Where is Fort McMurray?

An Update post:
As I promised in my comment on the October 1st, UnWrap the Research post, I have collected some images and great information from Andriko J. Lozowy regarding his project titled "Where is Fort McMurray".

During the month of February 2010 be sure to stop by the public Library to see all 21 images from this project on display.  

Youth Picturing Place

There is no unmediated photograph or passive camera obscura in scientific accounts of bodies and machines; there are only highly specific visual possibilities, each with a wonderfully detailed, active, partial way of organizing worlds.

- Donna J. Haraway, 1991.

Where is Fort McMurray? refers to both the series of 21 images before you as well as the collaborative process of working together to create the images. Between May 2009 and October 2010, young people representing the three high schools of Fort McMurray came together to consider questions of landscape, geography, community, social connections and photography. These questions were motivated by a University of Alberta qualitative research project titled Social Landscapes of Neoliberal Growth: the Case of Fort McMurray, Alberta, led by Sociology professor Dr. Sara Dorow. Social Landscapes... is an ethnographic inquiry into local ideals and practices of community, with its shifting physical, social, and imagined boundaries, in the context of a neoliberally-governed growth economy. Where is Fort McMurray? functions as a element within the larger research framework in which a diverse group of youth volunteered to participate.

As participant collaborators we worked together to discuss visual compositions and narratives, workshop various photographic techniques, share our collected images, theorize the social implications of the photographs, and choose a striking selection of images that work as a set. The set you see before you is considered a snap-shot in time and, as Haraway states above, each image is imbued with a “wonderfully detailed, active and partial way of organizing worlds.” When observing the collection we must also consider the myriad images that were captured but not represented here, as well as the potential in those that were not created. This collection can also be considered as a catalyst for the creation of an online archive of images that work in relation to or as a kind of critical narrative to the images that dominate when one performs an online search of the name Fort McMurray.

Where is Fort McMurray? aims to gain perspective of place and community from the vantage of youth in a local context. The research project asks two kinds of questions: a) what are the variety of ways that youth understand and perceive Fort McMurray as a place; and b) what are the challenges and benefits of using photography as a way for youth to explore and express their experience of place. These questions function as a cyclical cue-card as you move from image to image, rather than a penultimate statement leading to concretized answers. Instead, the answers are more suggestive: Where is Fort McMurray? asks viewers to internalize and take up the questions themselves and engage in an open and supportive dialogue with creativity through visual representation and conversation with others.

This print exhibition is meant to be a physical manifestation of intermedia. The term intermedia, suggests movement from digital to analogue, analogue to digital and back again. In part, participants were drawn to participate in Where is Fort McMurray? because of the promise of learning photographic techniques. With digital single-lens reflex cameras in hand, participants began to feel the material weight of a DSLR. Some remarked that these cameras were too heavy and bulky to tote around, while others appreciated the manual control features and felt compelled to keep pressing the shutter. The time spent responding to the cameras, to light and to place is documented here with tangible representations of traditional photographic techniques from a swiftly passing era. Film and dark room chemicals have been traded in for sensors and data cards and as such we are left asking the questions, what is photography? And where is Fort McMurray?

~Youth~

Collaborators and Photographers
Amani Hachem
Aurooba Ahmed
Jaslynn Houle
Josiane Thibault
Milauni Desai
Nathalia Riordon
Paula Loutitt
Priscilla Gonzales
Sara Morrison
Veronica Laya
Yicuin Chen

There is no unmediated photograph or passive camera obscura in scientific accounts of bodies and machines; there are only highly specific visual possibilities, each with a wonderfully detailed, active, partial way of organizing worlds.

Facilitator, Collaborator, Photographer, Curator: Andriko J. Lozowy

Wood Buffalo Aritst Forum Meet & Greet

Hello and Happy Monday :)

Unfortunatly I was unable to attend the Meet and Greet hosted by the Wood Buffalo Artists Forum two weekends ago. However, Artist Forum board member Louise van Alenburg was kind enough to provide me with the following recap and images. Thanks Louise!

Cheers,

Connor

 Artists dress up for Halloween

 

When the Artists Forum invited artists for a Meet and Greet on Halloween Saturday at the ‘soon to be gallery’ at MacDonald Island, they knew they were in for something special. Leave dressing up to artists. So far for a meet and greet: we will hardly recognize each other after this! In future meetings we will refer to Charlie Chaplin, Einstein, Pippi Longstocking or the FMM Ink girl.

Approximately 20 artists showed up for the evening with yummy homemade appetizers and desserts. The artists had a change to get to know each other, chat about art in town and to see the gallery space for themselves. It may help to visualize the possibilities and to prepare for our Open Call for the first exhibition with the theme ‘Celebration’ in January. The deadline for submission is January 5th, 2011.

Artists can send a jpg file of their work with additional information on dimensions & medium to: woodbuffalo.artistsforum@gmail.com.

A huge thank you goes to the people of MacDonald Island for all the support.

The Woodbuffalo Artists Forum.

Frames and More

(from left to right): Lucas Seaward, Carol Breen, Rose Nickel, Florence Weber, Barb Howe (featured artist Rudy Pongo is missing from the photo)

A Great New Space to View Art

This past Friday, October 29, 2010, I had the privilege of attending the private opening of Frames and More. Now some of you may be thinking that Frames and More has always had artist’s works on display, and this is true however, the store now has a new space. Prior to this show, Frames and More consisted of one room in the front which served as a store selling works of art and frames, and a private work space in the back for the employees. Due to a lack of space and the desire to showcase as much local talent as possible, the storefront's walls were completely covered with art works; there were works leaning up against one another in piles on the floor and nary an inch between the works on the walls. Within this overcrowding it was easy for a viewer to think that the space had no apparent format for display or distinction between artists. This overcrowding is no more! Due to some construction and some real gumption, there are two new spaces available. This expansion provides additional wall space and thus dignity to each work, allowing viewers to spend time with one piece at a time, without having their attention stolen by the art next to it. This inaugural show highlighted works from five local artists; Carol Breen, Barb Howe, Rose Nickel, Rudy Pongo and Lucas Seaward. These five artists covered many mediums from acrylic paints and water colour, to glass mosaics and wood working.

When entering the gallery you are met by a collection of Lucas Seaward’s of large scale graphite drawings, as well as some beautifully made ceramics from Barb Howe and Rose Nickel. Seaward's body of work depicts various endangered species in photo realism. I was particularly taken by his sensitivity to detail and ability to render water in motion. Seaward is able to give his subjects a visible tactile quality. The fur of the Polar Bear and Lion seem to sit delicately on their host, appearing to almost shift in an imaginary wind or in response to a viewer’s movement. His rendering of the skin on an elephant's ears and hide, create the illusion that your fingers would dance and bump along the surface should you reach out to touch them. This rich texture is a nice dichotomy to his material of choice; slick smoothly applied powdered graphite.

Above: One of Seawards drawings.

Once you’ve visited with the menagerie in the front room you step through into the in-between or the atrium gallery which acts as a bridge between the front gallery and the new additon. This space is small, with the majority of the works hung above eye level; making viewing them it a bit of a challenge. The atrium housed the paintings of Rudy Pongo. I found Pongo’s work to be a bit rudimentary in subject and his handling of  materials. The brushmarks felt tentative, and slightly laboured giving each piece an overworked feeling. The lasting impression from these works was that  a majority of the photograph inspirations were not his own, and that the subjects were chosen for a base to study material and technique. These works read as practice pieces for an artist exploring realism and acrylics. I would like to see more from Pongo as his practice progresses.

So as not to spoil the fun of discovering this great little gallery space and the works within, I will leave a small interview I had with the gallery owner Florence Weber.

Let me know if you have stopped in to see the gallery yet and if so what you thought of the works, what did you like, dislike, what would you like to see more of?

Cheers,

Connor

Interview with Florence Weber

• What prompted you to open up the extra room and start having shows?
• We were excited to open up the extra room for the simple reason of having more space to showcase the surprising amount of artistic talent that is in our Municipality.

• How did this first show come to fruition?
• Very quickly! Lucas Seaward showed us his artistic portfolio and we were so excited about his art (17 original graphite drawings) that we decided an art show displaying all of his pieces would be the best way to introduce him to our city. From the initial catalyst we worked quickly to organize the show, drawing on the experience of local artist Carol Breen.

• Does the gallery have a name? Or is it the same as the store, or do all three spaces have different names?
• The new expanded room is named ‘Carol’ honouring Carol Breen. The large gallery area is “The Great Gallery!”, actually, it doesn’t have a designated name.

•  Are you planning to have a regular calendar for shows in the space?
• Our goal is to host four shows per year 

• Will there be a curator for each show, or do the artists hang their work according to their own preferences?
• I am the curator for the shows.

• How will you choose which art to showcase in the space?
• Our shows are exclusive to the local artists of Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. 

•  How would you gage community support for the gallery?
• This current show has shown outstanding support from the community for our gallery. A common response to our art show has been that it is so valuable to have a gallery that is dedicated to showcasing the local talent of McMurray. The community is excited to have ongoing events that honour the arts in McMurray.