Building with colourful geometric mural on the fire escape stairs.

Lucy Pullen: Recognize Everyone

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27 Gaukel Street, Kitchener. Produced by CAFKA with the support of NORTH. Photo by Ehsan Parvizi.

For CAFKA.18, Lucy Pullen produced a polychromatic star burst mural that covers the elevator shaft and the wrap around fire escape on 27 Gaukel Street in Kitchener. The work is effectively a walk-in mural, that envelopes the visitor on all sides.

Artist renderings by Lucy Pullen.

The thematic title of the mural and of CAFKA.18, RECOGNIZE EVERYONE, began as a game between friends. While on a trip together they challenged themselves to find the familiar in the strange. There are no rules other than to recognize an acquaintance in the face or demeanor of a stranger. The point is to reimagine public life.

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#Repost @monigramcoffee (@get_repost) ・・・ “Recognize Everyone” — a powerful message for #cafka18! For the month of June we’ll be using these beautiful takeout cups designed by New York artist @lucypullennyc in support of @cafkabiennal. Look for the corresponding mural across the Charles St. bus station in Kitchener! #monigramcoffee #coffeeandart
A post shared by CAFKA (@cafkabiennial) on Jun 4, 2018 at 11:41am PDT

Multi-coloured coffee cups with the text RECOGNIZE EVERYONE and instructions on how to play the game were distributed to local coffee shops so that everyone can begin the process of reimagining public life.

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This project has been made possible with the support of Focals by North.

Installation by Luc Pullen, Don Miller, Alan Zeberek, Sebastian Koever. Special thanks to Michelle Purchase for project management.

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About the artist

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Born in Montreal Canada (1971) Lucy Pullen is an artist based in New York. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions, and been included in festivals and exhibitions across Canada and the United States. She holds degrees from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA '94), Tyler School of Art (MFA '01) and held a tenured position in Visual Arts at The University of Victoria. While there, she let a collaborative team to build The Cloud Chamber, a freestanding sculpture, detector, and imager of cosmic rays, on permanent display at in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. Currently she teaches 'World Making' at Montclair State University in New Jersey and 'Sculpture 1' at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.