hidden. He describes the fundamentalist as believing that humanity has fallen from a higher state, that the truth has already been revealed. One thing that he states is that fundamentalism and art are mutually exclusive; which, to an extent, I agree. But what I find so interesting is the interplay of these two attitudes. In fact, it is a nice little exercise to apply this to history and a broader world view. I don’t think the world is simplistic enough to just claim this era or area is one or the other, but I think that I can understand both ‘artist’ and ‘fundamentalist’ a little better now. This is one of the longer sections in the book and well worth the effort to find a read.
 Resistance And Criticism
Resistance And Self-doubt
 Resistance And Fear
Resistance And Love
Resistance And Being A Star
Resistance And Isolation X 2
Resistance And Healing
Resistance And Support
Resistance And Rationalization X 2
Resistance Can Be Beaten
I’m listing all these here as a reminder that resistance can come in a lot of forms. While I don’t appreciate a lot of the examples, I wanted to make sure that I could look back at this and be reminded of the different forms it takes. I don’t have to have Pressfield’s exact interpretation, but I have a feeling this might help when I’m discouraged. Somehow naming something takes its power away, so with this list I can name resistance.
 The second part of the book is about beating resistance. Pressfield starts off describing a professional vs. amateur. Basically treating your creativity as a job, doing it daily, slogging through, getting help when you are out of the area of your expertise, separating the criticism from the work, showing up for work, mastering technique, being prepared, practise, not taking success or failure personally. Basically, treating your creativity the same as you treat your job, not as an aspect of your personality. This is similar to what Elizabeth Gilbert talks about genius and being there in her Ted talk.
The third part of the book is about reaching higher. The best part of this, and a mantra that I want to adopt is Make A Start. But more importantly later there is a discussion about hierarchy and territory. What the author has to say about hierarchy is simple: “In the hierarchy, the artist faces outward. … In the hierarchy, the artist looks up and looks down. The one place he can’t look is the one place he must: within.” Pressfield believes that “the act of creation is be definition territorial.” I like his definition of territory, but he does not define it simply with a sentence but rather concepts.
A territory provides sustenance. A territory sustain us without any external input. A territory can only be claimed alone. A territory can only be claimed by work. A territory returns exactly what you put in. Like Gilbert, the author wants the artist to be a vessel for the Muse and do the work for its own sake. What would you do if there was no other person on earth to validate you?
While there is some handy wavy / hooey / wtf parts of this book, there was enough in here that can help. For me, I must remember to: make a start, act territorially and show up.
the WAR of ART is by Steven Pressfield and was published in 2002.
Posted in Things I saw.
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– February 5, 2010
Leduc 2 was presented at Soundasaurus this year. It was an experiment for me. We have so much oil and gas history and data collected by the province. I wanted to explore a way to look at it other than just in spreadsheets. I also wanted to keep the politics out of it.
The IHS logo is missing. They put it up after.
IHS kindly helped me get access to 40 years of production data and some old data images as well. Without their help I would not have been able to make this work. Thanks very much!
I presented on the same night as Negativeland. Mark Hosler spoke and showed a large amount of work and videos. I have to admit that I’d wondered about the lost hit of one of my favourite bands and now that question has been cleared up. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Sesame Street; brought to you by the letter u and the number 2. I did buy a copy of their DVD.
Signed and everything!
The one thing that happened that was very unexpected was that I got my own dressing room at the Epcore. Swank! Now I just have to make sure to keep myself grounded. I can’t get too used to having my name in lights. Let me entertain you?!
Dressing Room
The interesting thing about this was that the three people in the EMMEDIA workshop put on by Adam Tindale late last year ended up in Soundasaurus this year. Shaun Frisen Adan and I all had pieces presented or performances.
When did this happen? Thursday January 21, 2010.
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– January 23, 2010
Leduc 2 is being presented at Soundasaurus, the festival within a festival put on by the Epcore Center for the Performing Arts during the High Performance Rodeo.
Leduc 2 is a sound piece that sonifies the production data from significant Alberta wells.
For good or bad, the petroleum industry shaped the history and economy of Alberta and to an extent Canada. The Alberta government requires all oil and gas producers to regularly report data and as such has accumulated over 50 years of history of oil and gas in the province. The Leduc field (which starting with the famous Leduc 1 well) is important because before finding this well the industry had drilled about 1000 wells with only a small amount producing any oil or gas. The Turner Valley discovery was running out and despite attempts, nothing new of any importance had been discovered. Prior to striking oil in the Leduc area in the late 1940s, Imperial Oil had drilled a record 133 dry wells in a row.
The piece Leduc 2 honours this position and the rich history offered by the industry in the province. As in every well’s history and in every field, the monthly cumulative production changes over time, dropping off to nothing in some months and ramping up in others. The factors for this change can be anything from changing pressures underground to changing economic pressures. Visitors can listen to the history of the field communicated through the sound of pouring liquid.
This piece can take many forms. It is a generative piece that can be ‘performed’ live or it can be pre-recorded. There are vast amounts of data and as such, it is a very flexible piece. For instance, it can play a single well or an entire field depending on time constraints. It can be presented in the form most appropriate to the space and time available, from an intimate sole experience via headphones, to a group shared experience to simply background waiting to be discovered by those attentive enough. Leduc 2 is an ambient sound piece using data from the Leduc field, with oil played then gas. The final piece is about 18 minutes.
Here are some links for more information about the event.
http://genxevent.com/EventDetail.aspx?id=1214
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184026567820&index=1
http://www.hprodeo.ca/2010/soundasaurus-night-2
http://tickets.epcorcentre.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=859
http://www.avenuecalgary.com/node/47775
When will this happen? Thursday January 21, 2010
Posted in Announcements, Shows.
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– January 15, 2010
Dorkbot Calgary will be at Art’s Birthday hosted by EMMEDIA. We will be making about 250 throwies as a workshop, then we’ll actually go outside and perform a Fluxus score “Audience Eve” by Henning Christiansen.
EMMEDIA PRESENTS:
ARTS BIRTHDAY 2010
In Collaboration with Quickdraw Animation Society + Beatroute Magazine
ABOUT ART’S BIRTHDAY:
1 million and 47 years ago, a sponge was dropped in a bucket of water and with that, Art was born! First acknowledged by Fluxus artist and poet Robert Filliou in 1963, Art’s Birthday has been celebrated by artists the world over, through collaborative and networked based activities that recognize the spirit of permanent creation. On the eve of this momentous occasion, EMMEDIA, in collaboration with Quickdraw Animation Society and Beatroute Magazine, would like to invite you to participate in an all night Media Art CRASH! A series of generative and participatory installations will activate spaces throughout our shared building, supporting practices that reflect and celebrate the Eternal Network of Permanent Creation.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES:
DORKBOT PRESENTS: A “Throwie” Making and Performance Workshop
Facilitated by Lia Rogers
“Throwies” are self powered, self contained magnetic LEDs. Once approximately 250 are made, participants will perform the Fluxus script “Audience Eve” by Henning Christiansen.
INCANTATION
By Scott Rogers
With performances by Noel Begin, Christian Bok, Laura Leif, Larry MacDowell, Ryan Scott/Aaron Sereda, Sleepy Panther (Rita McKeough and Richard Brown) and others!
Incantation is a light and audio installation that creates temporary performance events in specific architectural spaces throughout the city of Calgary. Somewhere between open mic, karaoke, speakers corner, and a rave, the piece engages overlooked spaces to literally communicate through and with our existing built environment.
ZINE NIGHT
Facilitated by Micheal Welchman
Participants are encouraged to produce self published print and digital media zines. Paper, collage and drawing supplies will be provided in order to produce print based media in conjunction with both still frame video stands and hand held cameras in order to produce short “Video Zines” published to the web through a blogsite.
DISCORD PRESENTS: Open Noise Jam
Facilitated by Josh Fraser
Discord is excited to facilitate an open noise music jam, featuring an assortment of electronic and traditional instruments to be used improperly. Those who have never played an instrument are encouraged to come out and start! Discord is part of the 403 Noise collective, and runs a monthly concert series featuring local and touring acts. Discord is Calgary’s only stable forum for its growing Harsh Noise scene.
HARP
By Robyn Moody
A high-tech harp, whose “strings” are laser beams which appear as 24 lines of red light running from one end of the long, narrow space to the other. Parallel to the laser beams, are rows of small speakers, each emitting a sound when the corresponding laser beam is “plucked” or “strummed”. The beams can be played as a harp, but in this case the tones produced are phonemes – the building blocks of language.
PIKA-PIKA
Facilitated by Quickdraw Animation Society
Pika-Pika is a stop-motion animation technique combining long exposure photography and flashlights for participants to “light-paint” each frame. Come celebrate creativity with this interactive, glow-in-the-dark, animation station.
EMMEDIA.ca
www.artsbirthday.net.
When will this happen? January 16th 2010.
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– January 5, 2010
My sonification piece Leduc 2 will be part of the Soundasaurusfestival. Soundasaurus is a festival within a festival as it is inside the High Performance Rodeo. I will be on the same night as Negativeland, January 21, 2010. Leduc 2 is the sonification of 50 years of monthly production data from the Leduc wells.
Also, it looks like the others from Adam Tindale’s Controllerism workshop at EMMEDIA this summer will be there on the second night as well. From what I can see in the images, Shawn Friesen will be performing what he was working on this summer as well.
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– December 28, 2009
Voire Dire by Tammy McGrath
The creatures hovering over the piles of books in Tammy McGrath’s Voire Dire are a strange book club. Although they are charred, you can still see some of the titles and covers. The books aren’t completely destroyed, just more than a little damaged.
I just want to sit down and sift through the books. They make me so curious, is that a Stephen King novel? I can’t be sure. John Grisham, but is that Proust? I can’t read them all and even though some covers seem familiar my memory can’t bring the names to the surface. I don’t see many that I recognize from reading, but I’m still a little shocked. Even now, when information flows freely online and (arguably) books are outdated it still hurts to see them scorched.
The books are shocking, but I can’t take my eyes of the bat-like creatures. They seem huge and a bit intimidating. I know that bats are noisy and smelly, but these are ominous in their stillness and silence. I don’t want to turn my back on them, but I also want badly to touch them. They seem feathery and soft; their heavy round bodies seem too big for their wings. I worry about the tails, will they whip around all of a sudden? The creatures as sculptures are fascinating and menacing.
The beasties can simultaneously be seen as guarding and attacking the books. They hover protectively over the piles, chasing away whatever set them on fire, but like those optical illusions, these creatures might have been the ones to start the fire. Each of the creatures seems to have its own nest of books. I can’t tell if any of the books are common to the mounds.
I know the books come from people who know Tammy, but I can’t help but feel there is more story. I looked for a website that would contextualize the books for me. I want to know the reason behind the choice of book. What made her friends pick that particular one? I like books and I like to hear people talk about books. I missed the opening for this show and I’m sure that some of the people who gave books were there. But even though I missed out on their tales, I think I like Voire Dire better as a solitary experience. The way the exhibit is laid out it it feels more intimate this way and I think at an opening it would have felt clausterphobic; especially so since Tammy is so well known here.
When did this happen? December 10, 2009.
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– December 12, 2009
Rising Symmetry at Illuminate
Persian Pattern
During the festival, the location of Rising Symmetry was swapped with another artist to be projected onto the more intricate Twigs building. This experiment allowed the flavour of the patterns to change as they chased across the front of the architectural details. This is more in keeping with the intent of the patterns because normally they are applied as a decorative motif to Persian architecture. The switch proved an important opportunity to watch the patterns trace over the carved front of the building. Watching the lines draw themselves became more mesmerizing as they danced over the curved surface. Even with some of the details and overall pattern being lost in the dark windows of the building, the pattern chasing over the elaborate facade of the building were captivating.
Rising Symmetry on Twigs
Rising Symmetry was created with Katyoon Etemad.
When did this happen? November 27th 2009.
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– November 28, 2009
ENMAX Illuminate Calgary
Nov 27, 2009 – Nov 28, 2009
5:00PM – 11:00PM
Stephen Avenue Walk from 1 Street SE to 2 Street SW
An extraordinary display of contemporary light installations for everyone to explore. All for FREE.
For more information, check out the website (http://www.2009greycupfestival.com).
Persian Pattern
Lia Rogers and Katayoon Etemad
Animated Persian floral patterns will be projected onto the ARP Pharmacy, which is right across the street from Winners.
There are lots of places you can go to read more about it, but better than that is to come out and check it out!
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=5181ba96-45f8-4b98-98c6-26001ec92ee8
When will this happen? Nov 27, 2009 – Nov 28, 2009.
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– November 26, 2009
The evening was like the awards shows that you see on television. With less diamonds and without all the internationally famous people. There were quite a few local famous people though. It was nice that a local artist created the awards. The businesses could win a Bee Kingdom glass piece and the artists could win a bee themed drawing. How much do I love the work that Bee Kingdom does?
I ended up sitting next to one of the business co-chairs of the event. He did not say much. I was also sitting next to a couple of the presenters, so they were up and down during the event. I was very close to the stage and I got to see for myself how much of an angle it was on because of the Theater Calgary show that was on at the time. I like to know how things work so for me it was a great seat. It was good be be up on things and get my tickets early.
The host was quite good and kept things going so it never got boring. The presenter from one of the businesses was very impressive and she had great shoes.
There were a few nominations from EMMEDIA, which is great. It makes us seem bigger than we are. It was too bad that all the awards went to performing arts and none to visual arts.
Everyone looked so good and was all dressed up. Cori was wearing this great coat that looked and felt like fur but it was wool. It looked antique and it was really well made.
Mayor’s Evening for Business and the Arts.
When did this happen? September 21, 2009.
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– October 7, 2009
