GAMA PROGRAMMING
Three Albertan artists approach truth and technology through animation
Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is proud to showcase three short films that experiment with cameraless filmmaking, digital superimposition, and visual music, showing different ways that a narrative can be abstracted to tell a deeper meaning.
Greg Marshall’s DRONE collects archival news stories on lethal military drone strikes and converts, codes, and translates the footage into colour grids and assembled into 3D forms. The confusion in this data disconnect speaks to our voyeuristic distance from technology, and also functions as a memorial.
Jean-René Leblanc and Andy Dinh’s SMOKE is a playful silent stop-motion animated film playing with post-its. Engaging with cultural issues, critical theory, and digital media, the two artists use the common stationary as an interface for a dialogue on identity, space, and relationships.
Rachel Evan’s Subnivean Snuff takes a 1958 nature documentary on lemmings and permanently alterers the source material by painting and animating on top of the film stock. The result is a historical environment crime story, exploring human desires to manipulate ecosystems and their inhabitants.
Titles: DRONE by Greg Marshall, SMOKE by Jean-René Leblanc and Andy Dinh Subnivean Snuff by Rachel Evans
Location: Arts Commons and the Edmonton Legislative Interpretive Centre
Date: December 5, 2016 – February 27, 2017
Reception: Artist reception at Happenings #7 in Upper Centre Court at Arts Commons, Calgary on Monday, February 27 from 6-9pm
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Greg Marshall is interdisciplinary media artist working in documentary, animation, art video, installation, object and image making. His freelance commercial work in animation, visual effects, 3d visualization, motion graphics and graphic design is a resource to his artistic practice. He is also working to complete by the end 2016 a partly-animated documentary that deals with personal accounts from participants from the Second World War. He lives and works in Calgary with his wife and three young children.
Jean-René Leblanc is an Associate professor of digital arts at the University of Calgary in Canada. He was born in Montréal in 1967, and attended Concordia University, which he left in 1993 with a Bachelor in Studio Arts. In 1996, he graduated from the University of Windsor, Ontario, with a Masters of Fine Art in Multimedia and Photography and in 2006, completed a PhD in study and practice of art from the Université du Québec à Montréal. His artworks have been presented in exhibitions in Canada, the United States of America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Rachel Evans was born in Red Deer Alberta. She completed her visual art degree in 2007 at the University of Victoria, majoring in sculpture and drawing. She has spent much of her life working with animals. This work has greatly influenced her art practice. She currently lives in Calgary with a small dog and two zebra finches and builds sets and props for a living.
Joe Kelly, Jordan Schinkel, and
D. Raylene Campbell
Three Alberta artists demonstrate the use of abstract narratives in experimental mediaDates: September 5 to November 27, 2016
Artist Reception: Happenings #6 in Upper Centre Court at Arts Commons on Monday, October 31 from 6-9 pm
Arts Commons Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is proud to showcase three short films that experiment with cameraless filmmaking, digital superimposition, and visual music, showing different ways that a narrative can be abstracted to tell a deeper meaning. The films run continuously day-and-night on three public video monitors throughout the centre and are available to everyone entering Arts Commons, for free.
Joe Kelly’s MSG is a 16mm cameraless film employing printing ink directly on film. This is a technique invented by the artist to facilitate the rapid production of cameraless film, a technique that is a slow laborious process where one frame is rendered at a time, sometimes taking years to complete a single short film.
Jordan Schinkel’s A show for nobody is an assemblage composed of collected video fragments, which are combined using methods of digital superimposition. The constructed narrative is a search for anything (or nothing) in the idle landscape of the city after dark—a video nocturne examining mental spaces in your own head.
D. Raylene Campbell’s Trajectory draws inspiration from the artist’s research on hot springs in western Canada. With the assistance of videographer, Dylan Rhys Howard, this work pairs and juxtaposes footage of various hot springs at Nakusp and the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, with recordings of musical performances captured live at various locations in Edmonton.
Artist Biographies
Joe Kelly is a Newfoundland born media artists working in Calgary. He studied film and video at the Quickdraw Animation society and the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers. Joe was the artist in residences at the Calgary society of independent filmmakers and has attended two thematic residences at the Banff centre for the Arts. Joe has made a number of films that have been screened and awarded internationally.
Jordan Schinkel is an emerging multidisciplinary artist from Calgary. He is also current student at the Alberta College of Art + Design, pursuing a BFA in Drawing. His work explores the language of fragmentation, trace, and ambiguity through variety of media including video, drawing, and photography.
D. Raylene Campbell is a sound artist who has embraced various creative practices including improvisation, composition, performance art, sound and image, public intervention, and Deep Listening. She studied/worked as a freelance artist in New York and Montreal from 2000 to 2009, has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College, and taught in the Department of Music at Concordia University. The focus of Raylene’s creative process involves explorations of acoustic ecology, psychogeography, computer interactive technology, and audience interactivity in both performance and installation environments. Raylene is currently based in Edmonton.
VARIATIONS – 12 Canadian Artists interpret and adapt Michael Snow’s 1957 Poem into short films.
Locations: On the Arts Commons, Calgary & Legislative Interpretive Centre, Edmonton & CASA, Lethbridge
Dates: June 1 to August 31, 2016
Artist Reception: Happenings #5 in Upper Centre Court at Arts Commons on Thursday, August 11 from 6-9 pm
Arts Commons Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is proud to showcase a unique collaborative project with twelve Canadian visual, media, and sound artists interpreting a poem by Michael Snow. The compilation of short films begin on June 1st 2016 and run continuously day-and-night on three public video monitors throughout the centre and are available to everyone entering Arts Commons, for free.
Michael Snow is an internationally renowned Canadian sculptor, painter, photographer, writer, musician and experimental filmmaker—a true artist’s artist. VARIATIONS takes his short 1957 “Poem” as an inspirational launching point and anchor for twelve artists across Canada to collaborate in creating works that vary in angles, perspectives and emotions.
“In seeing the pieces trickle in, it became apparent that each of the artists chose to cling to different words, and groupings of words, in creating their own unique narrative,” says curator Mark Templeton. “Their narratives are based on their individual assessment of ‘Poem’ and how it could be interpreted through moving image and sound.”
Poem
It stayed
Where I saw it
Then it moved a fraction
To the left and then twice that
Distance again further and further
it
disappeared
Then just faintly
A corner of it just a fraction
Was visible if you peered
Very very closely
And just as
quietly
it was
gone
Michael Snow, 1957
Artist Biographies
Michael Snow lives in Toronto and works on an internationally active practice that includes work in photography, installation, video, film and music. He has also produced work in painting, sculpture, drawing, holography and bookworks. Snow has completed several public commissions such as Flight Stop (1979, Eaton Centre in Toronto), The Audience (1989, Rogers Centre, Toronto), Les Lumieres (Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montréal, 2013). Some recent solo exhibitions include: Michael Snow Sequences. La Virreina, Barcelona (2015), Michael Snow Photo-Centric at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2014), The Legacy of Wavelength at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), Solo Snow at Galerie de l’UQAM, Montréal (2013), In The Way at the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2012), Recent Works at Secession, Vienna (2012), Objects of Vision at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2012).
Kyle Armstrong is a Canadian filmmaker and artist. Working with super8 and 16mm as well as lo- fi video, Armstrong frequently uses hand-altering film techniques, employing bleaches, dyes, scratches, and paint to alter both his own footage and found films. His primary focus is on creating short, non-narrative films, which have been screened at various galleries, during live performances and in traditional cinemas around the globe. His films are influenced by filmmakers as diverse as Stan Brakhage, Hollis Frampton, Bela Tarr, Alexander Sokurov, Guy Maddin and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Evangeline Belzile is a visual artist with a primary focus on still + moving images. She is based in Canada and is currently studying at Emily Carr University, specializing in film, video, + integrated media.
Stuart Broomer (Toronto, 1947). Musician, writer. First active in jazz and improvised music in 1965, Broomer’s recordings include Conversation Pieces (with Bill Smith, 1977) and Annihilated Surprise (with John Mars, 1983). He has occasionally played with Michael Snow in various improvising ensembles from the 1960s to the 2000s; Broomer’s Kinetic Ensemble provided live soundtracks for 1967 screenings of Joyce Wieland’s Bill’s Hat at the Toronto Cinethon and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He is the author of Time and Anthony Braxton (Mercury Press, 2009) and writes regularly on music for Musicworks, New York City Jazz Record and pointofdeparture.org.
Dan Browne is a filmmaker, photographer and multimedia artist whose works explore patterns, nature and perception through dense and kinetic forms. His films have been presented at over 100 festivals and venues worldwide and have received several awards, including Jury Prize for Best Canadian Work at WNDX Festival of Moving Image, First Prize at Athens International Film + Video Festival, and the Deluxe Cinematic Vision Award at Images Festival. Dan is currently a PhD candidate in the York/Ryerson Graduate Program in Communication and Culture, where his research focuses on the intersections between technology, art and embodiment. He lives in Toronto.
Clint Enns is a video artist and filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario. His work primarily deals with moving images created with broken and/or outdated technologies. His work has shown both nationally and internationally at festivals, alternative spaces and microcinemas. He has a Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Manitoba, and has recently received a Master’s degree in cinema and media from York University where he is currently pursuing a PhD. His writings and interviews have appeared in Leonardo, Millennium Film Journal, Incite! Journal of Experimental Media and Spectacular Optical.
Christine Lucy Latimer is a Toronto-based media-maker. Her work in the past decade has been featured across 5 continents in over 200 film festivals and exhibitions. Recent exhibitions include Whitechapel Gallery (London, UK), Seoul International Photo Festival (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA), International Video Art House Madrid, Echo Park Film Center (Los Angeles, CA) and Experimental Superstars (Novi Sad, SERBIA). Christine has also recently been honoured with awards from The New York Photo Festival and Blackflash Magazine. Upcoming exhibitions include Experiments in Cinema (Albuquerque, NM), Art Cinema OFFoff (Ghent, BELGIUM), and Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival (Hawick, Scottish Borders, UK).
Mani Mazinani makes artworks in multiple media including installation, video, film, photography, painting, printmaking, multiples, sound and music. His work directs attention to the physicality and logic of his subject medium. Current research interests include origins of ancient philosophical thought, perceptual limitations of humans and Hiphop culture. Mazinani has shown work internationally and his work has been featured in festivals like Nuit Blanche and Luminato, where he was in a two-person show with Michael Snow. He has also collaborated with Snow on multiple projects as well as musically in their synthesizer duo and as a guest of CCMC.
John Price is a filmmaker / cinematographer living in Toronto.
Steve Richman (aka zumone) enjoys experimenting with sound and image production across a wide variety of media. As a music producer and DJ, he draws inspiration from the traditions of dub music to develop multi-layered compositions with depth and weight. Steve has produced music for films such as Twelve (2009), memento mori (2012), and Derive (2015), and recorded sound for the award-winning documentary The End of Time (2012). Currently living and teaching in Toronto, he actively co-creates with several Toronto-based art collectives, bringing people together to celebrate through festivals and special events.
Mark Templeton is a Canadian sound artist who utilizes acoustic instruments, found sounds and sampled material to construct textured, collage-like electronic compositions. Templeton’s works have been commissioned by organizations and artists of contemporary dance, film and audiovisual disciplines. His recordings have been published by Anticipate Recordings, Staalplaat, Sweat Lodge Guru, Under the Spire Recordings, Silentes and Graphical Recordings. He has performed live and exhibited his work at international festivals, art galleries and alternative spaces throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. In addition to his work as a sound artist, Mark Templeton is also a photographer, media studies teacher and the owner and curator of Graphical Recordings.
The Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) remains the only permanent exhibition space for short films, animation, and video created by Alberta media artists. Arts Commons is proud to partner with theAlberta Media Arts Alliance Society. These films are also screening in Casa Gallery (Lethbridge) and the Alberta Legislature Building (Edmonton).
Dreams and Stories featured with GAMA (Gallery of Alberta Media Art)
Arts Commons in Calgary, CASA in Lethbridge and Legislative Interpretive Centre in Edmonton
June 1 to August 28, 2015
Launch at Legislative Assembly Visitor Centre
9820 – 107 Street, Enter the Pavilion from the Capital Plaza entrance
Friday July 17, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Three new short films come to the Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) monitors this week including Lyle Pisio’s Haiku 7:PULSE, Manuel Ermecheo’s Broken Paradise, and Sandra Vida’sJourney.
Haiku 7:PULSE is a short stop-motion haiku about a drum troll struggling for freedom from his prison, while an artist works to free his muse. Filmed as part of a residency at The Ledge Gallery in Arts Commons last summer, it is the 7th episode in the series of stop-motion Haikus by Pisio.
Broken Paradise is an experimental video that features dream-like scenes of the video symbolizing the jump between fragmented memories and imagination. “The main focus of my work is to achieve hypnotic and breathtaking imagery that will capture the attention of the viewer at first glance,” says video artist Manuel Ermecheo.
Journey is an ethereal short film that invites you into a mood of mediation as a white horse moves in an endless loop towards the viewer, enhanced by the natural sounds of wind and water. Creating a contemplative and immersive space, the interplay of images and sound aims to call up the viewer’s own dreams and reflections.
Artist Biographies
Three new short films at the Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA)
– Arts Commons (formerly EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts) is proud to partner with the Quickdraw Animation Society to present a selection of whimsical and adventurous short films, including work by Kiarra Albina, Neal Moignard, Heather Kai Smith, Carl Spencer, and youth artist Asher Cuming.
Vastly different in scope and medium, the films were created as part of Quickdraw Animation Society’s 48hr Animation Lockdown. They introduce the viewer to characters as diverse as Pan from classic mythology, to a lonely robot in search of belonging in a hostile world. To learn more about K23, Raging Robot, and Les Autres, please visit artscommons.ca/gama.
Title: Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA)
Location: On the Arts Commons three video monitors:
+15 pedway; second level of Jack Singer Concert Hall west end
West end of Jack Singer Concert Hall main floor foyer
Near Ca’Puccini Café and the stained glass window
The Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is an initiative to provide support and ongoing accessible screening space for Alberta media artists and curators. A special thank you to the following organizations for their support: EMMEDIA, Calgary Arts Development, Canada Council for the Arts, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Three New Short Films
EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts is proud to partner with the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society and Casa (Lethbridge) to present a selection of short films.
From November 17 – January 29, 2015, three short films will be presented: Hold by Kim Anderson, Ciclo Vital by Ryan Von Hagen, and Itchy: the Blind Gunman by Spencer Estabrooks.
Hold uses overlapping shots of hand-held video combined with experimental animation to create a still, unsteady space which documents the passage of time through the elements. Artist Kim Anderson’s intention is to have the viewer look through the window of both the waking and dreaming mind, using the medium of film.
Through a looping narrative of several morphing animations, Ciclo Vital depicts confusion, suffering, emotion, and faith. This piece is a further exploration of Von Hagen’s interest in the way spirituality and hope can become imbued in man-made creations, such as the Holy Ka’aba, or the Noble Cube in Mecca.
Itchy: the Blind Gunman is a western tribute to the longest running Japanese samurai film and TV series, Zatoichi, which features a blind samurai who wanders the world bringing justice to those who need it. The project was shot using anamorphic lenses to capture the desolation and stark beauty of the Alberta badlands.
Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is an initiative to provide support and ongoing prominent screening space for Alberta media artists and curators.
EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts is proud to partner with the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society and Casa (Lethbridge) to present a selection of short films and video created by ARRAY3, Trevor Anderson and Lia Rogers.
ARRAY3’s film, Flight, is a collaborative ensemble work of visuals, electronics and violin synthesized into a coherent and flowing experience. Trevor Anderson presents Fresh Start/Old Blood depicting a crucial turning point in Anderson’s great-uncle Jimmy’s life, a gay Broadway chorus dancer who checked himself into rehab for addiction only to find Judy Garland as one of the other patients. Lia Roger’s film, Pumpjack examines the prairie icon in a meditative deconstruction of the rhythmic movement typical of the machine.
The Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA) is an initiative to provide support and ongoing prominent screening space for Alberta media artists and curators.
Title: Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (GAMA)
Location: On EPCOR CENTRE’s three video monitors:
• +15 near CKUA; second level of Jack Singer Concert Hall west end
• West end of Jack Singer Concert Hall main floor foyer
• Near Centre Court and the stained glass window
Dates: Ongoing from Thursday, January 30 to Monday, April 28, 2014
A special thank you to the following organizations for their support: EMMEDIA; Calgary Arts Development; Canada Council for the Arts; and Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA).
MISSION
AMAAS exists to advocate, educate, and celebrate the media arts in Alberta.
VISION
The media arts in Alberta is advanced through the generation of awareness, strengthening of connections, and continuous advocacy. AMAAS builds a sustainable and vibrant future for media arts in Alberta.
DEFINITION OF MEDIA ART
AMAAS defines media art as independent artist initiated and controlled use of film, video, new media, audio/sound art and related media.
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