Wednesday 19 December 2012

More Upcoming General Calls for Submission


SNAP Artist Centre - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: February 15 / 2013

The Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists (SNAP) is a not-for-profit, artist-run centre, and a registered charity incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta. Since its inception in 1982, SNAP has grown to become one of Canada’s premier centres for research and innovation in printmaking as well as providing a unique forum for discussion and examination of critical and theoretical issues related to printmaking and image culture.



Modern Fuel - Main Gallery General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: May 1 / 2013

Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre is a non-profit organization facilitating the presentation, interpretation, and production of contemporary visual, time-based and interdisciplinary arts. Modern Fuel aims to meet the professional development needs of emerging and mid-career local, national and international artists, from diverse cultural communities, through exhibition, discussion, and mentorship opportunities. Modern Fuel supports innovation and experimentation, and is committed to the education of interested publics and the diversification of its audiences.



Mercer Union - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: March 1 / 2013

Mercer Union, A Centre for Contemporary Art is an artist-run centre dedicated to the existence of contemporary art. We provide a forum for the production and exhibition of Canadian and international conceptually and aesthetically engaging art and related cultural practices. We pursue our primary concerns through critical activities that include exhibitions, lectures, screenings, performances, publications, events and special projects.



Artcite - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: March 10 / 2013

Artcite Inc. is Windsor's non-profit, artist-run centre for the contemporary arts. Founded in 1982, Artcite has operated as an alternative to both the commercial art galleries and to the larger, more mainstream public art galleries. Our mandate goes beyond presenting visual art exhibitions and extends into the programming of workshops, lectures, film and video screenings, performance, and literary events. With the exception of special fundraising projects, these cultural activities are offered to the community free of charge.



AKA Gallery - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: March 31 / 2013

AKA Gallery is an artist run centre that facilitates the production, presentation and interpretation of a diversity of contemporary art with an emphasis on innovative artistic practices. Adapting a responsive approach to programming and related activities, AKA aims to be a catalyst for the development and sustainability of a lively and engaged community of artists and audiences. In connecting artists to the community and welcoming them to become involved, we strive to enrich artistic practices and critical discourses on a local, regional and national level.



Gallery Connexion - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: March 31 / 2013

Gallery Connexion was founded as the Organization for the Development of Artists, whose mandate is:
- To expose Fredericton and surrounding area to contemporary and experimental visual art practices, including performance, literary arts, musical arts, and interdisciplinary work.
- To make available to our region art from other areas of the country and abroad.
- To offer services and events to artists whose work might not otherwise find an appropriate venue in our region because they do not easily fit the mandate of the traditional and commercial galleries that exist here. Our programming ensures that marginalized groups, Aboriginal, and emerging artists are included in our selections annually.
- To provide a forum for connecting the general public with the work we exhibit by organizing opening events, artist talks, workshops and art education programs.



The Khyber Centre for the Arts - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: March 31 / 2013

The Khyber Centre's mandate is to foster critical thought in society by operating an artist-run centre that presents non-commercial contemporary art exhibits and facilitates dialogue, social interaction and information exchange for professional and emerging artists and interested members of the general public. Programming activities will be challenging, artistically rigorous, interdisciplinary and responsive to the needs of the Khyber users.



G101 Gallery - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: April 15 / 2013

Located in Ottawa, Ontario, Gallery 101 is a non-profit artist-run centre with charitable status dedicated to the professional presentation and circulation of visual and media arts. Each year, we present a stimulating array of solo and group exhibitions of Canadian and international contemporary artists working in all mediums. We also offer services and professional development opportunities to artists, curators, writers and critics. Commitment to artists and their work is our first priority.



Latitude 53 - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: April 30 / 2013

Latitude 53 Society of Artists is a not-for profit artist-run centre. Its purpose is to encourage contemporary artistic endeavors, to foster experimental cultural development, and to stimulate dialogue within the art community. A forum for dialogue about contemporary art practices is provided through exhibitions, criticism and projects.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

FINAL NOTICE: zine fair 2012

A special thanks to everyone who tabled and came to visit our zine fair, the last event held at 58 Ossington. We're looking forward to our future home at 303 Lansdowne.  XPACE will be open as of Sunday January 27th, for FEAST. Don't forget to visit!



Friday 23 November 2012

Upcoming General Calls for Submission


Harcourt House - Main Gallery General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: November 30 / 2012
Harcourt House Artist Run Centre is an artist-run, charitable organization that promotes contemporary visual art to interested individuals and organizations by providing education, exhibitions and resources. It is a destination for contemporary visual art for emerging and established artists. Harcourt is a centre of excellence that is active in community participation, provides targeted programming and is sustainable. 
Harcourt House supports eight exhibitions annually in this space and only applications from established artists, local, national or international, will be considered for this space. Individual artists and groups are open to submit to the Main Gallery as long as they meet the definition of an established artist. Please see definitions below. 
The Main Gallery has two programming deadlines in a year: June 30 and November 30.


Eastern Edge Gallery - Rogue Gallery General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: December 15 / 2012
The Rogue Gallery, located just inside Eastern Edge Gallery, is a small contemporary/alternative art exhibition space devoted to new and emerging artists, student work, and works in progress, small works, experimental pieces and special projects. The Rogue is not intended as a space for commercial art.
Rogue exhibition applications are not juried by a programming committee. Instead, applications are drawn at random on the following deadline:
December 15 - four applications for exhibitions between January and April are drawn.

White Water Gallery - Black Water Art Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: December 31 / 2012
Black Water Art is a metaphor for the conceptual transition from one space to another. This event transforms the White Water Gallery Artist-Run Centre into a commercial venue for a short exhibition each year. During this time artwork will be installed in a salon style exhibition and sold on site. 100% of each sale goes directly to the artistmaking this a unique commercial opportunity for participants.
The exhibition runs from January 18th to February 16th, 2013 with an opening reception on January 18th at 7pm.

Gallery 44 - Exhibition Assistance Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: January 14 / 2012
Gallery 44 is a third party recommender in the Ontario Arts Council's Exhibition Assistance Program. We accept applications for exhibition assistance from Ontario artists with a confirmed exhibition of photography or photo-based work. Applications must be received prior to the opening date of the exhibition and no later than our deadlines of January 15 and June 1st. Applications may be submitted up to one year in advance of the exhibition. Please do not call or email to inquire about remaining funds in our budget, Gallery 44 ensures that funds are available for both our deadlines.

Open Studio - General Call for Submissions (2013)
Deadline: January 30 / 2012
Open Studio is an artist-run printmaking centre that presents a wide range of print media-based works from traditional to experimental, including work that, although not produced using traditional printmaking techniques, shares through its conceptual concerns a relationship to printmaking. Accepted formats include: 2 and 3-dimensional works, bookworks, digital and multi-media installation-based work. Proposals by individual artists, groups and curators will be considered.
Submissions are accepted to exhibit in the Open Studio Gallery twice annually.

Thursday 8 November 2012

FINAL NOTICE ZINE FAIR

XPACE Cultural Centre, 58 Ossington Ave
Saturday, November 24, 2012
12-6pm

Last event in XPACE Cultural Centre's current location!

BIG DEAL! FINAL NOTICE! GET OUT BEFORE WE THROW YOU OUT! TOTAL AND COMPLETE LIQUIDATION!!!!!

30+ vendors selling small press publications, comics, zines, screen prints, t-shirts, posters, hand bound journals, and other hand made goods!

Featuring the musical stylings of 
ABSOLUTELY FREE 

and DJ sets by 
MAMA KNOWS (Anni Spadafora) and
DIRTY BLUE GENE (Jenny Gitman)

poster by Nathan Enkel

FREE ADMISSION
Come one, come all 

Wednesday 7 November 2012

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS



Call for Artistic Proposals and Submissions_An ILLUMINATED iDENTITY


Open Call: Undergraduate and Graduate student artists working in and responding to a question of identity and individuality in a context of the Future-Present (democratized surveillance, weaponized branding, mobilized e-motions, and mythological realities).

XPACE/IMAGES festival is seeking proposals from student artists who are interested in responding to a question of the Future-Present. One could think of the term "Future-Present" as being a condition in which our dreams of the future collide with the reality of the present and where the real and imagined world are as one after the idealized World of Tomorrow has been dissolved. We live in a world that integrates technology with daily life, causing physiological and psychological shifts, giving us a kind of cybernetic lens in which to view the world. A lens that not only affects the way we think about ourselves and the world but also the images we use to represent that world. Now that peoples, places, and things are all accessible at the click of a button, what does it mean to be an individual in our contemporary condition and how are our identities formed? Proposals should consider the space the artwork occupies, the media used and its relationship to the subject in question, and a thorough understanding of the relative condition being: the Future-Present. Proposals are encouraged to be innovative and critical but also visually stimulating and sensorially provocative.

Examples may include, but are not limited to:

Online or Web specific art
Computer specific art
3D Prints
Digital Images and/or Videos
Performance Video and/or Live Performance
Animated GIF
Robotics and/or Haptic Technologies
Mobile Technologies
Weaponized Technologies
Archetypal Technologies (ie. LED's, Electromagnetics, Cybernetics/Body-Mod Tech, Drone, etc.)

Electronic Submissions only can be sent to: david.f.m.hanes@gmail.com

Deadline: December 15th, 2012
Include in your submission:
images of the proposed work (or relevant work) or a link to a website and/or youtube/vimeo
- MAXIMUM of 6 images (72dpi @ 768 x 1024)
description of the proposed work, including physical qualities, spatial and hanging needs, technical requirements, etc. (max. 150 words, PDF only)
brief artist statement and biography (max. 200 words, PDF only)
CV (2 pages MAX, PDF only)

for addition information contact the curator of the project David Hanes:
david.f.m.hanes@gmail.com

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Felix Kalmenson's INTERSECTION


There is one week left for you to visit XBASE, which features a site-specific installation by Felix Kalmenson. Some thought provoking articles covering Felix's work can be found on the Torontoist and The Wardens Today. The exhibition closes on Saturday November 10th.

Friday 2 November 2012

DATAMOSHING with Adrienne Crossman


XPACE Cultural Centre
58 Ossington Avenue
Saturday, November 17th
1-4pm

Workshop is FREE. Space is limited, so to RSVP your spot email alicia@xpace.info 

Datamoshing, also know as Compression Artifacting, is a video editing technique that falls under the category of Glitch Art. The process involves the creation of intentional glitches that blur the borders between video frames, causing images to bleed into each other rather than having one cut cleanly to another. 

The workshop will include: 

- a brief history of the technique 
- the software necessary to mosh 
- where to source video material and what kinds of material are best to work with 
- various experimental techniques 
- methods of outputting the files 

Participants will need: 
A laptop, or to share a laptop with a friend. 
and download this zip folder: http://www.court13.com/datamoshkit.zip

These programs work specifically with Macs and the workshop will be taught on Mac software only. We suggest installing and testing the programs to make sure they run on your laptops first. If not, the workshop will cover how to modify them so they will work with the newer Mac OS. 

It's encouraged that you bring footage to work with (although some footage will be supplied). We will also go over the kind of video images that yield the best results. Datamoshing is a trial and error process so most importantly bring your patience and creativity! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrienne Crossman is an emerging artist working and living in Toronto. She recently graduated from the Integrated Media program with a minor in Digital and Media Studies at OCAD University. She has recently completed a month long artist residency facilitated by Xpace Cultural Centre and located at Spark Contemporary Art Space in Syracuse, New York. Her work deals with the examination and deconstruction of normativity within various dominant frameworks. 

Thursday 18 October 2012

Grant Writing Workshop with Ellyn Walker


Saturday, November 3, 2012
1-4pm
XPACE Cultural Centre
58 Ossington Avenue
Toronto

It’s that time of year! Grant deadlines are coming up and we want to give you a leg up on applying for them.



This is your how-to guide! In this workshop, our guest speaker Ellyn Walker will cover:

- Choosing the right grant
- Writing a project proposal
- Support Material
- What to include on a CV
- Budget Balance

Also, you may bring in any applications you are currently working on to get specific advice.

Ellyn Walker is a writer, curator and arts administrator based in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been published internationally, and her curatorial practice engages social methodologies in communicating difference. She works and sits on the Board of Directors for various artist-run centres and public institutions, and has taught various workshops on professional development in the cultural sector. Ellyn has studied art history and studio practice at McGill University and the University of Toronto, and is currently an MFA candidate at OCAD University in the Curatorial Practices and Criticism program.

*Please RSVP to alicia@xpace.info to reserve your spot. Remember, spaces are limited so make sure to reserve asap to ensure your attendance. Workshop is FREE!

Upcoming Grant Deadlines
(Media Artists: November 5, 2012)
(Visual Artists, Emerging: December 3, 2012)
(Visual Arts Projects: December 17, 2012)

Tuesday 9 October 2012

FINAL NOTICE ZINE FAIR: Call For Vendors


Upcoming at XPACE (and our last event at 58 Ossington- we're moving!) is our third annual Zine Fair. We are currently accepting submissions for vendors. We are looking for artists that make zines, comics, small press, screenprints, crafty items and even baked goods. Spots fill up fast so reserve a table ASAP at alicia@xpace.info.


The Zine Fair will be held Saturday, November 24th from 12-6pm. Tables are free.
***FINAL NOTICE ZINE FAIR IS NOW FULL.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Emerging and Student Curator Call for Submissions


XPACE Cultural Centre, and The Images Festival are seeking expressions of interest from emerging and student curators for their annual emerging new media artist exhibition. The exhibition will run concurrent with the IMAGES festival and will feature work by student and emerging artists working with moving image media. . 

Interested curators are asked to send a brief letter of curatorial intent outlining your interests in moving image media and possible curatorial directions for the exhibition (no more than 500 words) as well as a CV of relevant experience.

The exhibition is programmed through a call for submissions written by the curator, and will take place April 12 – June 4th, 2013.

Please send expressions of interest to amber@xpace.info by October 15, 2012.

XPACE Cultural Centre is a membership driven artist-run centre supported by the OCAD Student Union and dedicated to providing emerging and student artists with the opportunity to showcase their work in a professional setting. We program contemporary practices that respond to the interests and needs of our membership. As we program with shorter timelines this allows for us to respond to contemporary issues in theory and aesthetics, keeping an up to the minute response to what is going on directly in our community.

Established in 1987, the Images Festival is the largest festival in North America for experimental and independent moving image culture, showcasing the innovative edge of international contemporary media art both on and off the screen. Images has presented thousands of vanguard media-based projects in its 24-year history and is committed to an expanded concept of film and video practice: Alongside film and video screenings (ON SCREEN), the festival presents groundbreaking live performances (LIVE IMAGES), media art installations (OFF SCREEN) in local galleries and new media projects by many renowned Canadian and international artists. Images provides audiences with an annual extravaganza of contemporary moving image culture. For our exhibition archive, click here.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Syracuse SPARK Resident - Ursula Handleigh



Jessica Cappuccitti:  What was your favourite part of this residency?

Ursula Handleigh:  Experiencing a new city, especially one like Syracuse which was nothing like what I had expected.  I wasn’t expecting it to be so abandoned and so big... so different from Toronto.

JC:  What was your favourite thing about Syracuse?

UH:  I biked around a lot so everything was really different.  My favourite place was this really old camera store in the middle of this suburban setting.  It had all of these really old things that no one ever bought... except for me!

JC:  Was it an antique camera shop?

UH:  No.  It was THE camera place.  I think it wasn’t very popular so there was stuff that had been sitting on the self for like thirty years.  The antique feel wasn’t intentional at all which was what made it so cool.  The signage was old, everything about it was old.  But it also sold digital cameras and stuff.  It was this weird mix of old and new.

JC:  Tell me about the work you created – from inspiration to final product.

UH:  I was really inspired by the house.  It was the first home that was restored in the area and was surrounded by dilapidated buildings and houses that had been turned into government housing.  It was a really interesting mix.  I was also inspired by the fact that film was dying there.  I had known that film was dying but it was kind of almost dead there.  The closest place to develop film was Rochester.

JC:  Not even at the mall?

UH:  No.  There was this drug store down the street that had a sign that said "1-hour" photo and then when you went there it turned out it wasn’t an hour because they sent it out to be developed.   You also couldn’t get any photographic colour paper anywhere.  The camera store sold some black and white stuff because you could do it yourself.

JC:  Tell me about the work itself.


UH:  I experimented with a few things while I was there.  When I first arrived I made anthotypes which are made from plants – you make this plant-based photo emulsion that you coat paper with and then instead of developing it, where the images come through, you put something on top of it and the image fades away in the places that are not covered.  This didn’t turn out very well because I wasn’t there long enough for it to work properly – it took so long for the images to fade.  I left it there for the entire 2 weeks and in the end you could kind of see the leaf that I had put on top, but really it needed a few weeks more.  I also made slides – I rented a slide projector and made fake slides which I got for really cheap from the camera store that sold old things.  This project was inspired by the house we were staying in which was restored to look like it was old but with new materials – so I would take new materials that I could find in the city and make these old slides.


JC:  Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to create coming into this residency?

UH:  I knew I wanted to work with the anthotypes, just because it was something I always wanted to try and I had heard that Syracuse was really lush and had a lot of greenery so I wanted to work with that, but once I got there it all kind of changed.  I wasn’t expecting it to be as abandoned as it was and I think that really inspired me. 

JC:  What are you currently working on?

UH:  I’m working on this film projector that looks like it’s really old but is made from stuff I found around my house.  Again, it is inspired by the house we stayed at and this attempt to hold on to the past.

JC:  What kind of things did you use?

UH:  This old lamp, like a living room lamp, a work bench from the garage, some hangers, this piping thing for the vent... I think that’s it.  It looks really make-shift, but that’s the point.

JC:  How did you know how to make a projector?

UH:  I didn’t – I just made it up!  I figured if I had a lens and a light, it would project.  So I did that and then I figured out how to move the film – I got a motor and just glued a whole bunch of stuff together so it actually moves the film!

JC:  Do you think that you and Adrienne influenced each other’s work?

UH:  Yea, definitely.  Especially, because we were the only 2 people living in the house and we were the only 2 people experiencing what we experienced, which is pretty unique.  We’re the only ones that really understood each other... at that time.  We were both inspired by a lot of the same things.



JC:  Is the work you are going to show at XPACE in September going to differ from the work you showed at the end of your residency at SPARK?

UH:  I feel like my work has grown a lot since I’ve come back.  When I was there I would think a lot about things and I was very inspired, but I think it took me some time to be away from there for my work to develop.  So I feel that my work is probably going to be very different from the show in Syracuse, because I’ve been making so much stuff since coming back.

JC:  Do you think that this experience will continue to affect your future work?

UH:  Yea definitely.  The restrictions I felt while I was there, like the limited access to things helped me to become more creative in my use of materials – that is really helping my work to grow.

Syracuse SPARK Resident - Adrienne Crossman



Upon their return from Syracuse, I sat down to chat and catch up with our SPARK Residents, Adrienne Crossman and Ursula Handleigh.  Both artists discussed the important influence of their surroundings on the artwork they created and the unique shared experience in Syracuse.  They also gave me a sneak peak into the work they created for the exhibition, Neither Here Nor There opening at XPACE on Friday September 14, 2012.

 Neither Here Nor There will be up until October 6th, 2012


Jessica Cappuccitti:  What was your favourite part of the SPARK Residency?

Adrienne Crossman:  I think what I liked about it was that I was in a different place.  When you are having trouble finding inspiration, it’s kind of helpful to be in a new environment.  Syracuse was completely different from Toronto in so many aspects.  Being in Syracuse was isolating in a way because I didn’t know anybody and there’s not much to do but it gave me all of this time to just constantly think about, and do my work, which I have never had before. So I would probably say that was the best part.



JC:  What was your favourite part of the city itself?

AC:  The city is small and kind of abandoned and there’s not a lot going on there, but the nights when something is going on, everybody that’s interested in it, is there.  SPARK is beside this hardcore music venue called Badlands which was having a concert / travelling film festival that was screening films the same night we had our show.  We had our opening and then they had that event, so everyone that was at either event was kind of comingling.  It seemed like it was the only thing of that kind going on in the city that night.  That was what was cool about Syracuse. 

JC:  What was your favourite thing to do or see?

AC:  Dinosaur Bar-B-Que - I went 3 times... (laughter)



(See “XPACE visits Syracuse !” blog post from Tuesday July 3, 2012 for pics of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and more...)

JC: (jokingly) What was your favourite thing to eat there?

AC:  It would have to be, pulled pork and brisket with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side of macaroni and cheese... with a Syracuse beer.

JC:  That’s incredible!

AC:  It was incredible – it’s worth the 6 hour drive!

JC:  How did your surroundings affect your work?

AC:  The work that both Ursula and I did took a lot from our surroundings.  Because the architecture, the layout and the feel of the city were so different from Toronto... but also, different from any city I have ever been in.  In one block, out of 5 buildings, 3 will be abandoned and boarded up.  You can walk for 20 minutes and not see anybody.  So there’s something about that feeling... We’re in this kind of desolate, abandoned city.  Also, we were housed in the attic of this 200 year old historic mansion that had been restored - so we were staying in this really, really expensive house but our neighbourhood was kind of run-down, so it was the clash or the mix of really nice stuff versus this run-down environment.  

There’s wood everywhere, all of the windows are boarded up and I would just see wood grain everywhere.  The floors and doors of this house we were staying in had fake hand-painted wood grain on it, so it was like, people had been hired to hand-paint this unique wood grain all over the floors and all over the doors to make everything look more expensive.  So a lot of my work came from making faux wood grains and taking a picture of that wood grain and replicating it in different ways, because I think it’s really weird to hire somebody to paint fake wood on wood to make it look like wood.  So there was this whole contrast between rich and poor, fake and real.  So in terms of my surroundings, I made work in Syracuse that I never would have made outside of that environment.

JC:  How did you like working in SPARK Contemporary’s space?

AC:  At the beginning we both spent a lot of time in the house.  I ended up doing some printmaking - some lino cuts - so I would just carve them at the house.  We would work during the day at SPARK and sometimes I would stay up late working in my sketchbook or working on stuff in the house.  Everyone told us that you don’t really want to be out at night, so if you’re working in the studio during the day and you want to take some stuff home then it’s better to not be walking or biking after it’s dark.  We didn’t run into trouble though.  As we got closer to the show and I had a lot more stuff to do that was messy, I would work a lot in the studio.  It was great because it was a really open space and there were 2 big open spaces so there was a lot of room to work. 

JC:  How did you like working with the people at SPARK?

AC:  They were really helpful because they picked us up from the bus station and Casey, one of the girls that runs SPARK, brought us to the grocery store, and after that we were given a lot of freedom.  They gave us the key and the space was ours for 3 weeks, to do whatever we wanted with.  It was good because we had to be very independent and come up with creative solutions.  It was very undirected.

JC:  Tell me more about the work you created – the final product.

AC:  I bought 5 large pieces of thin cardboard and made wood grain on them.  Ursula told me about this wood graining tool – you take a flat surface and you put wet paint on it then you run this tool through it and it makes wood grain.  I did a brown one, so it really looks like wood and I did a red, yellow, and blue one.  So I did panels of that, and then I did 4 lino cuts with different representations of different kinds of wood grain.  I also found pieces of a broken down desk that was made of that fake wood, cardboard stuff that desks are made of, so it looks like wood but it’s not wood, and I wood grained those so they look like wood but they look fake and real at the same time.  And then I hung everything on the wall and made a video piece that I was projecting in the other room. 



JC:  What was the video piece?


AC:  I took footage of different kinds of wood grain all around the city and the spaces I was in.  And then I edited it together.  The video I made is a rough sketch for what I am going to be showing at XPACE in September, because I didn’t have enough time to complete the piece. 

JC:  Which leads into what I wanted to ask you next –you seem to have done a lot in a short period of time
how were you able to complete so much work in such little time?  

AC:  In terms of the prints, I made all of those prints 2 or 3 days before the show.  3 weeks is not a lot to make a body of work; to come up with the idea, make work, have a show.  So, I think in terms of the prints and the wood graining stuff, all of that as is will be up here, but in terms of my video – video work because it’s time based just takes more time.  I took a lot of footage there, but  there’s a lot more tweaking I have to do before it will be totally done.

JC:  Did you and Ursula inspire each other?

AC:  Yea we did actually.  The house we stayed in interested us both a lot.  We had a lot of similar ideas in terms of how our surroundings were inspiring us.  She was really good to bounce ideas off of and vice versa.

JC:  How will this residency affect your future work?

AC:  I think it will be good in the sense that, it was really good to come out of Thesis which was so serious and so academic and so long, to go into something that felt like it didn’t have a lot of pressure; it was just like," we believe in you enough to go create somewhere".  It was undirected and it felt very freeing.  I think it was good to have one extreme situation and then another extreme situation, because I think my practice is going to be somewhere in the middle.  I usually approach things very academically, but you need a lot more time to do that and you can’t really work that way in 3 weeks.  It was really good to have so much freedom after being so constrained in Thesis. 

JC:  Any final reflections?


AC:  Just to emphasize the importance that going to another place and taking yourself outside of your norm is really good for your work.  




HOT POT TOUR AND SHOPPE

Friday September 7, 2012



Artists Involved:
MANGO PEELER and Exploding Motor Car

5PM  Tour Commences at OCADU (100 McCaul Street, out front of the main doors) 
6PM - 10PM  Tour gets to XPACE Cultural Centre (58 Ossington Ave.), party starts! 

As a feature of OCAD U's Orientation Week, First Year OCAD U students will be led on a HOT POT TOUR by MANGO PEELER ('Nabe-Bugyo' or 'Hot-Pot-Master').  The tour will begin with a Secret Map for students to discover some of Toronto's hottest and hidden gems.  MANGO PEELER will lead the journey with a JOGGING WARM UP down Dundas to Spadina followed by a PSYCH BIKE TOUR to XPACE.

XPACE will be transformed into a HOT POT SHOPPE.  Inspired by hot springs, saunas, aerobic videos and cooking shows, students will learn the art of cooking a communal hot pot.  Performance and installation by MANGO PEELER and Exploding Motor Car!  

Vegan and Meat options available.

Dancing and dessert with DJ's Ding Dong & Lady Bro spinning hot jams.




Tuesday 28 August 2012

September Programming at XPACE Cultural Centre

Upcoming events and exhibitions at XPACE!


Opening Reception: Friday September 14, 2012 - 7pm - 11pm

Ursula Handleigh, Mirror Mirror, 2012
 
MAIN SPACE

Neither Here Nor There
Adrienne Crossman and Ursula Handleigh
September 14th- October 6th, 2012

Based around a residency in Syracuse, NY at SPARK Contemporary, Adrienne Crossman and Ursula Handleigh created work responding to their surroundings. Neither Here Nor There explores themes of isolation, disorientation, interpretation and nostalgia. Deterioration created by countless abandoned homes and businesses; the landscape of the present, contrasts sharply with signs of the city’s former prosperity. As observers in a foreign yet uncannily familiar landscape, seemingly insignificant details – meticulously hand painted wood grain, an anomalous conch shell, boarded up windows – became emblematic of how the artists related to their surroundings.

WINDOW SPACE

Bigger Leak Than Expected
Joële Walinga
September 14th- October 12th, 2012

In the spirit of absurdity, Bigger Leak Than Expected explores the half-thought, makeshift solutions of the lazy or preoccupied. A leak from the ceiling is caught by a metal bucket, which has become full. A tube attaches the bucket to another, channelling the over-flow from the first bucket to a second and again, to a third. Walinga's work comically highlights the amount of time taken to create this three-bucket structure instead of simply emptying the first bucket. By constructing the leak, Walinga adds a performative element: the paradox of creating, and indirectly maintaining the problem that you also seek to solve.

XBASE

After Homer's Odyssey
Vikki Dzuima
September 14th- October 6th, 2012

Originally from The Simpsons episode "Mom and Pop Art," Dziuma's pieces replicate the accidental sculptures created by cartoon character Homer Simpson. After Homer's Odyssey is a series of planned recreations that maintain the humour inherent in Homer's work. Dziuma emphasizes the reference while extending the context of the originals; transforming them from failed to successful attempts at art. Through their failure, Homer's work parodies contemporary art and criticism, which Dziuma questions as an inherent aspect in contemporary art making.
 

Zines, Zines, and more Zines!

Come check out our newly catalogued zine collection!





Our extensive zine collection here at XPACE is continuously expanding, so to keep up with it and provide user-friendly access, we catalogued it.  Our Summer Gallery Assistant Joanna Labriola, a 4th year printmaking student at OCAD U tackled this project head-on!  Visitors are now able to easily browse the collection and read about the individual artists/creators of the zines.
 
 

Thursday 23 August 2012

The Last Art College

The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978

by:  Garry Neill Kennedy
MIT Press, 2012


 
Garry Neill Kennedy’s book, The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968 – 1978 is a rich, detailed archive of ten of the most interesting and active years in NSCAD’s history.  The synopsis asks,How did a small art college in Nova Scotia become the epicenter of art education--and to a large extent of the postmimimalist and conceptual art world itself--in the 1960s and 1970s?”  Kennedy’s book responds that it was through a flexible, innovative approach that combined the creative talents of faculty, students, and professional artists.  His compilation of essays, artist interviews, class assignments, project proposals, exhibition posters, images and film stills illustrate this point.  The book is structured around a chronology assembled in 1979 by David MacWilliam, compiled using the Now Bulletin, a notifications page posted daily around campus that included, gallery openings, artist talks, and academic meetings. 

Each chapter is devoted to an entire year beginning with 1968-1969 through 1978 concluding with an afterward by Les Levine; an article published in Art in America (July/August 1973) titled, “The Best Art School in North America?”.  Levine asserts that the school’s openness to new ideas and goal of flexibility with regards to educational needs are its greatest strengths and implies that indeed it is the best art school in North America and hopefully it can keep it up.

From the dictionary-like tabs that separate each chapter, to the running timeline of exhibitions, artist talks, and publications throughout; this book is painstakingly and beautifully put together.  Not one detail is overlooked.  Kennedy’s compilation is reminiscent of a scrap book kept over the course of ten years; complete with handwritten letters and snapshots of performances, lectures and exhibition openings.  One of the most interesting things included are copies of instructions for making art.  Submitted to the Projects class by artists like Sol LeWitt, Lucy R. Lippard, and Robert Smithson, these submissions yielded some of the greatest conceptual art.  Instructions from Robert Barry had students “gather together in a group and decide on a single common idea” (p. 14) which would be known only to them and would exist for as long as the idea was kept within the group.  The moment the idea was shared with anyone outside of the group, the piece would cease to exist.  Decades later while studying at the California Institute of the Arts, Mario Garcia Torres created his own work about the student’s response to Barry’s instructions.  What Happens in Halifax Stays in Halifax (in 36 Slides) (2005) involved the reunion of the Project class and consists of 36, 35mm slides with text.  It was created on the occasion of the IX Baltic Triennial (2005) and was exhibited in the Venice Biennial (2007) and the Taipei Biennial (2010).

The Last Art College explores a fine arts school in the radical years of the late sixties and seventies as it successfully pushed the boundaries of art education and fostered creative relationships between students, faculty and professional artists.  This timely book is even more interesting read in light of the recent financial and administrative issues faced by NSCAD.  Named “Halifax’s financially challenged art school” by Allison Saunders in an article published in The Coast, for a deficit of over $2 million.  The pre-existing financial woes of the independent art school which received 60% of its funding through government grants were worsened when the province cut funding for all universities in early 2011.  The school currently has an acting president, Dr. Daniel O’Brien and recently released what they are calling, the Framework for Sustainability, a “plan for the continued vitality and financial sustainability of NSCAD University” (which can be viewed on NSCAD’s website: http://nscad.ca/en/home/abouttheuniversity/news/sustain-040512.aspx).  It seems as though Garry Neill Kennedy is speaking directly to the current challenges faced by the College, when he nostalgically concludes:



“I feel I am fortunate to have been president at the College in more heady days, when security, confidence, and accountability came as rewards for taking risks and for dealing directly with the issues that were of primary concern to committed artists and designers...  We took seriously the admonition not to look back, and we committed with our heads, our hearts, and our hands to engage the new art in truly new ways. [The motto of the college is: “Head, Heart, and Hand.”]  Perhaps time has begun to show that our enthusiasm and our optimism were not sustainable.  But even if this should be the case, I think that everyone associated with the College in its formative period can be proud of our shared commitment not to make any more boring art... and not to make any more boring art colleges!” (p. xxiii)



This book presents a fascinating era in NSCAD’s history and illustrates an idea of what a fine arts school should and could be.      


 
The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978 belongs to "Anthology", Stefan Hancherow's curated collection of books at XPACE's Library.


To read more about the collection:
http://www.xpace.info/curatingtexts/anthology/

PAPERMAKING WORKSHOP - pics!

Last Satuday's papermaking workshop with Elija Montgomery was a huge success! 

Here are some pics...