Artists and Gardens: A Growing Concern

Posted by on Mar 12, 2012 in Grow, Press, Projects | No Comments

A cold wind blows off the grey waters of Vancouver’s False Creek. On a grassy promontory, just west of the Olympic Village and north of the former city works yard, a garden is being dismantled. Large planters, fashioned out of repurposed shipping bags and perched on second-hand wooden pallets, have yielded up their summer bounty of herbs, berries, grains, vegetables and edible flowers. Workshops have been given, walks have been conducted and seeds have been exchanged. More importantly, the garden has sown a large crop of community interest and environmental involvement.

Holly Ward on Köbberling & Kaltwasser – pdf

Posted by on Mar 12, 2012 in Commissioned Text Series, Texts | No Comments

Folke Köbberling and Martin Kaltwasser’s The Games are Open presently takes the form of an oversized bulldozer that sits on the west side of Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek’s Olympic Village. A gargantuan mock-up of the very machine that was recently used to raze the surface upon which it sits, the object appears to be permanent, dominating and perhaps even obtuse. Appearances, in this case, can be misleading. Rather than a static example of ‘plop art’, this colossal model performs a dialectical dance between notions of legacy and the forces of entropy, operating in turn as both monument and anti-monument.

Bruce Grenville on Eric Deis – pdf

Posted by on Mar 12, 2012 in Commissioned Text Series, Texts | No Comments

It is a sad picture, and one that carries a surprising anxiety. The small house is surrounded by chain link fencing, topped with barbed wire, a ‘beware of dog’ sign bars the door, and nearby another hand-scrawled posting advises that the house and lot are not for sale. It is a tiny fortress, buttressed against a panic driven transformation of the urban landscape – last chance to buy, last chance to save the house, last chance to escape – it is hard to tell which is more important – but it is definitely the last chance.

Jordan Strom on T+T – pdf

Posted by on Mar 12, 2012 in Commissioned Text Series, Texts | No Comments

In summer of 2007 a banner was proudly unfurled from one of the upper stories of a newly erected condominium tower on the north footing of Vancouver’s Cambie Street Bridge. Printed on it was a picturesque image of False Creek complete with knock-off geodesic dome and striated, pinky-orange sky. The vista approximated the view from the apartments on the opposite side of the building; as the building itself prevented the viewers of the ad, mainly commuters driving, biking or walking southward on the bridge, from seeing the actual vista, the image, in effect, stood in for the view. Below the picture was the phrase, “Who needs art?”

Digital Natives – Book Publication

Posted by on Mar 11, 2012 in Publications | No Comments

Other Sights for Artists’ Projects and the City of Vancouver Public Art Program are pleased to announce the release of a book publication documenting the public art project Digital Natives, presented on the electronic billboard at the Burrard Street Bridge, in Vancouver, Canada.

T+T False Creek – Book Publication

Posted by on Mar 11, 2012 in Publications | No Comments

The work of T&T (Tony Romano and Tyler Brett) reflects on ideas of sustainability, green architecture and technological progress. Their artworks frequently include elements of natural systems such as solar power and organic filters in conjunction with recycled and reconfigured technology. Over the course of their diverse artistic practice, they have developed a survivalist-informed aesthetic, creating whimsical, yet critically considered artworks that provide astute commentary on our historical moment.

The Situation Is This: Speaker Series Fall 2011

Posted by on Mar 11, 2012 in Projects, The Situation Is This | No Comments

Kathleen Ritter, October 5, 2011 Francisco Camacho, October 11, 2011 Samuel Roy-Bois: Interlocutor, November 8, 2011 Claire Doherty in conversation with Lorna Brown (Podcast) Over the last four decades, artists have re-imagined their relationship to public space. Moving from civic squares and lofty edifices, public art has expanded beyond a relationship to physical structures to […]

Group Search: Art in the Library

Posted by on Mar 11, 2012 in Group Search, Projects | No Comments

Group Search considers our use of the library in many ways. Library visitors are looking for something; we enter a system in order to find it, and welcome surprising discoveries within our often-solitary search. We are active, inquisitive viewers in a visually complex environment that includes the architecture, the systems of categorization, the stacks and the furniture, the machines and signage, the escalators and glass, and the movement of people within.

Cameron Kerr: Marble Infrastructure Project

Posted by on Mar 11, 2012 in Marble Infrastructure Project, Projects | No Comments
Cameron Kerr: Marble Infrastructure Project

Marble Infrastructure Project inserted a series of marble sculptures by Cameron Kerr into public sites in and around the main library precinct.

Kathy Slade: Fifty-two Weeks of Transactions

Posted by on Mar 10, 2012 in Fifty-two Weeks, Group Search, Projects | No Comments
Kathy Slade: Fifty-two Weeks of Transactions

Kathy Slade undertook a 52-week performance, beginning in September 2006, resulting in a unique bookwork. Once a week, on an appointed day and time, she visited the Vancouver Public Library to choose and borrow a book. Each transaction receipt, which clearly states the date, time and book title, was digitally scanned and saved. Because the receipts are printed on thermal paper, they will slowly fade. At the end of the year, these documents from the performance were assembled into an artists’ book that was donated to the Vancouver Public Library Special Collections.