I found out about this artist just today and I am in love with his work (installation art, film and videography).
I’m very proud that this man is a Canadian artist, it inspires and reassures once again that there is amazing art being created in Canada.
Please check out David Hoffos
I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging because of the last few days of the semester (which I’ll blog about later…), preparing for the holidays and taking an trip to the very beautiful (and very cold) Saturna Island, British Columbia. It was four days of cozy spacious cabin with a sauna, ocean side view, board games, great company and lots of tasty food and rum and egg nogs.
Quaint Cottage on Saturna Island
We had a great time with much needed rest and relaxation. The cabin came with a few guitars and a piano, which I tinkered around with a bit. The owner’s of the cabin had a copy of this folk song book, Rise Up Singing, which gave us hours of singing and reminiscing.
Great collection of folk songs in a book
Some great songs which took me back where “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, “Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies“, and “This Little Light of Mine“. This song book is amazing, such a great book to have around for campfires, full with lyrics and basic chord progressions, although the chords provided took some time for the amateur guitar player like myself to figure out, but they were very simplified and enough to have a few rounds of a good song.
Quintessential Fire Photo
View from the Cottage of the Winter Cove during the snow storm
The Back of the Cottage
It was cold, but we kept the fire going. One of the days the snow let up and we had some blue sky and sun so we bundled up and went for a walk around one of the points in Winter Cove. There is something so satisfying about putting on a bunch of clothes, a good pair of boots and braving the elements when the scenery is so damn beautiful.
Winter Cove on our sunny day
A boat which calls Winter Cove it's home
on the beach near the cottage
What lives here?
A farm pasture near the cottage
One of the many Arbutus Trees on the Island
A few hiccups occurred over the weekend because it is the dead of winter on a secluded island. The power went out for a while, the water line froze, and we had some car trouble because of the cold…oh and I had some food poisoning on the last night, but it was worth it. A very serendipitous moment occurred when the power was over I want to share because I will remember it for the rest of my life. The power had been out for a few hours, and the boys had already gone to bed. Chelsea and I were up singing candle lit songs from the song book and drinking. We stumbled across “This Little Light of Mine” and we instantly began to strum and sing it. Just as we got the first “this little light of…” came out the power immediately came back on! It was magic! We had a good laugh about that. I love it when those coincidences happen and this one was a very memorable one.
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine"
The very beautiful and much appriciated fire place in the cottage
We went without fresh water for a day because all this lines from the pumphouse froze. Luckily there was a bit reserved, but we went through that very quickly doing the dishes etc. The very uncomfortable thing which occurs when there is no running water to your house is that there isn’t anything to flush the toilet with. We managed to pour sea water into the back of the toilet in order to flush it, but the amount of water it takes just to fill up the back of the toilet (just short of a gallon) that needed to be hauled up a bunch of stairs in the cold just to flush seemed unreasonable. We were “roughing” it. Especially with the homemade Caesar dressing, variety of decadent cheeses and an assortment of warm, boozy beverages…oh and champagne in a sauna. It was a real test of our characters…
List of games played;
Betrayal At The House on the Hill
Title; If You Forget Where You’re Going, Remember Where You Came From (Self Portrait)
Year: 2007
Mixed drawing media, mixed fine art and hand made paper
This drawing is a linear chronological narrative representative of certain era’s of my life, beginning at my birth. I wanted to explore the representation of memories, embracing the idea that the past does not exist, and that we only have our constructs of the past through memory. I created blind contour drawings from photographs I have of myself to suggest give the viewer just enough representation they could possibly read a narrative, but would be unable to recognize these images as me personally. Their is an uncanny recognizable quality in blind contour drawings although they still keep there ambiguities, which I hoped would parallel the concept of a memory. These drawings move through different types of papers, all chosen because their tactility triggered certain memories. Each paper reminds me of different time, and by projecting the blind contour through these different papers, parts of my life are revealed, which are not strictly representational, or realistic, but more ambiguous, encompassing the passage of time, and who materiality can be emphasized in drawing.
Its really about where I think I came from, and instead of locking the representation of my memory down to a realistic portrayal, the work is allowed to be more open for viewer and for myself.
I want to share this project I made in my 2nd year at Emily Carr because it is one of the most fun sculptures I have made and I’ve been thinking about how important it is to enjoy working (sooooo stressed out right now!). The title of the piece is Tales From The Headboard and it is made from recycled bedposts. I manipulated the bedposts anthropomorphically and created “male” (erect bed piece) and “female” posts(lovingly on bended knees). Both the male and the female are anatomically correct. Well, as correct as a male and female bedpost would be. The best part about this project is that it is viewer interactive because I added movable joints and a push peddle which animate the pieces. Once the push peddle is activated by stepping on the peddle, the female moves. Her function is similar to a kick peddle for drums. I made a hole for a mouth on the female which lovingly inserts the male’s “knob” into the hole when the viewer activates the peddle. It squeaks as well, just like a squeaky wooden bed when a pair of lovers are enjoying each other!
Anatomically Correct for Bedposts!
Please note the foot peddle on the females bent legs
My intention with this piece was to represent what the furniture in our lives would say, or do if they could come to life. We interect, have precious private moments with our “stuff”.. They are a comfort, or a discomfort. They silently witness our lives passing and could live on beyond us. Think of furniture inherited by family members, or from garage sales. What would that furniture tell you about their previous owners? What would your furniture say about you? And I don’t mean in a superficial way, or anything to do with what your furniture “says” about your personal identity. I mean as objective inanimate things which bare witness to some great, and embarassing moments.
I want this piece to be a part of a whole exhibit entitled “Tales from the Headboard”. Accompanying these lovers I imagine would be other works made out of the same bed i got the posts from or possibly other used beds found at thrift stores, craigslist.com, or garage sales. I want to construct more pairs of viewer interactive lovers.
Drawing design for interactive headboard
I designed this drawing for a bondage headboard which moves the two lover pieces (above) together by cuffs attached to the viewer through a series of pulleys, which I would like to manifest into reality to go in this show. Along with this would be a painting on a upolestered headboard which I want to render portraits of two real life lovers in a game of William Tell. This idea was inspired by William S. Burroughs who shot his wife , Joan Vollmer, in the face whilst playing their own rendition of William Tell, but instead of a crossbow, Burroughs used a gun, and instead of an apple on his wife’s head, she used a glass. Burroughs didn’t have the greatest of aim I guess.
Joan Vollmer
Woodcut of William Tell
Maybe even have white paint in water guns to shoot the apple on the heads the portraits? Surely, there will be some viewers with “poor” aim like Burroughs, but at least the white paint represent a climax that isn’t a tragedy.
I want this show to be light-hearted and fun. Sometimes I like to be thrilled in a gallery, and I imagine that this cheeky show could be as well.
This project was fun because I was so relaxed when I entered the project. Everything fell into place, the concept, my materials, the woodworking. It seemed to flow. Not to sound too flakey, but it is important for me to have harmony in myself if I am going to create anything. Not because I can’t create under stress and pressure, but because it is far more enjoyable, and possibly, more sincere. I finding with my last two weeks of school it is difficult to get anything done because I’m stressed, and rushing things. I end up making more mistakes. It’s like taking one step forward and two steps back sometimes, and I’m missing out on great process and ideas because I’m occupied with just getting things done. Soon enough I should be able to relax and let the work come to me, instead of having to grab it by it’s stubborn throat and drag it out of myself. But that’s just apart of Art school, and luckily enough, not all the time.
Here’s to dreaming! Maybe Tales From The Headboard could be a real show one day…alas I must graduate first.
This weekend hosts one of the great arts festivals in Vancouver and its FREE! Check out the Eastside Culture Crawl. Many artists of a variety of mediums open their studio doors to the public to give a behind the scenes look at the places they work, how they work and of course their art as well will be one dsiplay. (Ofcourse not so true to life because I’m sure most of them scamper to clean their studio space before the public gets there…most studios are comfortably chaotic on a normal day)
I went last year and wandered around 1000 Parker Studios. There are 89 artist participating from his one building alone, so even though you may not be able to get to all the studios involved, be sure to get the to big studio spaces, so you get the chance to see some of the talent this city has living in it. There are many ceramists, glass blowers, painters and designers who work out of the Parker Street studios. I’m going to be on the search for other sculptors, so I’ll be trying to hit up as many as possible, looking for some 3D loving friends.
One day I hope to be a participating artist at this event instead of part of the public, but I guess I have to learn to walk before I run. I’ll take some photos and give you my take on this event. It really isn’t to be missed. More to come after this weekend.
David J Robinson
Interval, 2000 is one of the sculptures displayed at David Robinson’s studio at 1000 Parker Studios last Eastside Culture Crawl. I was very impressed by it. It’s life size and beautifully rendered, poetic and allegorical. He was definitely one of my favourites.
Straight Line Designs Inc.
AND Straight Line Designs are wonderful as well! Don’t miss the chance to see these fabulous designs which always make me laugh. Furniture out of Dr. Seuss or a Disney Movie. So, so magical. They had their studios in 1000 Parker too.
Paint Flowers 2008
Paint Flowers 2008
I thought I’d share another project I made in my graduating year at Emily Carr. This painting is titled Paint Flowers and is indeed made from acrylic paint on a canvas which are traditional painting materials. I’ll start at the beginning. I was a student of Ben Reeves and our first project in his painting class was to venture to the Vandusen Botanical Garden to find some inspiration for a nature painting. These gardens are found in the middle of uptown Vancouver and are built in a traditional Victorian garden manner. So I trucked it down there portable easle, paints and all, thinking that I was going to get some great painting done. So I wandered around, lugging all my painting crap with me and couldn’t seem to find anything that interested me. Actually the garden was quite dull to me. I mean flowers are beautiful and the garden is a great place to go for a stroll, but I having difficulties finding anything worth painting because the garden is so constructed and artificial. These garden’s are created so people can take in “nature” without the actual encounters with nature, like bugs, wild and dangerous animals which are actually nature. The garden is an artificial and safe place for humans to think they are in nature. I found these thoughts very inspiring. After thinking about the history of painting, more specifically the history of floral and still life in painting, I realized that many of these artist who painted the still lifes thought they were “getting close to nature” by painting it, which I consider an illusion. Just because you paint a flower doesn’t mean you know it, it means you know how to paint it. These claims of understanding nature through painting are superficial and artificial. So I thought I would antagonise this aspect of painting and the garden together in Paint Flowers.
I made flower shapes out of clay and vacu-formed the shapes in order to make a mold out of styrene. Once the molds were made, I cast these shapes with acrylic paint. Once dried, I pulled the shapes from the mold and assembled them on a hexagonal canvas. Instead presenting the canvas on the wall, I put it on the flower to represent a garden stepping stone. The assembled flowers cannot be contained by the edge of the canvas, so they explode over the floor, growing out from the confines of the canvas. The flowers have a very plastic texture because, well, thats exactly what acrylic paint is. Through this technique I found the materiality of paint for working in 3D. I have many more ideas for this technique, creating millions of these flowers and piling them, or creating alters with them etc. Anyway, this isn’t the last time you see these flowers. I will be sure to submit them to something.
This piece was shown in the group show VanDusen Gardens at the Brow Gallery at the Emily Carr University.
Deadlines are keeping me up all night. I’ve got lists reminding me to write more lists because I can’t even begin to start thinking a head a week from now. I need to come up with a painting project by next Friday and I’m a bit overwhelmed by my Graduation project to even try to conceptualize a whole other work. So what should a student do if one finds herself in this kind of pickle? Why you do a combo project, that’s what you do! For my grad project I plan to paint images onto the walls of the gallery using traffic paint and a glass bead powder to make it reflective when a light source hits it.
Do people actually walk and paint these lines? Great way to see the country don't you think?
This is what the glass bead looks like. It looks great on white too.
A close up of the tiny little glass beads I plan to use.
But to find the perfect images which capture my concept and to effectively communicate to the viewer, I need to do some exploration, and painting on the walls are not a conducive way of exploring ( hard to get off and could get ugly). So I’m going to do my exploration on a few canvases and large pieces cardboard to see the different effects this material gives. I will present it with my lightbox. This way it forces me to have my light box in working order for next week and I get to have a critique that could yield some good insight into my use of imagery, before my grad panels and final GEVA 410 critique. After all this, I hope to have a work that is ready to be submitted to a gallery without any hiccups (fingers crossed).
I suppose I should take a minute and explain the grad panel. It is mandatory to sign up for a panel to graduate from Emily Carr. The panel consists of a few faculty from the school who you schedule a 30 minute critique with. The student is expected to install or present their work from the past semester, as professionally as possible, in order for the panel to review the work and critique. Supposedly, great insight and advice can come from these panels. The student is given the opportunity to pick the panel, choosing to take a panel of teachers they have worked with, or choose a panel of teachers to whom they have no prior engagement. I haven’t decided which way I’m going yet. Both options could be disastrous or very informing. At this point, with only a few weeks left of school, I’m starting to fear either option. (I told you I can’t think that far ahead yet…)
So my plan this week, after today because I moved (another stressful endevour) I plan to sign up for a panel (not to be review until December…stay tuned for that outcome YIKES!) and paint paint paint. Explore, explore, explore. Hopefully something good with come out of it so I can present next Friday (oh goodie, another post to look forward to!)
In order to graduate with a B.F.A. in Visual Art from the Emily Carr University, a student is required to take 12 credits of GEVA Senior Studio. The school provides minimal amount of space so the graduating student can work independently on their projects. There isn’t really a class that we have to show up to, but you are expected to spend at least 18 hours a week of independent work in your space. The instructor visits you every few weeks, and there are a few scheduled critiques with other students, but other then that, you’re on your own. Its meant to prepare the student to work independently in a studio, and develop an artist’s process so once you’re out if the institution, you’ll actually get some work done.
So I’m in the thick of this process right now. For my project I am working on an installation that is made from a steel mechanical light box, and a mural made by retro-reflective paint.(Think traffic road paint)
The light box with my roommate after a frustrating night of getting the motor to work
The light box will shine on the walls with the retro-reflective paint in the dark, and I hope it will illuminate the images on the wall. Like car headlights on a highway which illuminates the lines.
retroreflective paint is used to paint the lines on the highway so it may be seen in the dark
The light box has a stationary cold cathode light inside the box and a cylinder with a window which rotates around the light via a motor. The window and the cylinder revolving around the light moves around the room, like a lighthouse or an emergency light.
the cylinder, motor pulley and belt motor
At different speeds the light brings up different imagery of a car’s headlights slowly moving across the wall of a bedroom, or the strong reassurance of a lighthouse warning sailors out at sea. The performance of the lightbox is to act like a beacon in a dark gallery space illuminating the images on the wall. The installation’s working title is “If anything should happen, breath in your nose and out you mouth”. It is meant to have an authoritative tone, like an instruction manual, preparing someone for disasters. I want to keep the boxes’ coldness of materiality (not polishing or painting it) because I want it to have stoic authoritative presence in the middle of the gallery, and not some warm inviting object. I believe the steel’s coldness distances the viewer from feeling to safe with the object.
I now have to think about the images the light is going to illuminate. At the beginning of the project I was very attracted to airplane safety manuals and their aesthetic. They are created by vector drawings and are meant to be as generic, unoffensive and as tranquil as possible in order to convey the manual’s instruction.
parody safety manual from www.airtoons.com
Taking these into consideration I began creating a few vector drawings of a generic man breathing in and out. I would paint these drawings life size onto the walls of the gallery. But I’m concerned about this because I have know idea how to create a vector drawing. I’m a pen and paper kind of girl, and I admit to have little skill when it comes to Illustrator. So I’m considering creating an experiential atmosphere with the box and paint. Maybe horizontal lines that will be activated by the moving light? Maybe a few abstract murals which really explore the materiality? Unfortunately, my instructors are very enthusiastic about the vector drawings, and I’m really struggling with them. Its a tough call; do what you want and make the art that you want, OR, take the instructors advice, which I’m paying good money to get, and go with my original idea of the vectors. A problem I’ve been tossing around in my head for the past few weeks. I’ll have to get back to this later once I make some decsions. Which better be soon because my final critique is at the beginning of December, and I’ve got LOTS of work to do. Poor me.
I am starting a new adventure. I have become a blogger! I hope this will help me put some ideas into perspective and create a chance to share some thoughts. For this blog I will document gallery exhibitions, projects I am currently working on, and random experiences I think are neat! Just to give a behind the scenes look at my proccess and how my art comes into the world.
I’m currently attending the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and will be graduating spring 2008 with a B.F.A. in Visual Art. My focus has been on sculpture and painting. I recently had my first group show at the Brow gallery in the Emily Carr University and started a website at lindsayjoyhamilton.com. It got me excited to enter “the real world” after seven years of being a student and I can’t wait to put all this learnin’ to use. The next few years are going to be novel for me and I’d like to have some documentation, an archive, to remember this crazy time in my life. As an emerging artist I have a few battles to overcome like finding a steady source of income, getting a studio space, making interesting and sincere art and having my first exhibition, to name a few goals. I’d like to document this experience in order to share to trials and great times that are a head for me. There is a cultural assumption that artists are poor, starving and struggle to make a lucrative career for themselves and I’d like to see how true is this assumption. I’d also like to share my inspirations, thoughts and opinions about contemporary art and other random curiosities.
So here it goes, wish me luck, woo!
“I don’t believe in Art. I believe in Artists.” Marcel Duchamps