Tag: collaboration

These Days, Upon Us ALL.

Couple of articles here too, with thanks to the Globe and Mail for highlighting these voices:

https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281728389147735

https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281784223720196

I find myself considering the parallels between erasures – especially of late, given the recent ‘scandal’ to rock Parliament. The tried and true argument that “we didn’t know” that runs through this moment ( and the various forms of pushback that insist “it wasn’t that bad” or “it didn’t happen” or “show me the proof”) are the voices of those invested in the status quo: in the continued silencing of those voices that speak truth to power, and to the system of settler-colonialism that permeates every aspect of the dominant culture in this country.

I wonder at the blindness. I wonder at the cruelty. I wonder at the refusal to listen, let alone acknowledge our continued collective culpability … for so many things. And to actually ACT – to expect and insist that those in power do better – seems more difficult by the day.

Time to think and consider (yet again): What more can we each do to create lasting change here? This is a question that has motivated me for many years, and motivated the work I did for my MFA. It will continue to motivate me to try to do better, to be a better neighbour and be in genuine relation.

by Categories: activism, Advocacy, CommunityTags: , , , , Leave a comment
a green book cover with a caragana leaf across it.

Learning Their Names

Counting down the days to the official launch of Learning Their Names: Letters from The Home Place.

This lovely chapbook cover is courtesy Andy Verboom at Collusion Books, who has done a fantastic job of putting together this collaborative project.

I understand from Glass Bookshop that (free) tickets for the launch and reading are going fast – space is limited – so if you were thinking of coming along, maybe grab yourself a spot here:

Register on Eventbrite

This project is close to my heart, and I am very much looking forward to sharing its coming into being with my dear friend and collaborator, Jannie Edwards. There are many crossings-over and interweaving between this writing and the creation-research project 40 Chains a Side that I have been developing for my MFA these last (nearly) two years. The Letters have been another way in, another way to process what I have learned – about ongoing and historical settler-colonial harms, and the responsibilities settlers have within this still-dominant, still-destructive system of relations.

Hard work.

Heart work.

Looking forward to sharing it.

by Categories: abarts, Community, new work, Projects, Writers, yegartsTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Musicworks and Macromareal

It’s been head down and ‘getter done’ lately on a number of fronts, and so writing her has fallen by the wayside for a while.

In any case, in the midst of getting various jobs finished in the studio and elsewhere, I received a lovely thing in the mail:

The latest issue of Musicworks, with a great article by Ian Crutchley

It’s always a bit of a thrill for me to see the work of my collaborators & friends showcased – and this article about Scott Smallwood‘s work is well written and wide-ranging.

It’s also really lovely that Ian contacted me for comments fo the article, and that he wound up including some information and pictures from Macromareal – my first collaboration with Scott. Timing was more than fortuitous, as Macromareal (redux) had just closed at the ~Diffuser Gallery at Emily Carr.

A nice moment to look back on the work we did, and a great collaboration – in the midst of working on several things, and looking forward to new adventures.

by Categories: Artists, featured, nature, new music, Performance, Projects, Residency, waterTags: , , , , , Leave a comment
http://www.deborahcarruthers.com/slippages---performance-videos.html

Slippages in Cleveland

Happy to say that the video work I did in collaboration with Deborah Carruthers – Slippages & Panelled/Slippages – is in a Group Exhibition at Zygote Gallery in Cleveland OH. Capturing the Aura of the Already Said, curated by Margaret Hart, is on exhibition until April 26th.

An Excerpt of the performance video with synched audio below:

And Panelled/Slippages, full length with audio:

by Categories: abarts, Exhibitions, featured, ice, nature, new music, new work, Performance, Projects, video, waterTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Talking, Tomorrow …

Just back from a whirlwind trip to Vancouver with my friend & collaborator Scott Smallwood – we installed Macromareal(redux) at Emily Carr for a month-long exhibition, and spoke to some of the students there.

Not sure I’ve caught my breath – but tomorrow (February 28) I will be speaking again, with another collaborator, about another project – this time, at the University of Alberta.

At 6pm, Dr. John Waldron and I will be speaking about our project, Boundary|Time|Surface, as part of the LASERAlberta series of talks on art/science collaborations.

 

I am really grateful & excited to have this opportunity to share this project with the wider community here – and I’m really looking forward to the feedback and discussion!

You can find more info about the talk & the project here … .

If you are in the neighbourhood, please join us!

by Categories: Artists, Exhibitions, featured, nature, Projects, Residency, Sculpture, time lapse, yegartsTags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

Redux, on the Road …

I thought the beginning of this year was going to be relatively quiet – a time just to hunker down & work in the studio through the cold months.

There’s certainly been a good bit of that – preparations for an exhibition in the Fall – but then a lovely opportunity came up …

I am very excited to share that Scott Smallwood and I have bene invited to exhibit some of our collaborative work at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Macromareal (redux) will be shown in ~Diffuser Gallery at ECUAD from February 26 – March 24 inclusive.

We will be heading out to Vancouver on Sunday to begin installing the work, and will also be speaking to some of the EUCAD classes about the project and our respective practices.

Looking forward immensely to this little get-away, and to the opportunity to share this work from the East Coast with a West Coast audience!

If you are in the Vancouver area, I hope you can stop in and see it – would love to hear your thoughts.

by Categories: abarts, Exhibitions, featured, nature, Projects, waterTags: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Slippages – video of the performance

Back in Edmonton now, doing some post-performance and post-Thanksgiving work: the “get yer ducks in a row” for the next work to be done.

Much to be thankful for, as always – being able to make work with talented collaborators, the opportunity to share ideas and approaches here and in person, the tremendous support I receive from my family and friends (without whom none of this would be possible).

So – a brief moment to take stock, and to share a link to the video of the performance shot for Livestream on October 5th.

Click on the IMAGE BELOW to go to the UBC School of Music’s video:

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The Present is the Key to the Past: Glaciers, Scores, & Sound

Here’s a great little interview with Jonathan Girard and Deborah Carruthers about Slippages,and some of the thinking behind the work! Getting very very excited to see this all come together tomorrow. Enjoy!

by Categories: abarts, Artists, Exhibitions, featured, glaciers, ice, nature, new music, new work, Performance, Projects, waterTags: , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Seeing Sound … and getting ready for Slippages

I’m in Vancouver now, and working on the last edits for the video work I am creating to accompany the world premiere of Slippages on October 5th.

image © 2018 Deborah Carruthers, used with permission

 

I am delighted to share UBC Orchestra Director Jonathan Girard‘s take on what we are doing:

“Deborah’s gorgeous score presents a thrilling challenge. How do we, as musicians, interpret visual art?” explained Girard.

“We want the music to speak to the cool beauty of the work, but also the ideas behind it: of flux, of change, of loss. Just as the natural world has a life of its own, a kind of agency apart from human influence, we want the music, through improvisation, to have a life of its own that goes above and beyond the performers.”

image © 2018 Deborah Carruthers, used with permission

 

For those of you not able to attend in person – the performance will be LIVE STREAMED – so I hope you have a chance to check it out!!

Getting very excited …

by Categories: abarts, Artists, Exhibitions, featured, glaciers, ice, nature, new music, new work, Performance, Projects, waterTags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Slippages

Life presents some really fascinating opportunities now and again, and I am excited to say one has crossed my path!

I will be presenting a brand-new collaborative video work entitled at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver BC on October 5th!

This new work is part of a larger performance and installation work – Slippages – developed by Montreal artist Deborah Carruthers, that is an outgrowth of her work as Artist in Residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Slippages  is a synthesis of material from researchers at the University of British Columbia  (UBC) regarding the physical, anthropological, and philosophical properties glaciers. In collaboration with Maestro Girard (and Wall Scholar for 2018-2019), Deborah is working with the 110-member orchestra to present a structured improvisational sonic piece drawn from a graphical score she has created; the video work we are creating will be presented above the orchestra as part of the performance.

Ice contains no future, just the past, sealed away. As if they’re alive, everything in the world is sealed up inside, clear and distinct. Ice can preserve all kinds of things that way – cleanly, clearly. That’s the essence of ice, the role it plays.
― Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Athabasca Glacier- Macro No. 3, giclée on Epson enhanced matte paper, 24″ x 36″, 2017 ©️ Deborah Carruthers

 

 

For those in the Vancouver area – this is my invitation for you to join us!

I am really thrilled to be working with Deborah, Maestro Jonathan Girard, and the UBC Orchestra to bring this work to life.

by Categories: Artists, Exhibitions, featured, glaciers, ice, nature, new music, new work, Performance, Projects, water, yegartsTags: , , , , 3 Comments