Art For Lunch: Arts Action Inc.

I think that this is an exciting project. I can't wait to see it realised.

Arts Action Inc.

Time Transit

Time Transit was a collaboration between artist Kim Morgan and TR Labs which involved a city bus, bus stops and an interactive website. The work was intended to make people consider time, technology, sustainability, and space (the boundaries between public and private space). The components of the piece were a computer, GPS, 4 monitors, 6 cameras at various bus stops along route number 4. The monitors on the left side of the bus showed the last bus stops that the bus was at in transparent overlays in real time and the monitors on the right side shows the next bus stop where the bus is heading to also in real time. Also along the bottom of the screens was where instant messages sent to the buses would appear. According to Morgan, the experience is the art and the viewer becomes the art. I think that Morgan had an interesting concept and talked about the work really well but I don’t think those intentions were carried out as well as her idea. My reasoning for this is because of my experience with a friend who was familiar with the project (a friend from out side the art and university community who had visited the time transit website and was familiar with the work) but when she did experience it, she didn’t know what she was looking at. I think that it has a lot to do with the unfamiliar views of bus stops that you are leaving and approaching (I has a hard time recognizing the university bus stop where I have waited for 3 years) so it is hard to put the idea of past and present when the bus stops is not familiar. But on the other hand some other people that I talked to felt like there was an invasion of privacy with the cameras playing in real time. So maybe in that way the public/private aspects of the work were realized. The instant messaging part was amusing but seemed more novel and like a venting ground than any kind of consideration between public and private but did fit well in to an technological aspect of the work.

David Hoffos Show at the Dunlop

David Hoffos: Scenes from a House Dream, Dunlop Art Gallery

This show was amazing. It had a feeling of accessible magical-ness because of the low-tech aspects of the show. At least to artists who try to think of achieving something like this and think about a bunch of crazy technology to make it happen. It’s like it is a magic show with its use of mirrors. I loved the dreamy air that you felt crossing the curtain, like into a world of the subconscious. It was difficult to navigate the space at first because of the darkness and I was surprised by the projection of the little boy but felt entranced at the same time because of his placement in the space and the boat that he was floating. Even while viewing the rest of the installations (I would still look back to see what the boy is doing) The entire space felt like a mixture of dreams and nightmares (because of the ghostly apparition in the middle of the house). I went back to be in the space a couple more times and did not tire of it. I need to see more.

Reasons for Numbers

Reasons for Numbers, Performance

Reasons for Numbers was a collaborative performance between John Noestheden and Michelle Sereda with Lee Henderson as a special guest. The premise of the performance was an interaction between the artist and his muse (Sereda representing Noestheden’s passions such as numbers and astronomy). Henderson played the role as the video artist who captured microcosms of the performance with a video camera that was projected on screens above the performance area. Visually it was an interesting performance (neon lighting, large crystal spinning around all I felt were for beauty’s sake) but I found it a little disjointed and confusing at time. The verbal dialogue (after the introduction of Noestheden’s practice) seemed disconnected or maybe I just didn’t get it or didn’t really feel like paying attention because of my confusion trying to put together all of the elements for the performance. I understood that some of the dialogue pertained to Noestheden’s art practice only because I was familiar with his practice where an outsider (like the friend that I brought along with me) would not quite understand that. The video element while quite beautiful but it kind of reminded me of video screens at rock shows where elements of the rock show are displayed on screens above the performers heads. I am not sure (and I really don’t think) that this was the intent. I didn’t really feel satisfied after the performance was done because it felt too short and disconnected but I did like the gluing of the crystals on the back especially on the video screen (again, it was pretty).

Randal's website

Randal Fedje is back and town and he gave me his web address. His work looks good and it is exciting to see the stuff created while in school in Australia.

www.eyeonweb.ca/randalfedje

Art For Lunch: New Grad Students

Today the new grad students showed their body of work. They look like an exciting bunch and will be an asset to the Visual Arts program at the university. Here is are a couple of the students websites:

Chrystene Ells

Kyle Herrnanen