Tag: zine

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Arts

Collective 4891 launches their inaugural zine

Making art accessible and inclusive for all

Founded by Concordia Communications students Hannah Jamet-Lange and Shin Ling Low, Collective 4891 aims to foster a safe space for artists to create, regardless of their artistic medium.

“Our goal was always to create a safe space for people to share their art in,” said Jamet-Lange, adding that they wanted to make room for people who perhaps didn’t yet have the confidence to sign up for open-mics or more professional performance settings. “We felt like everyone was doing so many cool things, so many cool art projects, and we really wanted to see it in a context outside of school.”

The group initially organized art events in Jamet-Lange’s apartment. In fact, the collective is named after their old apartment number. In order to provide a platform for emerging artists to expand their practice and experience, the collective often took photos and videos, giving the creators a chance to add to their portfolio. However, despite being titled a collective, the team only consists of Jamet-Lange and Low, both of whom do everything from hosting the events to assembling their zines.

“We would love to make the collective a more literal sense of ‘collective,’” said Low, adding that they are interested in expanding their team in order to continue producing and hosting community projects and events.

“During [the open-mics] people would oftentimes build confidence during the event, after hearing other people perform and then decide on the spot ‘Hey, I’m going to perform something after all,’” said Jamet-Lange. “If people have the confidence and want to perform something they should have the availability to be able to do so.”

However, when the pandemic hit, they had to restructure the format in which their events were delivered, all while staying in line with their mandate of making art accessible to all.

Therefore, they decided to start a zine. The Community Care Edition of the Collective 4891 Zine features the work of over 20 creatives. In addition to serving as an art project to showcase the work of emerging artists, the zine also doubles as a fundraiser for Black Lives Matter.

How so? In order to obtain a copy of the zine, those interested are encouraged to make a donation to the cause of their choice — going local is highly encouraged — and submit proof of their donation. In return, those interested will receive their order by mail.

The zine features everything from paintings to poetry, giving people a chance to display what would have otherwise been placed on a wall or performed at one of the collective’s open-mics.

To accompany the launch of their inaugural zine, the collective will be hosting a virtual artmaking event and launch at the end of April. Here, artists who contributed to the zine will be able to share their work, in an effort to allow people to connect with the art and artists who contributed.

For more information about Collective 4891 and their upcoming launch event, follow them on Instagram or Facebook. Those interested in receiving more details on obtaining a copy of the zine or donating to a cause, visit this website.

 

Photos by Matilda Cerone.

Categories
Arts

Making a case for research-based art

Angela Grauerholz explores the significance of the artists’ book

“Culture is linked to the book.” This set of words stands alone in a vibrant red font against a vast white wall. The phrase is broad, it can be interpreted in many ways. The words are small and the gallery space at Artexte, in downtown Montreal, appears empty.

The Empty S(h)elf is the first part of a new series by Angela Grauerholz, a Montreal-based graphic artist and designer, and co-founder of Artexte. The works create a dialogue surrounding the purpose of books and research in relation to the artist’s relationship with books and libraries.

The title The Empty S(h)elf refers at once to two notions: the empty library, one of Grauerholz’s fears for the future in an increasingly digital age; and the empty self, the idea of the “inner void.”

Through the accumulation of experiences, texts, readings, writings and the various aspects of the book, Grauerholz explores the process of its construction, in conjunction with the development of oneself that occurs as a product of these gathered experiences and collected knowledge.

Scattered phrases and citations in a red font take up three of the four stark white walls. Another wall is filled with images of books, architecture, maps, graphs and visuals, much resembling a giant inspiration board. Footnotes and references line the bottom half of each wall.

In order to read all the words and see the images, the viewer must make their way around the room, crouch down and stand on their toes. A zine featuring an accompanying essay can also be found at the reception. The necessary interaction creates a relationship between the viewer and the work as they literally walk through the artist’s research process.

The project, which began as a result of an archival file for Grauerholz’s project Reading Room for the Working Artist, investigates primarily the idea of the self from an archival perspective. In an accompanying essay bearing the same name as the exhibition, Grauerholz writes, “The words ‘writing’ or ‘author’ have become synonymous in my mind to ‘creating, making (art), thinking,’ etc.”

References attributed to renowned novelists and philosophers Umberto Eco, Jorge Luis Borges, Marshall McLuhan, Michel Foucault and Aristotle are among the gathered writings and documents. Through these, Grauerholz explores the creation of the text and a foundation for visual art.

Much like artist Adam Pendleton’s Black Dada Reader, a collection of texts about African-American culture and aesthetics that inspired his artistic work, The Empty S(h)elf is an archive. It’s a series of collected documents kept to demonstrate a record and information about the book, the library and the individual.

Similar to the artist’s chosen references and phrases displayed throughout the space, the content in the books is up for interpretation. Their significance will differ greatly from one person to the next, impacted by one’s personal and collective experiences and histories.

The Empty S(h)elf is Grauerholz’s assemblage of the items that demonstrate the importance of the text, and the significance of research-based art as a tool to display and communicate her interest in the use of the artist’s book.

The Empty S(h)elf is on display at Artexte, at 2 Ste-Catherine St. E, Suite 301, until Jan. 25, 2020. The gallery is open Wednesday to Friday from 12 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m.

 

Photo by Cecilia Piga.

Categories
Arts

Art criticism doesn’t have to be theoretical

Ground Work offers students a unique platform to showcase their work

The launch of the first edition of Ground Work, an art criticism journal published by the Fine Arts Reading Room (FARR), was celebrated last week.

Artists and writers alike were encouraged to write about art that they encountered on and around Concordia, whether it be at the VAV Gallery, during a studio class, or anywhere else on campus.

“At Concordia, there isn’t a journal dedicated to art criticism within the fine arts community,” said Le Lin, who works at the FARR, noting that the form of art criticism that takes place within the faculty is more theoretical, aimed towards Art History students.

“When you interact with different spaces within Concordia－during critiques, at FOFA, Leonard and Bina－you sometimes have a lot to say,” said Lin, adding that Ground Work aims to offer a place for fine arts students to express themselves through writing. “[We wanted] Ground Work as something to offer everyone, and not just Art History students.”

Five versions of Ground Work are available, described as “collectibles” by Lin. Designed by Van Le, another employee of the FARR, the graphic concept originated from a cracked phone screen. A vibrant red arcade font and black fine line detailing adds an interesting and unexpected pop against the off-white paper, which folds out into a poster.

Each of the five printouts features a single text, ranging from works exploring contemporary art within urban landscapes, to review-type features about art exhibited within the school’s galleries.

Eva Morrison’s “Desire Lines” delves into user experience, in regards to the large “C” sculpture outside Concordia’s Sir George Williams Campus. Hea R. Kim’s “The Inner Presence of Absence: Dominique Sirois’ Sous Verre, Sous Terre III, IV, V” is an article about multimedia artist Dominique Sirois’ works, featured at Galerie Laroche/Joncas in downtown Montreal.

The texts, which are at once academic and personal alongside the DIY-approach assembly of the journal, convey expression and theory in a way that does not feel like an essay.

Despite offering publication grants to students, Ground Work is the first publication by the FARR. “I do see more programming [for the FARR] being done in the future,” said Lin. “We definitely see [Ground Work] being continued… or another FARR publication, maybe.”

The FARR is a student-run library-meets-resource centre, located on the second floor of Concordia’s EV building, offering resources, and publication and residency grants to students and clubs.

“A lot of resources come to us, so that we relay the information out,” said Lin, adding that the FARR’s catalogue is currently expanding to fill gaps of what is missing in the Webster library, and noting that they currently have a wide selection of new resources available from their trip to NY Art Book Fair.

All students interested in submitting work can expect to hear callouts for the next issue during the Winter semester.

Copies of Ground Work can be found at The Fine Arts Reading Room, at EV 2.785. The FARR is open Mon to Thur, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fri from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

Photo by Cecilia Piga.

Categories
Arts

Happening in and around the White Cube this week…

Happening in and around the White Cube this week…

Theatrical release: Dérive

What does it take to make a film? After 13 years of planning, writing and filming, Concordia film production graduate, David Uloth’s feature film was finally released in theatres on March 8, International Women’s Day. A drama, Dérive showcases the strength of a mother and her two daughters navigating a recent loss in the family.  

For showtimes, consult www.cinemamontreal.com

 

FARR Art Book Symposium

The Fine Arts Reading Room (FARR) is a library resource at Concordia University which offers residencies, computer access and printing services. The symposium will consist of a series of events and workshops. On March 26, Tommi Parrish will lead an artist talk at 3 p.m., followed by a zine-making event. At 3 p.m. on March 27, Taylor of Bookbinder’s Daughter will lead a binding workshop, and on March 28, the symposium will end with a zine fair from 12 to 5 p.m. and a publication grant finissage from 5 to 7 p.m.

  • When: March 26-28
  • Where: EV Junction (EV2.785)
  • All events are free and required materials will be provided

 

apəTHē/

apəTHē/, or “apathy” is a play created and written by the students of PERC490, Performance Creation Mainstage, a year-long theatre production class. Sara Jarvie-Clark, FASA general coordinator, theatre student and musician (who performed at Somewhere Shared’s event, Somewhere Inside), and Scarlet Fountain, intern at Concordia University’s Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) and artist behind the Rope Project, are among several students involved in the production.  

  • When: March 27-30
  • Where: F.C Smith Building, The Cazalet Theatre (Loyola Campus)
  • For show times and tickets visit www.facebook.com/events/2249566458636290/
  • Tickets are $12 for general admission and $7 students and seniors.
Conversations in Contemporary Art presents Andréanne Abbondanza-Bergeron

Andréanne Abbondanza-Bergeron is a Montreal-based artist, teacher, Concordia alumna and current artist-in-residence at Concordia University as the 2017 recipient of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. Abbondanza-Bergeron is inspired by architecture, working with sculpture and installation to “point out the disparities between inside and outside, as they point out to various forms of built and social structures of control; dictating access or rejection into a specific structure or relationship,” as described on the event page. For more information about the Conversations in Contemporary Art talk series, visit concordia.ca/cica.

  • When: March 29 at 6 p.m.
  • Where: de Sève Cinema, McConnell Library Building (LB-125).
  • The event is free and open to the general public
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