Students in a Concordia print processes class were given the opportunity to display the work they produced this term. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Australian exchange student exhibits work as part of Concordia printmaking class
During Ali Watson’s first Canadian winter, she featured her artwork in a Montreal gallery. The 21-year-old exchange student from Australia’s Curtin University faced a starkly different reality this semester compared to the year-round heat of her hometown of Morley.
Her series, featured in Atelier Galerie A.Piroir, contextualizes her experience of being in Canada. It is a response to this new environment and the environment she sees outside.
While on exchange, Watson has lived on Concordia’s Loyola campus, where the view outside her window inspired her artwork, a series of four seven-by-seven-inch woodblock prints. “It is a study of a bush outside of my room’s window […] depicting different weather conditions at various times of day,” she said. “I look out my window everyday and see the bush.”
“I mixed my own ink for my series,” she added. “The colours I used reflect what I saw outside, particularly greys, whites and light purples.”
Watson is a printmaker in her last semester of a fine arts degree. “I was chosen in my print processes class to be featured in the annual printmaking exhibition; it focuses on woodblock printing,” she said. Along with other Concordia students, Watson had the opportunity to help set up the opening of the exhibit, which consisted of curating the works and displaying them in the space.
Ali Watson’s piece is made up of four seven-by-seven-inch woodblock prints. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
“I really didn’t think much about it before I did it,” Watson said with a laugh, reflecting on the inspiration for her project. She described her untitled series as being “about winter and the visibility that winter has on nature. I tried to focus on snow and how it changes the outside landscape.”
A theme throughout her work is the connection she feels with places even when she is not there. “It is kind of like a tactile memory that forms. I focus on structural surroundings that create a sense of memory and familiarity—the constant things that are always there,” Watson said.
Places that evoke nostalgic memories subconsciously create the meaning behind her work. “My work is always about what’s around me. In Montreal, everything I have made has been about being here.”
According to their website, the Atelier Galerie A.Piroir specializes in the creation and exhibition of printmaking. Although she was familiar with the printing process, Watson had never used woodblock prior to this experience, and the carving element was new to her. “I haven’t worked with imagery in a while, because I usually focus on installations. To actually have to design something was challenging.”
Woodblock printing is a detailed and timely process. Once the artist has carved the wood with chiseling tools, it is inked with a roller and run through a press. Every print goes through the press at least three times and holds multiple layers of ink. Printmakers carve out different sections and print on top of them to achieve intricate designs.
“My work portrays home, but not in the traditional sense,” Watson said, referring to the typical use of people to symbolize home. Instead, the colours and textures she chose reflect this theme, and she relied on icons to “reflect a sense of home and belonging.”
“I think home is a feeling that is created,” she added.
When Watson started printmaking three years ago, she did not like it. “I came to realize that it let me produce the most exciting outcomes,” she said. Since learning the process in Australia, printmaking has been Watson’s focus for the past three years.
“I was a boring painter,” she said with a sigh. “I do like sculpture though, and some of my prints become sculptural, as in they aren’t just flat on a wall. The paper itself becomes a sculpture.”
Watson said she hopes to work as a practicing artist and business owner in the future. “I want to eventually do a master’s degree in something that isn’t necessarily art. I would like to maybe do social work and then find a way to link the two,” she said.
The exhibition, which features the work of Concordia printmaking students, is on display at Atelier Galerie A.Piroir until April 7. The gallery is open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Friday.
A screenshot captured 10 minutes into the live stream on March 29, Delgado’s ice sculpture of two dolphins has begun melting and seems to reveal something within the ice.
Alternative exhibition space live-streams Concordia students’ work
Are you tired of the traditional gallery setting? Do you just want to stay home in bed until summer arrives? Then Concordia photography student Phil Mercier and his partner, Lisa Theriault, designed the Closet Gallery just for you!
The couple—both artists originally from New Brunswick—were frustrated with the lack of exhibiting opportunities available for emerging artists and decided to create an alternative space in their own Montreal apartment. Mercier and Theriault set up the first show inside their closet in 2017. All shows in the Closet Gallery are self-produced and live streamed.
Lisa Theriault and Phil Mercier in their apartment studio. Photo by Marie-Lyne Quirion.
As is the case at most galleries, the curators of the Closet Gallery email newsletters about upcoming shows and share them on social media. When the gallery first opened, many of the featured artists were friends or acquaintances of Mercier and Theriault. Although some artists prefer to only have their exhibits streamed for a few days, the gallery began with week-long live streams running everyday from Monday to Friday.
Today, only emerging artists from Concordia’s BFA programs are invited to submit their project proposals. Mercier and Theriault recently applied for and received a Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA) grant to fund their initiative. The grant covers materials and equipment needed for the live streams, as well as artist honorariums.
“We really strive to support artists financially, to remove barriers and respect the work that artists do,” Mercier said. The FASA grant allowed them to form a jury to select projects to be featured in the gallery. The jury includes Erandy Vergara, the art director of the Eastern Bloc gallery, and Camille Larivée from the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective.
Once selected, the artists visit the couple’s home to get a sense of the space they will be working with. They may run a test stream to see how the work looks ahead of time. Mercier insisted that the process is collaborative and that selected artists must be open to possibilities, as live-streaming can change the way a work is perceived.
“Ultimately, we want to give tools to artists to help something fun happen,” he said. The Closet Gallery recently had artist Georgia Graham perform an interpretive piece alongside her artwork in the closet. A Self in Constant Movement was streamed from March 5 to 9, with Graham’s performance on the final day. The stream can be accessed in the gallery’s archive at closetgallery.ca.
Juliana Delgado’s ice sculpture being installed in the Closet Gallery. Photo courtesy of Phil Mercier.
Three Unattending Moons, a sound and ice sculpture installation by Juliana Delgado, was streamed from March 29 to 31. The title of the piece was inspired by Two Evening Moons, a poem written by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Delgado and Garcia Lorca share a love of water and the ocean. The ice sculptures, one of a bride and groom and another of two dolphins, were streamed melting under changing coloured lights over three days, with audio looped in the background. Delgado edited the audio recordings to include a mixture of readings meant to induce an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). These include poems by Garcia Lorca, Renata Pallottini and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, with layered sounds of crackling and water in the background.
“There are recordings of small, constrained spaces to mirror the space of the closet—people talking in elevators, sounds of a shower, muffled recordings taken inside my bag,” the artist explained. “The sounds of myself talking are echo-like, distant and eerie.”
Delgado works with themes of nostalgia, grief, longing and the passage of time. She said the Closet Gallery was the ideal space to show this installation, as she is intrigued with place-based art and “working within the constraints of the small space rather than against it.” The idea to work with ice was inspired by the time constraint of the live-streaming process. The artist embraced the Closet Gallery’s method in the creation of her sculptures, showing something that was evolving and changing.
Delgado is currently in her second year of painting and drawing at Concordia, and will be participating in the Celine Bureau residency, with a focus on audio projects, in the spring.
The Closet Gallerywill be occupied with artist Alejandro Barbosa’s work from April 3 to 6. It will be live streamed on closetgallery.ca.
Fibres and material practices student Ryth Kesselring records the sound of a loom, activated by sensors in Tajima Sound Wave. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Why does the way we look at and interact with art matter?
Fibres are a classic art form. Cultures all over the world have adopted fibre ‘art’ and material practices in some form. While today we can look at a tapestry for purely aesthetic reasons, fibre pieces aren’t always as untouchable as most artworks. Fibre work is known to be useful, providing warmth, shelter and even utilities or tools.
According to the Harvard Gazette, flax fibres dating back to the paleolithic era (34,000 years ago) were discovered in the Republic of Georgia. The archaeologists who found these fibres believe they would have been used for warm clothing, multipurpose cloths and as a binding material, like rope.
Archive of the (Un)Loved invites viewers to feel fabric samples from the artworks featured in The Material Turn. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
The Material Turn acknowledges the traditional methods of fibre work, and pushes the craft to new levels. The 13 artists featured in the FOFA Gallery’s latest exhibit introduce contemporary materials and technology into their work, questioning the context and forming new relationships between traditional fibres and these new-age materials.
Artists Robin Kang, Louise Lemieux Bérubé and Shelley Socolofsky incorporate new, metallic fibres into their work, while artists Ryth Kesselring, Barbara Layne and Janis Jefferies sew wiring and computerised elements into their fibre work—an innovation between the electronic and traditional means of art-making.
I experienced these pieces in a gallery game led by part-time art education professor Christine Stocek and her teaching assistant, Jacob Legallais. Gallery games are generally dedicated to breaking down the intimidation of art galleries, as well as deconstructing the composition of featured artwork; participants question the context in which the artwork was created and the choices made in the process.
Detail from studio arts graduate Emily Hermant’s Reflections on Perseid (No. 1). Photo by Chloë Lalonde.
In an effort to recontextualize my relationship with a medium I am unfamiliar with, I was inspired to consider the types of experiences held at art galleries in relation to my own experiences with liberal and utilitarian forms of art-making. Instead of standing around the gallery in silence, the game permitted us to sit down on the gallery floor, talk loudly and get up close and personal with the artworks.
The game was twofold; first we were asked to describe an artwork of our choice to a classmate, who then had to create a drawing based on the description. The second part of the gallery game was completed individually. We answered a short series of questions by creating three small drawings. I chose Emily Hermant’s Reflections on Perseid (No. 1). Captured by the static flow of the piece, I doodled spools of wire and sound waves. There was no sound emanating from Hermant’s piece, but I was inspired by the sound of a loom recorded in Kesselring’s piece, Tajima Sound Wave. Hermant’s piece seemed to expand Kesselring’s, adding colour and texture to the low humming of the loom. From my experience, observing work from multiple artists within the same context widens the viewer’s perspective. The viewer becomes an active member in the exhibition process by creating links between unrelated artwork that at times, the artists themselves would not have considered.
Inspired by Emily Hermant’s Reflections on Perseid (No. 1), I doodled sketchy lines, spools of wire and sound waves. Photo by Chloë Lalonde.
I realized the pieces could be observed as artifacts, products of their time and place in society, and results of the artists’ own experiences. On their own, they don’t exactly have a use, other than the garments developed by Layne and Jefferies. The projects featured in The Material Turn provoke conversation between digital matter and physical matter. My experience participating in the gallery games forced me to consider another pathway, relationship or difference between the viewer of artworks and a participant in art, and the value viewing and/or participating has in the artworld.
The exhibition at the FOFA Gallery also contains an interactive component, a feature I think is so relevant and important in this context. The Archive of the (Un)Loved invites ‘viewers’ to participate, to feel samples of material discarded by the artists featured in The Material Turn.
In addition to the gallery games, The Material Turn itself attempts to demystify the norms of comportment within a gallery setting by allowing visitors to interact with the artwork, and consequently, the artist’s creative processes.
The exhibition is part of a larger project within Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts and the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology. The Material Turn Project is concerned with the materiality of digital matter. The project facilitates a dialogue and exchange of research among artists and the community at large, and included a symposium (held on March 10) alongside The Material Turn curated by Kelly Thompson and WhiteFeather Hunter.
The Material Turn will be at the FOFA Gallery from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday until April 23.
The importance of (authentic) queer representation in mainstream films
Art reflects life. But the life it reflects is usually specific to the culture or group that produced it. The norms and values found in mainstream popular art in western society pertain to the dominant groups in that society. The problem lies in these values being unrealistically idealized and presented as “normal.” The more these values are enforced and normalized through pop culture, the more groups that don’t fit the model are alienated and often forced to explain or justify their identity.
This is particularly the case in mainstream film and television, which enforce heteronormative values among viewers. These values are often unrealistic and unrepresentative of most people’s lives—especially those who are gender fluid or not heterosexual. Think about most of the comedies, dramas and action movies you’ve seen. The ending usually involves (or is even centred around) the initiation of a heterosexual relationship. Mainstream films almost always run on the assumption that people adhere to certain traits based on a binary model of gender, which usually involves desiring a relationship with a person of the opposite sex—and in that assumption lies the normalizing aspect. Some examples of this in recent media are It, the second season of Stranger Things and Baby Driver. The plots of these films and shows are driven by universal heteronormativity, which makes it seem natural.
The beginning of relationships at the end of mainstream films often mark the end of the main character’s troubles. This is unrealistic and damaging. For one, people may not always desire a sexual relationship, but if this value is portrayed as natural in most of the media they consume, then they may feel unnatural or inadequate. Also, when the endings of mainstream films display a perfect relationship that ends any depression, insecurities or financial problems the main character had, it establishes expectations in the viewer for their own relationships, which—since their life is not a movie—will not be met. Young people, who are especially susceptible to the cultural values they see in society, should not be socialized to want things that are unattainable.
Folks of all sorts of beliefs, values and gender identities make up our diverse society. It is important to have representation for all kinds of lifestyles in films. It is equally important not to present certain lifestyles as “normal,” but rather as an example of one person’s unique experience. Queer representation in films is important, and we are seeing it more in mainstream films than we have in the past, which is good, but also comes with its own set of problems.
A question that has guided many discussions about queer representation in film—and in other media, for that matter—is whether any representation is good representation. In a podcast titled LGBTQ Representation by Film Comment, writer and journalist Mark Harris articulates that while it is clear queer communities would like to see themselves reflected in more mainstream media, how this could be achieved is another question entirely. For many, any representation is not necessarily a cause for celebration. Stereotypes, exaggerations and assumptions are prevalent throughout Hollywood representations of queer people, and while some may view these characters as progressive, others might see them as half-hearted attempts to temporarily pacify queer audiences.
The answer then must be to push toward broader, more fluid representations of queerness in film. Because of the narrowness of the space that queer characters are given in film and other media, there is not nearly enough room to express the multiplicities of queer experience that exist in reality. In the same way that it’s important to debunk the idea that straightness is “normal” and queerness is “abnormal,” it is also necessary to understand that queerness itself also exists in a variety of ways. This is why it is often difficult for filmmakers and studios—especially those in Hollywood—to represent the entirety of the queer community through the experiences of a few characters.
In a 2016 article titled “Still Looking,” Harris presents another way films can begin to feature more queer characters. “Representation is, of course, an across-the-board struggle, and the fight for inclusiveness usually comes down to two demands: tell our stories (or better still, let us tell our stories), and put us in ‘your’ stories,” Harris writes. He claims that queer authorship, as well as representation through characters, is key to building a more inclusive, well-rounded collection of queer films.
“We’re [here] already; a film doesn’t have to stop a story in its tracks to acknowledge that, or hand itself a humanitarian award for figuring it out,” Harris concludes. All that’s needed is a little more space.
Noteworthy upcoming event:
The Montreal-based “queer film community” fliQs hosts bi-monthly queer film nights at Notre-Dame-des-Quilles (32 Beaubien St. E.) featuring short films by local filmmakers. They are currently accepting submissions for the next edition, which will be on April 23 at 8 p.m. More information can be found on fliQs’ Facebook page.
Artists Emma Forgues (left) and Sam Bourgault perform in their piece, prox.Dance. Photo by Alex Hutchins
Concordia students explore pedagogy in this year’s Art Matters Festival
The term ‘pedagogy’ is defined as “the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.” Chris Mendoza and Jamie Potvin—the curators of pedagogy, an exhibition included in this year’s Art Matters Festival—explained that they wanted to explore this method outside the world of academia. Mendoza and Potvin focused their approach on pedagogy in the art world, inquiring how and why we learn through and with art.
Both studio art students with minors in art education, the curators met while co-teaching together. According to Potvin, “art education has a really structured framework,” which they wanted to expand on. The idea of exploring the intersection of art and education evolved into the concept for an exhibition. Mendoza and Potvin agreed that the Art Matters Festival could act as a platform they could build their idea on, as well as provide access to student work at Concordia.
The exhibition’s curators, Chris Mendoza (left) and Jamie Potvin. Photo by Alex Hutchins
This year, the festival received almost 300 submissions, which each chosen curator sifted through in order to find pieces that fit with their exhibition idea. A jury approved the curators’ choices, and they were given the funds and resources needed to bring their idea to fruition. As Potvin pointed out, the festival takes place in “traditional gallery space[s],” which added another area of exploration and critique to their exhibition. The curators aimed to question how viewers learn from pieces presented in white-wall galleries, how artists learn about their practice by exhibiting in these spaces and how their experiences would differ in unconventional gallery spaces. By presenting the works in a traditional gallery, Mendoza and Potvin call attention to these questions and encourage viewers to question the way they interact with art as well. Mendoza referred to this all-encompassing exploration as “a triad of curator-artist-viewer” experiences of learning.
One of the pieces featured in pedagogy is by Concordia computation arts students Emma Forgues and Sam Bourgault. Mendoza described their piece as the “translation of intimacy into something digital.” The piece, titled prox.Dance, originated in a digital sound class. It involves a performance (done by Forgues and Bourgault), which the artists wanted to share with the art community outside of the classroom. Similar to Mendoza and Potvin, they were drawn to the festival as a way to present their idea to the public. “It helps us to see how it looks in a real context,” Bourgault said.
The performance piece revolves around the artists, who wear proximity sensors. According to Forgues, they begin by moving in the space around them, and proceed to “explore the distance” between each other, always moving in a slow, calculated manner. Bourgault explained that they wanted to “focus on these minimal movements between two bodies,” and allow the audience to do the same. The artists also used frequency modulation (FM) synthesis to incorporate sound into their movements. With every movement Forgues and Bourgault make, the sound changes and adjusts. Through the exploration of movement, the artists learn about each other and the space between and surrounding them. They will perform prox.Dance at the exhibition’s finissage on March 23, but until then, a video of their preparation process is on display at the gallery.
A still from Phil Mercier’s 2-channel video project. Photo by Alex Hutchins
Phil Mercier, a photography transfer student from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, was chosen to display his piece titled Action. The piece consists of two iMac computers that display old footage of the time Mercier spent at summer camps as a child. The artist, photographer and filmmaker said that as a kid, he enjoyed recording portions of his life. Recently, his parents sent him the old tapes, and Mercier decided to convert them into an art piece. He catalogued the clips by dividing them based on the actions that happen in the recordings. The actions were then pieced together to form a 2-channel video installation that Mercier said was intended to be “almost overwhelming.” It’s up to the viewer to decipher what is happening and how to make sense of it.
The artist said he is happy to participate in the festival, as he believes “it’s super important that there are opportunities for student-[artists], […] and that students are paid and valued for their work.” Art Matters has created a space for student-creators to share their knowledge and ideas while also being recognized for their work. Mendoza, Potvin, Forgues, Bourgault and Mercier all agreed that the environment of the festival encouraged collaboration and a collective respect for student work.
Mercier explained that although what is shared in a classroom has its value, practical experiences like this festival are extremely valuable to student-artists as well. He also encouraged viewers to give exhibited works the time and attention they deserve. Although it’s easy to pass by them without much thought, “when you’re in front of the piece, try to give it an extra 10 seconds and think about it a little bit more critically,” he said.
pedagogy is on display at Espace Projet (353 Villeray St.) until March 24. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The finissage will be held at the gallery on March 23, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Forgue and Bourgault’s performance will be included in the event. For more information about the exhibition, visit the Art Matters Festival’s website. Additional information about the artists and their work can be found on their personal websites.
“Rest In Peace Phil Folderino” is an ode to manual means of storing data. Mikaela Kautzky urges viewers to think about the impact art-making has on the environment. Photo courtesy of Mikaela Kautzky.
Introducing three final artists from the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency
In celebration of the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR)’s first year of operation, the centre will host their first annual residency in collaboration with the VAV Gallery. Together, the VAV and CUCCR have selected seven undergraduate fine arts student-artists who will exhibit their work on March 22. The artists have been tasked with creating zero-waste artworks using CUCCR’s material.
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Gabrielle Mulholland is a Toronto native and began her studies in illustration at OCAD University. She left OCAD to move to Montreal in 2014, and is now in her last year of print media at Concordia. This summer, Mulholland will be opening her own printmaking studio in the Plateau. Inspired by CUCCR’s focus on creative reuse, Mulholland began to consider the original saying, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and how the emphasis was originally placed on reducing and recycling, not reusing.
Gabrielle Mulholland’s installation, x 11, consists of a papier-mâché screen print sculpture, a “snow pile” of found materials and an 8.5 x 11 inch tapestry. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Mulholland.
The artist’s experience of constantly being in the city forms the basis of her current work, which aims to challenge the idea that art and design create waste. Mulholland is particularly interested in producing work from garbage found on Montreal’s snowy, frozen streets. For the residency, she has created an installation called x 11. It consists of a papier-mâché screen print sculpture, a “snow pile” of found materials and an 8.5 x 11 inch tapestry. The exact composition of her piece will be revealed at the exhibition.
The tapestry was created from material sourced at a Renaissance thrift store and hand-dyed using a salt resist. “In the imagery on the tapestry, you can slightly see the original illustration student in me who was obsessed with human communication and symbols,” the artist said.
Mulholland is thrilled to be part of the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency. She said she hopes the exhibition will inspire artists and students alike to be more involved in creative reuse.
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Laura Douglas has a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in environmental studies from McGill University, and is currently in her third year of studio arts at Concordia.
She works in a variety of mediums, including paint, textile and installation. Most, if not all, of Douglas’ work grapples with themes related to the environment. Her recent project was exhibited as part of the Art Matters Festival at Mainline Gallery’s Tender Teeth exhibit. She hand made a biodegradable quilt using organic fibres and placed seeds in the fibres that will grow upon long-term contact with soil. Her work will also be featured in Bright Lights / Blurred Vision, opening March 19 at 6 p.m. at La Récréation – Jeux de société et activités culturelles (404 Ontario St. E).
Laura Douglas built small hanging planters and larger self-watering planters out of recycled containers. Photo courtesy of Laura Douglas.
For the residency, Douglas created an installation of small hanging planters and large self-watering planters, using soil from public spaces and reused containers of varied sizes from CUCCR. She painted these containers to suit her desired aesthetic.
Douglas is particularly interested in the fact that cities are often built on the most fertile soil, yet lack large areas dedicated to gardening. As an artist and environmental activist, Douglas wants to use her work as a means of teaching others about how easy urban gardening can be. Self-watering planters can be made with two containers and mesh or burlap. The bottom of one container must be removed and replaced by the mesh or burlap, allowing water from a second container to be absorbed when needed.
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Mikaela Kautzky is currently in her second year majoring in studio art and minoring in diversity and the contemporary world. She said she believes art is a valuable personal, social and cultural tool, but it lacks consideration in how it impacts the environment. Like Mulholland, Kautzky aims to deconstruct the wasteful nature of art-making.
In addition to waste, Kautzky’s work shines a spotlight on social and environmental degradation. She strives to lead a completely zero-waste lifestyle, meaning she only consumes unpackaged food items and commits to purchasing biodegradable products. Kautzky uses art as a tool to commit to no-garbage living.
“For one whole school year, I challenged myself to do a painting of every piece of trash I threw out, and I learned a lot about the issue through this creative research,” Kautzky revealed. “Now, going forward, I try to create with the least environmental harm as possible by using reused materials and less toxic paints in my art practice.”
“Rest In Peace Phil Folderino” is an ode to manual means of storing data. Mikaela Kautzky urges viewers to think about the impact art-making has on the environment. Photo courtesy of Mikaela Kautzky.
Kautzky volunteered with CUCCR during the fall semester, and she is quite familiar with the abundance of file folders kept in the depot. Her project for the residency, “Rest In Peace Phil Folderino” is an ode to manual means of storing data and questions whether or not online storage is truly the greener alternative. “It is ultimately just out of mind, out of sight,” Kautzky said.
The artist also dabbles in photography and fashion in Less_n, a larger project that demands a dialogue on contemporary consumption. Kautzky will be selling upcycled, second-hand shirts at September Surf Cafe and Pop-Up Shop on March 24 at 4123 St-Denis St. Details will be released on Instagram @mik00k and @less_n.
The Concordian has profiled the artists-in-residence each week leading up to CUCCR’s birthday event on March 22. Past issues have featured Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes, Gabrielle Desrosiers, Roxane Fiore and Saba Heravi.
Jessica Di Giacomo, right, explains to Mia Anhoury how to add more definition by using white around the eyes. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Concordi’ART hosts an evening of artistic exploration in collaboration with Paint Nite Montreal
Rather than spend a typical night out at a bar, a group of 20 Concordia students participated in an evening of drinking and painting hosted by Concordi’ART, in collaboration with Paint Nite Montreal, at Peel Pub on March 7.
According to Nathalie Sjarova, the vice-president external of Concordi’ART, the aim of the club is to create a community of people who enjoy both art and business. Concordi’ART’s motto is “building bridges between business and art.”
Alizé Honen-Delmar, the club’s president who is currently on exchange in Australia, created Concordi’ART in February 2017. Sjarova, a marketing student, jumped at the opportunity to be part of the executive team when she saw a post on Facebook seeking candidates.
Concordi’ART aims to encourage and help connect two typically dichotomous worlds. “Art students can learn a lot from business students, but also business students can learn a lot from art students,” Sjarova said. “It’s a very huge asset to be creative in [the business] environment, and at the end of the day, artists are entrepreneurs.”
Concordi’ART executives from left: Céline Salibi, Diana Jane Tran, Yonathan Chu, Sarah Morstad, Vincent Letarte and Nathalie Sjarova. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Last week’s Paint Nite was an opportunity to bring people together to make art. Jessica Di Giacomo and Daniel Torchinsky, the co-producers of Paint Nite Montreal, led the painting tutorial.
A plate with large drops of paint in the primary colours—blue, yellow, red—as well as black and white, four paint brushes and a nicely rolled up apron were set up next to each white canvas sitting on a mini easel.
The goal for everyone was to recreate a painting that illustrated a close-up of an owl’s face. The first step was to outline the eyes with bright yellow and orange, and outline the beak with intimidating and unforgiving black.
Slowly but surely, the canvases went from white to covered in different self-made shades of green and blue.
With “drink-and-dry breaks” between each of the three layers of paint, participants were able to socialize, encourage one another and take a look at all the owls being created.
Paint Nites combine art and drinks for an evening of creativity and socializing. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
The final layer of paint required short brush strokes dipped in shades of blue, green and white to create a feather-like texture.
Despite all participants following the same steps and recreating the same painting, there was still room to express creativity. Some participants preferred to blend out the feathers, while others had a distinct ombré effect, going from light green to dark blue. Each eye varied in size from canvas to canvas, and one participant, Nathan Marrache, decided to paint Angry Bird-like eyes.
“It’s amazing how everyone’s painting looks so different even though it’s supposed to be the same,” said Marrache after he looked at everyone’s final paintings.
Paint Nite hosts events almost every day at various venues. More information can be found on their website: www.paintnite.com. Further information about Concordi’ART and any upcoming events can be found on its Facebook page.
Saba Heravi's piece is comprised of small drawings, thread and fabric. Photo courtesy of Saba Heravi.
Introducing two artists from the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency
In celebration of the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR)’s first year of operation, the centre will host their first annual residency in collaboration with the VAV Gallery. Together, the VAV and CUCCR have selected seven undergraduate fine art student-artists who will be featured in an exhibition on March 22. The artists have been tasked with creating zero-waste artworks using CUCCR’s materials.
The Concordian will profile the artists-in-residence each week leading up to the birthday event. Last week’s issue featured Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes’ animation, Ballad for the Spirits, and Gabrielle Desrosiers’ sunset studies.
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Roxane Fiore has a DEC in graphic design from Ahuntsic College, and is now in her last year of painting and drawing at Concordia. She works primarily in drawing, but relies heavily on collage for inspiration and compositional components. Collage allows her to create new perspectives by enabling her to “access things that are beyond what I can invent,” Fiore explained.
Roxane Fiore sifted through magazines to find images suited to her vision. Photo courtesy of Roxane Fiore.
While searching for images, Fiore looks for textures, colours and unrecognizable shapes among figurative imagery. She flips through magazines, tearing out and cutting up pieces that intrigue her. Then, she scans all she has collected in order to work with the images digitally.
“I have a large digital collection of random pieces that I can use and gather together, and there is a lot of chance happening in my work,” the artist revealed.
Fiore enjoys the element of surprise that comes with juxtaposing random images with each other. Once satisfied with the juxtaposition, the artist will add, remove and play with different features until she creates something balanced that catches her eye.
Sometimes, Fiore will take the individual collage pieces and make a manual assemblage to photograph. That process allows her to obtain shadows and create an interesting “trompe-l’oeil,” or illusion.
Usually Fiore creates large works, but for the CUCCR residency, she has adapted her process. “This time around, I was scanning through the material found at CUCCR with an idea of the type of imagery I was looking for,” Fiore said.
This project, titled Places I Have Never Been to; Things I Have Never Seen, is a series of small, square drawings measuring 7.5 inches, drawn in pastel and charcoal. “Their small size invites the viewer to search for details and experience the world through my eyes,” she said. This series illustrates her perception of the world. She is in a constant search for form, shapes, texture and colour. The pieces also exemplify how she crops images in her mind, focusing on the beauty within the everyday and the mundane.
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Saba Heravi was born in Iran and moved to Canada five years ago to continue her studies in architecture. Heravi has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Azad University of Mashhad in Iran, and received her master’s in architecture here at Concordia. However, she always wanted to study fine arts and become a “career artist.” Heravi is currently finishing her third year in studio arts at Concordia, with a major in drawing.
Her work revolves around the ideas of home, identity and memory. As an immigrant, the collision of cultures and identity is the artist’s daily reality. Heravi’s work approaches this broad subject in fragments, so she can make sense of what is going on.
“I try to tell intimate stories by utilizing objects, stories and photographs,” Heravi explained. “In my work, objects and belongings become as important as the subject to expose the narrative. They are an integral part of my narrative.”
Heravi creates pocket worlds for the many different versions of herself. Photo courtesy of Saba Heravi.
Recently, she has been working on drawings of little worlds. The population of these worlds consist of women and young girls, all representative of herself. The artist’s characters are calmly engaged in strange activities and poses in relation to their surroundings. For example, some may be doing yoga, and some may be dropping or breaking things on purpose.
Initially, Heravi planned to use drawing as the main medium for the residency project. However, after exploring CUCCR’s depot, she realized drawing alone wouldn’t convey the message she was aiming for. “I decided to mainly use objects from CUCCR, and drawing as a secondary tool. This way, CUCCR’s recycled material would play the leading role in my project,” Heravi said.
The artist used a lot of stationary materials, fabric and string to accompany her drawings, as well as some hardware, like screws and bolts, to assist with the installation process.
“The objects vary, which I think is whats makes this projects challenging. You don’t necessarily find the objects you had in mind, and you will end up using something you had never thought of,” Heravi explained. At CUCCR, this very moment Heravi describes is referred to as “CUCCR magic.” Mark your calendars for CUCCR’s birthday at the VAV Gallery on March 22 at 6 p.m. Stay tuned for next week’s profiles of student-artists Gabrielle Mulholland, Laura Douglas and Mikaela Kautzky.
Participants in Volny’s workshops come from all over the world, and specialize in a variety of disciplines. Photo courtesy of Sandra Volny.
Concordia alumna Sandra Volny speaks about her latest project
Concordia graduate Sandra Volny explores concepts of sound and space through forms of collective knowledge and shared skills in her recent project, Sound and Space Research.
Volny is a multidisciplinary artist who splits her time between Paris, France and Montreal. A MFA graduate from Concordia University, she recently completed her PhD at La Sorbonne in Paris this past December. Through her work and research, Volny focuses on exploring concepts of sound and space, as well as their dualities and complexities. This can be seen in her video installation, where does sound go, where does it come from, which was exhibited at Concordia’s FOFA Gallery last fall.
Sound and Space Research continues Volny’s investigation of aural and spatial awareness, with the added component of collective knowledge and concepts of shared intelligence. This is done through the collaboration of interdisciplinary forms and shared learning experiences. Throughout her career, Volny has collaborated with other artists of various disciplines, each participating and bringing their specific expertise to a project and to their collective work.
Where does sound go, where does it come from, which focuses on the use of sound, specifically sonar in small fishing villages in Chile, was a collaboration through Volny’s collective, Triangular Project. Volny and two fellow artists, Florine Leoni and Macarena Ruiz-Tagle, traveled around Chile together and worked in tandem on their specific focuses and artistic practices within the theme of aural and spatial awareness.
Sandra Volny’s where does the sound go, where does it come from (2016). Photo by Richard-Max Tremblay.
It was with Triangular Project that Sound and Space Research first came to fruition in 2017. The project, in collaboration with the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture in Greece, is an artistic research platform for participants of all expertise and disciplines.
Sound and Space Research is a week-long experience. Each day involves diverse activities and exercises, providing participants with a range of mediums to practice and explore. As part of the focus on shared knowledge, participants practice a wide range of primarily fine arts-based disciplines, including dance, music and visual arts, as well as architecture, wellness professions and anthropology. The project is not focused on participants’ previous accomplishments, but rather encourages and facilitates further growth on a personal and collective level. Participants come from all over the world, and do not require a particular level of education or experience to participate. Last year, however, about 60 per cent of participants were Concordia students or alumni, according to Volny.
Sound and Space Research is a very intense experience, with all of the participants living together, working together and sharing the same spaces. According to Volny, this intensity encourages and creates something special. Participants have to push themselves; each day consists of different activities in different forms and disciplines. This aspect ties into Volny’s own work process, in which she immerses herself in new environments and works in collaboration with other artists, such as her travels in Chile for where does sound go, where does it come from. This was a very intense experience for Volny, because she was meeting new people and exploring different facets of her research in a new environment, while also creating new work born from these experiences and interactions.
At the end of the program, there is a collective exhibition for the participants to showcase work they have created during the week. This final showcase is open to the public, as a component of the partnership with the Ionion Center, to encourage interaction between the artists and the community. This accessibility is important to Volny and for the participants, as it allows further connection with the community.
In mid-May, Sound and Space Research will once again take place in collaboration with the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture. It will be organized by Volny, alongside sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard, who will work as a mentor in the program. Sound and Space Research works outside of academic institutions, and a university degree or a specific level of expertise is not required to participate in this project. The project does have connections with academic spaces, though, and Volny said there are plans to expand it internationally, and eventually to Montreal.
More information about the Sound and Space Research project, including how to apply to this year’s session, is available on its website.
The 15th edition of Nuit Blanche saw artistic expression materialize across media
Although it’s unclear where the concept of all-night art festivals originated, Paris is credited with creating “Nuit Blanche” in the early 2000s. Other European cities hosted these types of festivals throughout the 90s, but the first night of Nuit Blanche was established in France and has since spread to other cities around the world.
The program for this year’s edition of Montreal’s Nuit Blanche was divided into six categories based on the type of event. Whether you were looking for “A Night of Stories” or “A Night on the Dancefloor,” you were guaranteed to find something you’d enjoy. With over 200 events and activities, from poetry readings and interactive installations to DJ and comedy performances, the festival promised a night of unabashed creativity.
Dozens of art-and-music lovers moved and grooved to upbeat house music by local DJs. Surrounded by flashing lights, deep bass and an aura of pulsating energy, many spectators danced until well after 3 a.m. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
A feeling of collective celebration permeated the city—even underground. The metro was open all night, encouraging people to explore and increase their chances of finding hidden gems—of which there were plenty. The metro also served as a performance venue at certain times throughout the night. Berri-UQAM hosted swing and salsa performances, and the St-Laurent station was the spot for local DJs to perform improvised scratch sessions.
Spectators gathered around pop-up fire pits in Esplanade de la Places des Arts to warm their chilled hands, recommend exhibits to newfound friends, roast delicious sausages and, of course, have obligatory photo-ops. Photo by Alex Hutchins.Photo by Alex Hutchins.
The hub of the entire event was, of course, the Quartier des Spectacles, which hosted everything from free concerts to competitive games inspired by the Olympics. Place des Festivals transformed into a lively and crowded strip as people jumped from one activity to the next. Portraits of famous musicians illuminated an entire wall of the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan building, and a huge zipline stretched over the expanse of the crowd.
Shattered glass illuminated with hues of green and yellow make up one of the exhibits at Eastern Bloc. Decorated with industrial-style string lights, an outdoor terrasse allowed spectators to chat with art-loving friends and strangers alike. Photo by Alex Hutchins.Joffré Roy-Beauregard (above) is one of the seven artists featured in the (Dis)CONNECT exhibition. Other interactive multimedia installments invited spectators to listen to and watch the audio-visual representations of varying human emotions, such as fear and anxiety. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
For festival-goers who wanted a more relaxed experience, galleries all over the city kept their doors open well into the night. The Art Matters Festival, for example, took Nuit Blanche as the opportunity to open this year’s edition of student-run exhibitions. Espace POP hosted the festival’s opening night, with the artworks of its first exhibition, (Dis)CONNECT, on display. Eastern Bloc, a new media production and gallery space, collaborated with the non-profit organization Never Apart to showcase the talents of Latin-American artists in two parts. The night began with multimedia installations, and concluded with performances by local DJs, which saw visitors dropping by to warm up and shake off their fatigue.
Introducing two artists from the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency
In celebration of the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR)’s first year of operation, the centre will host their first annual residency in collaboration with the VAV Gallery. Together, the VAV and CUCCR have selected seven undergraduate fine art student-artists who will be featured in an exhibition on March 22. The artists have been tasked with creating zero-waste artworks using CUCCR’s material.
The Concordian will profile the artists-in-residence each week leading up to the birthday event.
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Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes moved to Montreal from Toronto three years ago to pursue her studies in animation. Arroyo-Kreimes is an experienced digital artist and is currently in her third year in animation.
“I try to see my art as a way to explore the many ideas I have going on in my head,” she said. “It’s a way of resolving them, I guess.” Most of her past work focuses on mythology, humanity and identity. Arroyo-Kreimes enjoys experimenting with under-camera animation methods, such as stop-motion.
Her work, Ballad for the Spirits, is a collection of one-minute video loops that address ideas of karma, the afterlife and recycling. Using a great mass of odds and ends like buttons, metal knobs and string from CUCCR, Arroyo-Kreimes has given these seemingly random objects a new purpose, a new shape, body and voice.
“The objects are now awakened and alive again in the bardo [a state between death and rebirth], as objects pass from one hand to another similarly to the way karma works,” she said.
The way she sees it, karma, rejuvenation and the recycling of objects are linked and belong within the same imaginary venn-diagram.
Ballad for the Spirits is a collection of one-minute video loops that address ideas of karma, the afterlife and recycling. Photo courtesy of Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes.
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Gabrielle Desrosiers completed a DEC in set and costume design at the École de théâtre de St-Hyacinthe in 2007, and began her BFA in studio arts at Concordia in 2014.
The foundation of Desrosiers’ work lies in her travel experiences. Last year, she spent a semester abroad at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel.
Desrosiers is a multidisciplinary artist, focusing on performance art and installation, combining various elements and mediums. For the residency, she is presenting part of a research-based project. She is fascinated by the gradient colours of the sunset and twilight period right before nightfall. Currently untitled, Desrosiers’ installation questions the metaphysical and psychological effects, reactions and suggestions of this
Desrosiers’ piece is based on the gradient of colours found in the sky during sunsets and twilight. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Desrosiers.
natural, observable phenomenon.
“I paint gradient colours of the sky and sunset on a flat surface, which is similar to the frontal position our body takes to look at it,” Desrosiers said. “But, in fact, the sky is all around. The sky is not a surface; it is an intangible, three-dimensional thing.”
She explained that her goal is to recreate the gradie
nt motif on a structure by reconstructing the two-dimensional surface and transforming it into an engaging, three-dimensional experience.
“I think that the verb ‘to experience’ is really important here,” Desrosiers said. She reflects on the twilight period as a symbol of ending and beginning. “It’s a transition,” she said. “A moment of time sort of suspended […] It is the end of something, and the beginning of something else. It’s a cycle.”
Desrosiers selected material from CUCCR that seemed interesting in connection with her research. She recalled spending large amounts of time in the depot, which led her to be inspired by the textures and patterns, or materiality of the objects. Desrosiers’ installation uses large sheets of paper, found objects, latex paint and a kiosque tent, all courtesy of CUCCR.
The artist said she is glad to be part of the CUCCR residency, as its zero-waste goals are similar to her own. She reuses her own material and often re-integrates them into different projects. “I feel like there is no complete finality in each of my projects,” Desrosiers said. “They can continue to evolve or merge [with others].”
Mark your calendars for CUCCR’s birthday at the VAV Gallery on March 22 at 5 p.m. Stay tuned for next week’s profiles on student-artists Roxane Fiore and Saba Heravi. Follow the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse on Facebook and Instagram @cuccr.
Simon Laroche in his studio in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood. Photo by Valeria Cori-Manocchio.
Simon Laroche takes on the seemingly dichotomous roles of engineer and artist
Multimedia artist Simon Laroche’s studio is in an unusual state: it’s partly vacant. Two art pieces that usually fill some of the space are missing. One is being exhibited in Kitchener, Ont., and the other recently finished its exhibit in Quebec City.
Laroche, who moved into the studio about three years ago, said the partially empty space lends itself to new projects. “It feels like there’s more room to make more stuff,” he said.
The “stuff” Laroche is referring to can be summed up in a few words: “a systems-based approach to art.” His work incorporates robotics and moving parts to produce installations, interactive shows and performances.
Nous Sommes les Fils et les Filles de l’Électricité premiered at 100%, a Paris arts festival, in 2016. Photo by Gridspace.
In 2003, Laroche and Etienne Grenier founded Projet EVA, a collective that produces digital art installations and performances. The two met while completing their master’s degrees in communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). They rapidly became friends and began collaborating.
After responding to open calls and requests for projects during the collective’s earlier years, Laroche and Grenier developed a way for their pieces to circulate in different galleries, museums and festivals while the artists produced and conceptualized ideas for other work at the same time.
“[We] envisioned a way to have three operations running at the same time: the circulation of work, the production of a piece and […] the phases where you think about the project, you conceptualize it,” Laroche said. “[The] aim was to have all three of these things running at the same time so we would get more activities.”
As Laroche and Grenier had hoped, Projet EVA’s pieces began circulating more frequently. The funny thing, however, was that some installations toured outside Montreal before being exhibited in the city.
Nous Sommes les Fils et les Filles de l’Électricité premiered in Paris, France, two years ago at La Villette Park for 100%, a multidisciplinary festival. The piece, which is a combination of performance, live participatory theatre and digital art, according to Projet EVA’s website, was also displayed in four Maison de la Culture art centres throughout Montreal about a year later in November 2017. “It actually toured in Europe before coming here,” Laroche said.
Laroche called Montreal’s art scene a “great portal to Europe,” having had several experiences touring small and large works in France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Cinétose, a work made of metal sheets that lower onto viewers, toured in France. Photo by Gridspace.
Cinétose was one of the larger projects Projet EVA created that circulated in various locations in France. The electromagnetic installation, measuring 20 feet in length and 30 feet in width, is made of steel sheets and lowers onto viewers mechanically. “It covers the whole ceiling of a venue,” Laroche said. “[Cinétose] marked a change in the way we produce art, making [Projet EVA] envision larger, more complex pieces involving more resources.”
Despite success in Europe, Laroche said Projet EVA is trying to circulate more of their works in Canada as well as work with more Canadian art centres.
Balancing engineering and art
Laroche’s artistic background is based in arts and communications. He became interested in multimedia during his undergraduate degree at UQAM because it was “experimental and open-ended.” However, Laroche moved away from strictly audiovisual platforms when he found projects stopped being dynamic. “Even moving images on a monitor seem too static to me,” he said.
This prompted him to incorporate computer programming into installations, and interactive platforms with moveable, physical components. As an undergrad, Laroche worked as a computer programmer, so he was familiar with concepts like coding, which he later brought into his pieces. This coding know-how helped Laroche incorporate robotics and moving parts into many of his projects.
Perpetual Demotion is a human-feeding robot powered by three motors. It was built for Hedonistika, which was presented at the Biennale internationale d’art numérique exhibition at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal four years ago. When viewers stand in front of the robot, it detects movement, locates a face and aligns the spoon to move towards their mouth.
Perpetual Demotion detects movement, finds the participant’s face and aligns the spoon with their mouth. Screenshot from Vimeo video by Simon Laroche.
The project required inverse schematics, which involves mathematical functions that undo each other. Laroche turned to YouTube to find experts and videos about the unfamiliar topic. He said the process of learning to build elements of his works can sometimes involve being as “stubborn as possible to figure out how things work [to] reappropriate [them].”
Since Laroche uses “a lot of code that isn’t necessarily developed for the arts,” he tries to figure out what works by creating numerous prototypes. Perpetual Demotion was no exception. He built several small mockups to test out which mechanics would give him the desired effect. This “experimental approach,” as Laroche calls it, is a live, real-time way to test both the ideas he has prior to beginning the project and the ideas that come about while building a project.
Getting to this prototype phase often comes after hours of conceptualizing an idea, researching potential ways to make that idea come to life, and constantly adjusting mechanic and artistic aspects as the piece is being built.
One of Laroche’s collaborations with Ying Gao is Incertitudes, a project featuring voice-activated garments. Photos by Mathieu Forting.
Laroche’s knowledge of mechanics and art allows him to completely understand each component of his pieces. While he often collaborates with other artists, Laroche likes taking on the seemingly dichotomous roles of engineer and artist. “By mastering technicalities of [a project], I can better tune the aesthetics of it,” he said.
In 2013, Laroche collaborated with Ying Gao, a Montreal-based fashion designer and professor at UQAM. The two met while completing their master’s degrees. Laroche remembers being in Gao’s studio as she moved a magnet above some needles and asked him: “How do we do this without holding the magnet?”
Incertitudes was the answer to that question. The pair used Laroche’s knowledge of mechanics to create voice-activated, kinetic garments. Similar to the needles Gao once laid out and moved with a magnet in her studio, the garment is covered in pins that move when spectators speak to it. The pins’ movement creates a dialogue between artwork and viewer.
Teaching at Concordia
Laroche began teaching classes in Concordia’s intermedia and studio arts programs in the early 2000s. While some of the classes have changed names, what hasn’t changed is his devotion to his students. Laroche enjoys exchanging ideas with students, as well as guiding them towards what they want to do in the future. The exchange of ideas that occurs between professor and student furthers Laroche as an artist.
“Even if there’s a difference in knowledge or experience, there’s still this dialogue that comes up and that makes me progress as well,” he said.
Teaching part-time gives Laroche an ideal schedule—he has enough time to balance his professional work with his teaching. “Having one class per year or per semester is great for me,” he said.
When Laroche is teaching a course, he likes to start off with a bit of background in art history and programming basics before proceeding to projects. This way, his students are well-versed in the theory before they begin practical work.
One of the most challenging parts of being a part-time faculty member is that he cannot supervise independent studies courses for undergraduate and master’s students. “There are students I’ve had in first and second year; I know where they want to go and I know where they are at,” Laroche said. Yet, despite having taught some of these students more often than full-time professors have, when students ask him to supervise their work, he has to say no. “It’s kind of deceiving.”
Nonetheless, he has managed to find a way to support students with the help of the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA). With funding from the association, Laroche can hire students to work with him at Projet EVA. In turn, he can help them with their own ideas. “I want to help students develop their projects,” Laroche said.
