News & Writing

The Clock is an Unreliable Narrator

  

I’m in the middle of my last day of self-isolation.

I’ve been packing, cleaning, preparing to move to my more permanent residence … about to dive headlong into the next month of work. The first of two Spring Intensive in-person sessions for my MFA is about to start Monday morning.

It feels a bit dislocating … discombobulating maybe a better (certainly more interesting and theatrical) word for it. The way time has warped over the last 2 weeks, the speed with which things are starting to happen in preparation for the work to begin in earnest.

So, to … mark this shift into a new way of being, I offer here a brief meditation on the unreliability of the devices humans have used to mark time’s passage.

You don’t notice the miscues until they are what anchors you to the day. There’s something not quite right with the mechanism, you can hear it, but only sometimes. In those moments, the clock changes character completely; it’s no longer the drone of the day, the comforting rhythm that’s easy to ignore. Then it stops, or doubles up on itself, hiccups … becoming something more consuming … a nervous tick that reminds you of what you can’t fully grasp: the tiny, incremental changes all around you, that you can’t see and can’t hear, but are, nevertheless, more reliable narrators of change and time’s passage than humans will ever be.

A few words from Bernie

  

… 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?

GJJ Interview for NME

         

Lots of TLAs here …

Had the pleasure of interviewing Gary James Joynes (AKA Clinker), multidisciplinary artist and musician, for the New Music Edmonton podcast “The NO Normal” recently.

It was a really lovely opportunity to talk to Gary about his work – both new and older – and catch up with him about some ideas and influences we share in our respective practices.

The No Normal podcast is now available on Soundcloud and wherever else podcasts are available.

The first episode of 2021 features some great discussions and music. Ian Crutchley, New Music Edmonton Artistic Director, discusses a wide range of topics with the incoming Artistic Directors of New Works Calgary, Rebecca Bruton and Lesley Hinger. They also share some of their own music with us. The second part of this episode is the interview/conversation between me and Gary. There’s also a sneak peak of some of Gary’s forthcoming work, and discussion of his new piece Sonic Suns (((GENESIS))) commissioned by New Music Edmonton, and available on Vimeo.

Give it a listen – The No Normal Podcast has had a great line up so far – lots of interesting ideas and projects!

Thanks to New Music Edmonton for the opportunity!

X – Camera Talk

       

Very much looking forward to presenting an informal online talk on December 11 2020, for the X – Camera series, run by Inter-Arts Matrix.

I’ll be speaking on MAKE=BELIEVE, an ongoing site-specific project that has been in development for the last several years. Recently, this project has really taken off in a number of ways; thanks to the support of the Edmonton Arts Council’s Creator’s Reserve Program, I’ve been able to take a deep dive into the project, and have discovered so much more that I want to pursue.

It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to talk about work in progress, and get feedback from a different community of artists, and I’m very grateful to Sheila McMath and Inter-Arts Matrix for the invitation!

Information on the talk and link to register is below:

EVENTBRITE

Hope some of you can join us – it’s free, and everyone is welcome!

SNAP Members’ Show & Sale!

        

This is one of my favourite annual events – it’s a great opportunity to purchase affordable original art for friends and family (or yourself)!

SNAP has done a fantastic job of keeping everyone safe for the last several months, and the Members’ Show & Sale will be no exception. For folks who prefer to limit their exposure outside their bubbles/cohort, you can shop the entire show online too.

I feel extremely grateful to be part of this community, and even more so that I will have work in this exhibition along side so many talented SNAP artists.

Check it out online or in person – it’s going to be lovely!

Meeting Me (virtually) tonight

       

Just a quick shout-out to anyone who might want to attend (yet another) webinar :) …

I’ll be speaking on my work and process this evening for #AGAlive, for the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Art Rental & Sales “Meet the Artist” series. The link to register is:

https://www.youraga.ca/events-features/calendar/agalive-meet-artist-sydney-lancaster

The talk is at 6pm MDT (Edmonton AB Time), and will last about an hour, including a Q&A.

A quick preview of a couple of things I’ll be chasing about:

Hope you can make it!

A Meet the Artist Event

      

I have been invited to participate in “Meet the Artist” for the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Art Rental and Sales program.

This will be a FREE, online, informal conversation with Sarah Huffman of the AGA; I’ll be walking participants through some recent projects, showing some new work that will be avaialable through Art Rental & Sales and talking about my approach to art-making.

If you’re interested and have the time, it would be lovely to see you – there will be a Q&A after the presentation.

Stay safe, and enjoy art!

A Walk in the Trees …

      

I have been busy working through the last few months of documentation from the work done this year on MAKE=BELIEVE. So much to think about, and many, many threads of research to pursue. The longer I work on this installation, the more I learn and discover. What a joy that is.

Here’s part 1 of a walk through the installation – I hope it’s a chance for people to pause for a few minutes, and maybe provide a little break in these odd and crazy times.

Looking forward to any feedback you may want to provide. Stay well & safe.

A step back in time …

        

I have had several people ask me to post video documentation of the exhibition of Macromareal (a rising tide lifts all boats) that just closed at SNAP, as they were not able to see the work in person.

Grateful for a couple of quiet days, so that I could get to the documentation, and actually DO this!

So – here you are – a short video walk-through of Macromareal!

A note in the sound you will hear: the first is an excerpt of “Fogbreath,” created by Scott Smallwood from field recordings in and around Parrsboro NS, where we held residencies to create this work in 2016 and 2017. This sound work was presented in the first gallery, as shown in the video.

The second is an excerpt of a recording of “Wave Passage Effects,” which Scott created in MAX, and which was presented in real time in the second gallery, with a video projection of the software used to sonny environmental data in real time in the gallery. This was an opportunity to ‘see sound’ and ‘hear environmental data’ from the magnificent Bay of Fundy.

The third excerpt is from the recording of the (very first!) 2017 performance of “Macromareal Prelude: in fog and storm and sunshine” composed by Scott as part of this project. We presented this work at the beginning of the exhibition at SNAP Gallery as well, but with a group of wonderful brass musicians.

Hope you enjoy this – and if you have questions. please feel free to shoot me a note from my contact page.