CAFKA.04
PEACE OF MIND
When it seems that the very infrastructure upon which our high Western standard of living is based is eroding, we strive for peace of mind. We deal daily with the direct and indirect effects of natural disasters, climate change, terrorism, disease, conflict and economic uncertainty. The distance between us and ills of the world is drastically reduced. Global issues have become local.
For Peace of Mind CAFKA presented 22 exciting and innovative projects by 29 artists from Cuba, Serbia, Germany, the UK and from coast to coast in Canada. These contemporary art projects, many of them interactive, were accompanied by a keynote address from the Honorable Sarmite D. Bulte, video screenings of projects by 13 video artists, on-going performances, two panel discussions with highly regarded artists and curators, artist talks and guided tours. The thematic concept and title Peace of Mind crystallized and developed from a desire within our group to act and react to the paralyzing effects of dramatic world events: war, terror, natural disasters. It also encompassed the search within innovative contemporary artistic expression in this general state of uncertainty where the presence of conflict, fear, and questions of security and civil rights issues are endemic.
Adrian Blackwell - Light Net
Light Net consists of 40 spotlights equipped with movement sensors suspended as a ceiling. Each light is spaced on a 3m x 3m grid, 8 lines by 5 lines, creating an overall field 24m x 12m. The lights and detectors are focused precisely, so that each light and detection circle is tangent to the next, never overlapping. As a person passes into the domain of each light, it illuminates for five seconds. Depending on how quickly a person moves across the field they leave a trail of lights of different lengths behind them. The bulbs themselves are muted, creating a calm and festive feeling in the open space but also refer to surveillance and security issues.
Adrian Blackwell completed the master's diploma of Urban Design at the University of Toronto. He is an artist, activist, teacher, writer and urban and architectural designer. His interdisciplinary practice concentrates on separations within urban space. Recent solo exhibitions took place at Mercer Union, Toronto and Architecture 2 Gallery at the University of Manitoba. Last fall he showed Monster at [re]cycle in Hamilton. This September he is exhibiting a work called Car Collective in a parking lot in Kingston. Light Net was produced in collaboration with Phil Goodfellow and Jane Hutton. The project was produced at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts.
Catherine Kozyra - Soul Etude
The project Soul Etude is essentially a 4' x 4' x 8' steel structure housing mirrors and Lake Superior shaped granite stones which will be suspended from a grid using fishing line. The stones hang passively yet hint of imminent danger due to the contrast between the destructive potential of the stones and the fragility of the surrounding glass. This projected tension is transformed into a calm meditation, a contrast to the frenetic montage of fragmented images, multiple views and the cacophony of sound bites, which the modern world presents to us through the media.
Catherine Kozyra completed after studies at OCAD in Toronto an HBFA at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Recent Solo Exhibitions took place at Niagara Artists Company, St. Catharines, I-Land Gallery, Toronto, Thunder Bay Art Gallery and Artemisia Gallery in Chicago. Most recently, she participated in group exhibitions and outdoor projects as the Ice Follies on the frozen lake Nipissing, WKP Kennedy Public Art Gallery, Art on the Rocks , the Sleeping Giant Project 2004. Catherine just returned from a residency at Pouch Cove, New Foundland.
Daniel Barrow - Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry
Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry uses an overhead projector to trace and develop the interior dialogue of a sensitive garbage man as he wanders aimlessly through the city streets, collecting garbage in the early hours of the morning. Throughout the story he encounters a number of disturbing tableaux, and attempts to resolve these witnessed traumas internally through "scrap-craft" - the creative recycling of garbage into art. Daniel Barrow will perform The Face Of Everything at opening night and Looking For Love In The Hall Of Mirrors during the forum.
Daniel Barrow is a Winnipeg-based artist, working in performance, video and installation. He has exhibited widely in Canada and abroad, most recently at Mercer Union, Dazibao, Montreal, the Images Festival, Toronto, the Three Walls Gallery, Chicago and the Hoxton Hall, UK. Since 1993, Barrow has used an overhead projector to relay ideas and narratives to a 'manual' form of animation by projecting, layering, and manipulating drawings on mylar transparencies. He refers to his practice as 'graphic performance, live illustration, or manual animation'.
