Dinner exercise culture. So hard to fit them all in
Too often art gets lost in the chaotic metropolis of a city. Many residents are too pressed for time to incorporate art into their daily grind. But Artcity wants to change that.
Artcity now in its 18th year is bringing contemporary art architecture and design to the streets of Calgary’s downtown core making art more accessible than ever.
“There are a lot of great galleries in town and ways to experience art but you have to make a very active effort to go see it” says festival director John Frosst. “Artcity brings art to the public and people who would never have time to see art will be able to experience it.”
The theme for this year’s festival is “Boom or Bust” and features works interspersed along the Bow River pathway around Eau Claire and up to Olympic Plaza.
“It basically ties into the cyclical economy that Calgary experiences and that the world is experiencing right now” says Frosst. “We wanted to ask artists to think about the boom-and-bust cycles however they saw fit so some people are thinking about it in literal terms some people are thinking about it in nostalgic terms. It’s very very open to interpretation.”
Among the diverse group of installations is Species 1890 by British artist Tony Stallard. He creates captivating light sculptures using mixed media as well as neon and digital film. In this piece he has created a fictional river creature out of neon lighting along with an accompanying video.
“The work was inspired by museum pieces and how history is represented or misrepresented and to express this as a biological artifact for historical scrutiny and is also an indirect reference to the ghost dances of 1890” says Stallard.
Stallard’s main intention for his exhibit is to reflect on the Bow River.
Ben Skinner’s installation Uttered Lightly in the Ledge Gallery at the Epcor Centre is bound to catch the attention of passersby. The pieces involve light fixtures in which the bulbs are angled toward viewers walking past the exhibition. Each bulb has an illuminated phrase in black-and-white.
“I love the way certain words and phrases have multiple meanings” says Skinner. “Overhearing a conversation on the bus rethinking a cliché or questioning advertising slogans; all of these things fuel my text pieces.”
Skinner hopes his installation can spark thoughts that are more flexible than the typical bombardment of advertising messages.
Aside from displaying installations throughout the day Artcity has a wide variety of events each evening for the run of the festival.
“I would encourage all Calgarians to check out at least one thing at night” says Frosst. “That’s how you get your feet wet in art; pick a night. Pick something that’s really exciting and go do it.”
Among the evening events are documentary films Automorphosis and Rouge Ciel showing at The Plaza Theatre in partnership with the Calgary Underground Film Festival.
Automorphosis by filmmaker Harrod Blank follows the story of art car fanatics and their vehicles. “I’d like to encourage some art cars to come if there are any in the city” says Brenda Lieberman CUFF festival programmer and producer. “If someone brings their art car we’ll let them in for free.”
Rouge Ciel by French filmmaker Bruno Decharme focuses on the Art Brut movement which was a term coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art made outside the norms of the art world focusing on work done by inmates of insane asylums.
“It’s a lot more of an academic film. It goes into different characters of the movement and people who collect Art Brut” says Lieberman. “It’s really fascinating. It’s kind of dark and atmospheric and it’s made to feel sort of eerie.”
Lieberman wants to showcase films that not only entertain but encourage dialogue among viewers.
“I think I was fortunate to have found a couple of interesting ones that weren’t yet picked up by one of the festivals that could make it fresh and new for our audiences” she says. “It’s kind of nice that Artcity is looking to branch into different mediums within the festival and that they were able to include us.”
