It’s a VERY odd time to be presenting work to the public – but I am so happy with all the precautions SNAP has in place, and so very happy to sew showing work in their BRAND NEW home!
There’s several things going on for this iteration of MACROMAREAL. Both Scott and I have re-worked existing elements of the project, and I have been busy since the last time this work was shown making a bunch of new prints! So, brand new work for us in a new space – how lucky can you get??
The exhibition will be opening on the evening of September 11, from 7 – 9 pm. This will be a hybrid event: SNAP is pre-booking (free) tickets to see the show in person, and limiting the number of people in the gallery at one time, so that everyone can stay safe AND see the art in person. We will also be online – Scott & I are attending the Opening virtually, so more people can see the work in person if they want to – and anyone else who wants to attend virtually is welcome to do so as well!
Fundy Sine, Cyanotype on Cotton, 2017.
There will also be a socially-distanced LIVE performance of Scott Smallwood’s score “Macromareal Prelude: in Fog and Storm and Sunshine” on Saturday September 12, at 1:00 pm local time, in the immediate neighbourhood of SNAP, outsdoors. We are both extremely happy to be able to work with some excellent local Edmonton musicians for this event, and to be able to present this work live in a safe way. This is a ‘roving’ performance work; the musicians will be moving in the neighbourhood as they play, and will be distanced; we ask that anyone attending keep 2metres or more from any musician(s) they encounter, and PLEASE wear a MASK!
Dress rehearsal for the original performance of Scott’s score in 2017, Parrsboro NS
Scott and I will also be presenting an artists’ talk about the genesis and evolution of the project on Saturday, October 10th, again at 1pm local time. This talk will be presented online.
A collage of various elements of the project as it evolved
And for some added fun: I will be facilitating a cyanotype workshop/demo online for SNAP on Thursday September 17, starting at 6pm.
Caution, Cyanotype on Cotton, 2019
Looking forward to all of this very much – and hope that you can join us for some of it.
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.
After a whirlwind – and lovely – trip to Vancouver to install Macromareal(redux) at ECUAD, Scott and I are back in Edmonton and digging into all the other work we have to do.
Part of that for me has been editing the first batch of documentation from this exhibition, so I can share it with you.
So – without further hoopla:
macromareal redux walk thru from Sydney Lancaster on Vimeo.
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.
I am preparing to fly West this afternoon, after a busy and very productive several months in various spots in Nova Scotia. A great residency with Scott Smallwood, and new work launched in Parrsboro, at Main & Station. The start of some new and exciting collaborations with Deborah Carruthers and with Susan Tooke. Time to experiment with cyanotype processes, work on video and audio projects. Time to hike, to make photographs, to think, to further the long-term process of healing my body (thank you Acupuncture and Massage Therapy!)
It feels like much more time has passed since I was last on ‘home turf’ – or rather, that the tempo and scale of time as I experience it has shifted in a fundamental way – and now I have to find my way back to something more familiar. Not quite there – and I think that’s a very good thing. VERY.
It was a good place and time to be reminded of the diverse (and often very difficult, painful) histories of any given place. How easy it is not to see that – how easy to get lost in the vast beauty of the place – any place – and look but not see. The beauty is part of those histories; it’s woven into the different scales of time inherent in that locale to be sure. Geologic time. Tidal Time. Seasonal Time. Mythic time. Colonial Time (a very slippery fish, this one). Settlement Time. Expulsion Time. Industrial Time. And on and on … but make no mistake, there’s nothing linear about this.
The ‘present’ as we fashion it in any given moment is its own rabbit hole; a crucial vantage point (and obviously the only one available in a pragmatic sense), but it’s also a very troubled and troubling place from which to assess the relative value of most things and actions and ideas … . The popular narratives that tend to overwhelm all other chatter are still those that yoke the present to doing cartwheels toward the ‘somehow-better-future’. Because, of course ‘things’ will be ‘improved.’ This is the wish, the hope, and the outcome to be willed into being, somehow.
And under it all, the land remains—a page upon which this story is “written, erased, rewritten,” as author Teju Cole put it. Only memory and history can interrupt this cycle of revision we commonly refer to as progress. And those interruptions are vital, absolutely necessary, if we are to navigate some way toward a better way of existence for ourselves (on all levels), and co-existence with all beings.
Remains to be seen how well I am able to carry these glimmers of understanding forward as I return to the familiar places and routines – but the intent (and hope) is there. Patience, process, compassion.
It’s been a remarkable time; the residency and performance, the talk, the exhibition … and now that it’s all done and packed up, a little time to reflect.
The first week was all about slowing down, getting reacquainted with the town and the land … shifting gears, not unlike the tides here do every 12 hours.
There’s a generosity to the pace of life in Parrsboro; in the Maritimes in general. There’s room enough and time enough to do what you need to do. It’s a precious thing. It’s also been really nice reconnecting with people I’d met last year, seeing friends who live in this part of the country, catching up on news, feeling welcomed. A good place to start getting myself sorted, to make work, gather ideas like I gathered materials … .
It’s been a summer notable too for the generosity of several people that have left me feeling deeply grateful for the opportunity to be making work in this place.
So, this is a note of thanks, to many people, and on many counts:
To two lovely local visitors to my work space in the Nonesuch Centre for the Performing Arts (which was formerly Trinity United Church here in town). Louis Heb came by to see what was happening, and shared stories about himself and his family’s connection to the church over the years: in particular a family member who was the church organist. Tom Hatfield came by too – he remembered attending Boy Scout meetings when he was a kid, in the same room I am working in now. He also remembered the organ, and the lovely acoustics. Both Louis and Tom were happy to see that the building was going to be saved, and taken care of, and used to bring people together again. It was a real gift to be offered these stories, and to see so directly the way in which the building still houses the memories of the community in an active way. It’s remarkable to be sharing the space with all of that history, and making work derived from the landscape and objects that come from the area.
Such an honour to be working in this beautiful place, and to be her at the start of a new chapter in its history
Things and places – like people – hold histories and memories of their own.
To Randy Corcoran, captain, amazing source of sea-and-boat-related stuff, and an artist in his own right. My hosts at Main & Station connected me to Randy after my residency last year, and he and I had been in touch over the winter about various materials and objects I was looking for to make sculptures. He’s a busy guy – doing charter boat tours and house painting in the summers – so I felt fortunate that he had a bit of time to spare to show me some of the things he’s gathered, and get his invaluable assistance in finding more materials and getting them to the studio. It turned out that Randy had a great stash of things that were going to be really, really useful for this project, and he’d managed to get a lead on a key item I’d been searching for …
Captain Randy Corcoran, giving us an amazing tour of the Bay of Fundy! Such a fantastic experience!
Most of these buoys were donated to the performance of “Macromareal Prelude” by Randy. He and I are hoping to do more with them in the future!
Which brings me to thanking…
Donald McCully (the Fox) – who really made my day by parting with an old hand sewn canvas sail that became a key part of the exhibition! I also got a look at the boat he built, and hear about the process of building it, and other stories besides.
An old canvas mainsail that now is part of the Macromareal story
To Judith & Harvey at Main and Station, who have been a vital part of this project since its very early days, and supported Scott and me by awarding us a research residency in 2016 and the residency & Fellowships this year to realize the project.
Harvey & Judith
To Susan Clarke (curator) June Wagstaff (archivist), and Lisa Miller (digital records/archives) at Ottawa House Museum. Thanks to you all for your support of this project!
Susan allowed Scott and I to do some field recordings at the Museum in 2016 that have made their way into the soundscape Scott created for our exhibition. She also allowed us to borrow a ship’s bell from the collection for the performance of “Macromareal Prelude” on August 5 & 6. June and Lisa have also been incredibly helpful to me in searching through the image archives and other holdings of the Museum.
The ship’s bell!
To Krista Wells, another local artist @ Artlab – for the scrap canvas I so desperately needed to repair the sail! AND for her excellent coffee and conversation over the month, and for being part of the “Macromareal Band” for our performance on August 6th!
To ALL the musicians, who made the premiere of “Macromareal Prelude” such a success: Kyle Dinaut – tuba, Michael Fuller – baritone saxophone, Timi Levy – violin, Jamie Oatt – trumpet, Joel Robertson – clarinet, Bruce Robertson – trumpet, Krista Wells – trombone
To Angela Glanzmann, friend and fellow artist, for documenting the performance, so that I could be an active participant.
To Nancy Agati and Sara McKarney – who were also on residencies this summer at Main & Station: thanks to you both for the great feedback and insight into the work, thanks for the laughs and the beach walks, and for being such great artists. You are both so inspiring.
Sara on an Beach Walk
Nancy and Scott on the day of our Bay of Fundy Boat Adventure
To Scott Smallwood, collaborator extraordinaire, colleague, and friend. Thank you for your hard work, generous sharing of ideas and knowledge, and for your faith in this project. It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with you … and I hope we can do more together SOON!
To John Waldron, inspirer and supporter of cross – disciplinary doing & making, partner, collaborator, teacher, and dearest of friends.
John
Couldn’t do any of this without you – thank you for showing me new ways to see and new ways to think about the world.
So – thank you all, again – and thanks to everyone else that has been a part of this adventure: friends new and old – some of whom came to town while we were there – Emily Jan & Marie-Eve Martel (!) …
Marie-Eve and me … looking a bit like the monster in the background!
Emily on our beach combing trek to Diligent River
… and to visitors to the exhibition who stayed to chat, and the community of Parrsboro for being our home for a bit.
I’m a little boggled by how the days have passed by since our exhibition opened. Just this week, and I’m back to Parrsboro to take down the show, and pack it all up for shipping.
I’ve been really quite chuffed by the feedback we have been getting on the work. Our lovely hosts at Main & Station tell us that there have been a good many visitors, and that many of them have been spending some real time with the work. Some, up to an hour.
That is so lovely to hear. I am deeply grateful to everyone that has stopped in so far, and for the opportunity to show this brand-new work, fresh out of the studio.
And if you are in the area, macromareal (a rising tide lifts all boats) is on exhibition until August 26th at Main & Station in the 2nd floorGallery. If you do stop by, please let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the work!
Had a lovely time at the opening reception yesterday afternoon; some great conversations with people, and a good turn out! Lovely food too – thanks to Judith at Main & Station!
I was quite struck with the reaction of people to the show: several guests stayed for a long time, just watching and listening. Had several people let me know they were going to come back and sit with the work when they could.
Couldn’t be happier with that. It’s extremely rewarding to hear – and I’m grateful that people took the time to speak with me and comment on the work at length.
A short video walk-through for you here. More images to follow soon!
The days have been flying past, and I find myself here, on the eve of our exhibition opening in Parrsboro!
I am looking forward to sharing the work Scott and I have been developing over the course of this residency, and interested in hearing feedback about it.
For those in the area of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, details are:
Saturday August 12, 2017
4:00 – 8:00 pm
Opening Reception
at
Main & Station, 2nd Floor Gallery
168 Main Street, Parrsboro
Artists will be in attendance.
Looking forward to seeing those of you that can make it!
For those farther afield:
I’ll be posting images from the Opening and some documentation of the show here in the next few days.
