No photos for fear of breaking copyright law... see the links below...
Al and I have had a great day in downtown Calgary. I was so disappointed that we had missed the exhibition Experimental Art and Culture at the
Calgary Art Gallery (it finished a couple of days ago - just my luck) but actually this was no bad thing as they were completely closed for exhibition change and we were forced to go to the
Glenbow Gallery and Museum - where we were lucky enough to see the
Joe Fafard exhibition of sculptures.
We took the (free) audio guide and Aliya listened to every entry - we found the works amusing, disturbing, beautiful, complex and were in awe of the techniques.
We then (had a drink of course) went to the hands on make your own art (ARC discovery room) - Al did a water colour landscape (Fafard was a farm boy) and I had a go at a pastel drawing of a horses head (he loves his horses and cows!) and we watched a video of him discussing his work.
Comment to say with me - 'If you go into your studio and you say to yourself "I don't have any idea of what to do." Then you should leave the studio straight away.' Creativity should be a natural process and not a struggle, it should be a joy that comes from you and isn't forced out of you, then I guess it is pure pleasure.
Of interest might be the upcoming
Sew City: a community project for mending and making May 23 & 24th and the
Celebrating Quilts May 1 - July, 2009
Maybe because I look at virtual environments and cross sections on a daily basis, or maybe because I have a special place in my heart for recycled materials or maybe because the work is so thought provoking, I cannot get the images of Jarod Charzewski’s latest work Regeneration Gap (above) and his other piece Scarp out of my mind.
The size of the pieces reflects the landscapes they emulate but the message of consumerism comes across in these carefully constructed spaces that are as effective in the images on his website as what I assume they would be in person. What I appreciate is the use of already existing materials to create the installation. This is not a new idea in the art world necessarily, but the fact that after the show closes, the clothes are returned to the market I think puts further pressure on artist to think about what they create and the impact that producing art has on consumerism. This is something I’m personally thinking about in my own practice as I compulsively collect stuff that I could potentially use; I now need to look at what I have and what I can use, pass on or reinvent.
I’m wondering if I leave the layers of clothes that are scattered on my floor they will eventually turn into something like Scarp(above)? Even if they don’t I appreciate the inspiration that these pieces gave me.
