… no – not Sanders. Krause. Bernie Krause, bioacoustician extraordinare.
If ever there was a reason to listen, Bernie describes it best here:
Think about it, then next time you walk around outside. Pay attention to what you hear. What does it tell you about where you are?
I have always ben fascinated by flight, and the movement of birds in general. There’s something rather otherworldly about it (to me) for some reason.
One of the things I would truly love to see in this life is a huge murmuration of starlings. I have seen smaller ‘swarms’ of them once or twice, but nothing even close to this:
I don’t actually know if I’d be overwhelmed by being present for something of this scale – perhaps it would be a little terrifying, actually (cue the Hitchcock moment!) … but I’d love to see it in person nonetheless.
Murmurations, indeed.
For more of this, go to Jan via IJken’s website (he’s got some really amazing work!)
21st Century Nesting Practices has closed, and it’s all been packed and stored away again.
So strange, that process: how things come out of boxes and wrapping to take on a life of their own for a while, and then disappear again.
It was a great experience – a lovely way to come ‘full circle’ with this work and see it from a different vantage point (coming out on the other side, so to speak).
That was in fact the case when a delightful group of poets I had worked with in 2007 (a decade, already?!) came to the gallery to do a reading of work from a collaborative collection titled Eyeing the Magpie. It was nice to re-connect with these poets, and to have this bird-inspired work presented in the context of this exhibition was really fun. My thanks to Nancy MacKenzie, Anna Mioduchowska, Julie C Robinson, Myrna Garanis, and Rusti Lehay (all pictured below) for presenting their work!
I am so grateful to the McMullen Gallery for the opportunity to exhibit this body of work; the context and the feedback I received throughout the exhibition was invaluable to me, and allowed me to see my work and my practice as a whole in a new way.
Deep Thanks also to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, for the support in creating the soundscape for this exhibition!
So now, a shift to new things – the first inklings of the coming spring are in the air, a new project going up for exhibition this week, and lots of studio work and new ideas percolating.
This is the last week that 21st Century Nesting Practices is on exhibition at the McMullen Gallery. Amazing how fast the time has gone by!
The exhibition closes on Sunday February 25th; morning of the 26th, I’ll be in the gallery, packing up the work.
In the mean time though – pop in if you have a chance, and if you like poetry as well as visual art, there’s a special event happening in conjunction with the exhibition this week:
I had the pleasure of working with these lovely writers a few years ago – and I am so happy that they are bringing their work to the gallery to share in amongst all my nests!
Almost all of the bird’s nests in 21st Century Nesting Practices are in fact magpie nests – that resilient, ever-so-smart-and-sassy bird that is such a big part of the avian landscape here.
I’m looking forward to this very much – and hope some of you can make it too.
I am extremely happy to say that the McMullen Gallery at the University of Alberta Hospital will be hosting my exhibition 21st Century Nesting Practices!
This iteration of the work will feature a new video piece, and a soundscape created from a combination of my own field recordings and a selection of recordings from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology holdings.
The Exhibition Opening Reception is January 10, 2018 from 7pm – 9pm.
If you are in the Edmonton area, please stop in! The exhibition is up until February 25, 2018.
My thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for their support in realizing the soundscape for this exhibition, and to the McMullen for hosting me.
Thanks Also to Julianna Barabas & John Waldron for their invaluable assistance in making this exhibition possible.
Wound up in the course of my day’s work wandering through the interwebs, and came across this:
It made me quite pleased that I allowed myself a little digression, a little roam through unintended places. Finding unexpected things can be pleasant.
Hope you enjoy it too.
I am very happy to let you know that TIX on the Square in Edmonton, AB is carrying some of my limited-edition artist books!
NEST {types} is a collaborative work, with lovely poems written by Vancouver-based poet Catherine Owen, and hand carved linocut prints by me. Each print/poem pairing revolves around a particular type or shape of nest: cup, saucer, scrape, burrow, and so on.
I printed and bound only 50 books; the linocuts were printed on rice paper, and the text is printed on eco-friendly straw paper; cover stock is FSC-certified. Hand-bound with unbleached linen cord.
Get in touch with the lovely people at TIX if you’d like a copy – they are perfect gifts!
I’ve been thinking a great deal about drawing lately (perhaps because I haven’t had much time to do any, and I miss it!)
But more’s to the point: I have always been captivated by the connection between drawing and sculpture, the direct way in which the hand works to inscribe volume, line, and edge in both.
In my practice, I understand drawing and sculpture not as separate ‘disciplines’ at all … they are much more fluid, intermingled for me.
So. I thought I’d pass this on: a beautiful video of birds in flight, that to my mind, at least, captures some of the essence of what I understand (and love) about both drawing and sculpture … and some video work for that matter!
I hope you enjoy it … it rewards a FULL viewing. What happens at about the 7 minute mark is glorious.
Kudos to Dennis Hlynsky for sharing this!