To continue from Megan Bertagnolli’s article about the “Dirt City|Dream City” talk, we spoke to one of the artists this week about her position in Edmonton and her relationship with Latitude 53. Jes McCoy was responsible for the tunnel installation that marked the gate to the patio at February’s Parka Patio event, but you might have seen her work elsewhere—she graduated from the University of Alberta’s BFA in 2011 and showed work in The Works festival that same year.
Do you remember you first time at Latitude 53?
I honestly can’t remember the details of my first visit to L53. I remember it was one of my first experiences visiting an artist run space and I remember wanting to be a part of it really badly.
You’re a young artist in Edmonton, having just graduated from the U of A in 2011—since then you’ve already been busy showing your work here and abroad, from The Works downtown to a sculpture park in Minnesota. What can you tell us about the experience of starting out and setting your sights beyond the city?
While I was in school I did really want to show my work abroad because I felt like I needed a new audience somehow; but I got the same kind of feedback there as I did here, both the good stuff and the critical stuff, and it made me realize that the art community, in a global sense, is really connected. Perhaps it speaks of a common human experience too, which was a good thing. I became aware that what the people in Edmonton have to offer, in terms of life experiences, can be as potent as anywhere else.
You’ve been selected for Edmonton Arts Council’s Dirty City|Dream City public art project in the Quarters this year, which takes as its starting point the complicated idea of downtown revitalization that is planned or already underway in that neighbourhood. How do you feel about being an Edmonton-based artist and what do you see happening in the next few years in this city?
Edmonton is great place to be an artist. There is not a whole ton of us which gives the existing ones lots of space and room to participate. Although I feel that there is a bit of complacency in the artists here in terms of street art and public interventions. Perhaps it is because our winters are harsh and we don’t want to go outside, but I wish there was more of it. I wish we were more vocal, even politically. We have to tools to do so we just need a kick in the pants. And that’s what I’m hoping the Dirt City|Dream City project will encourage; a more prominent and engaged voice using art as the mediator.
Dirt City|Dream City goes up in July—but there’s an open house this Saturday at the ARTery (9535 Jasper Ave) to mark the end of this week’s workshops with the artists, where you can meet curator Kendal Henry and the artists: Aaron Paquette, Adam Waldron-Blain, Andrew Buszchak, Carly Greene, Destiny Swiderski, Emily Van Driesum, Holly Newman, Jackson McConnell, Jes McCoy, Jill Stanton, Mackenzy Albright and Rachelle Bowen, Matt Prins, Nickelas Johnson and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge.
I was reading through the current issue of Border Crossings and came across a short piece about Vancouver-based artist Germaine Koh’s recent public art project for Central Park in downtown Winnipeg. Entitled DIY Field, the work is mediated by viewer participation.
The project consists of 38 steel posts with a 5” diameter which rise up from the ground in a grid pattern, each with an 8” frosted acrylic tube containing blue, red and green LEDs. In addition, each post has 3 buttons that correspond to each LED, thereby allowing people passing through the park to change and combine the colours and illuminate the “field” as they choose. 8 possible colours can be created from the blue, red and green LEDs. “Additively…red plus green makes yellow; green plus blue makes cyan; and blue plus red make magenta…all of them added together make white and, finally, all the lights can also be turned off.”
Because the work exists in a public space (and as stipulated by the Winnipeg Arts Council Public Arts Program guidlines) , it was important to Koh that the work be user-friendly and playful for children as well as adults. As Koh describes in the Border Crossings piece, “I like that it is as inutitive as I hoped it would be. Every time I come along it’s quite different… This is the most crowd-pleasing work I have done in a long time and I’m happy with how it turned out.” (You can find some wonderful images of the project here.)
Beyond public engagement, DIY Field changes with the seasons and the time of day. In the winter, the lit posts will rise out of the snow covered field like beacons, reflecting their colours; and though visible in the day, in the evening the posts will glow and light the dark in brilliantly coloured patterns.
In reading about Koh’s work, I couldn’t help think about our own Talus Dome, which stands beside the newly renovated Quesnell bridge. Both projects were completed in the same year (2011) with similar aims of reflecting and interacting with the specific environmental conditions of their placement. Needless to say, Talus Dome, has been a lightning rod for controversy and not quite as well received as DIY Field.
For me the biggest distinctions lie in how Koh’s project invites viewers to interact with the work in a really dynamic way, and in the placement. Being able to alter the appearance of the work gives viewers to power to shape and respond to the work. Furthermore, its location in an accessible public space facilitates this engagement. The location of the Talus Dome is not accessible in the same way. On their website, The Edmonton Arts Council states that, while “visible from the road, the best way to experience Talus Dome is from the adjacent trail.” While this may be true, I’m not sure that the trails adjacent to the onramp of the Quesnell are not the most conveniently located for most people, unless they’re headed to Fort Edmonton Park (in which case they may still only be driving past). The subject of placement was addressed on this blog, which also contains some really great responses, including one from the Edmonton Arts Council.
As an avid runner, I’m looking forward to being able to run past the work in the summer, instead of just witnessing it from a moving vehicle.
I like that Edmonton is working to create new forms of public art and that this project has sparked some much needed discussion around what exactly that means.
We’ve written here before about the trials of the Great Divide Waterfall that used to spill from the High-Level Bridge during the summer, by artist Peter Lewis. The Edmonton Journal reports that Mayor Mandel and the City Council want to hear from residents before deciding whether to refurbish it so it can run again, in an environmentally-friendly way:
Mayor Stephen Mandel said he also wants to know if people care about the waterfall. He has mixed feelings about resurrecting the project and suspects most Edmontonians would be fine if it went dry forever.
“Hopefully, we’ll hear from citizens,” Mandel said. “If we get a lot of positive comments, maybe it will move ahead. If we get nobody calling, then we really don’t have any public support for it.”
Do you have strong feelings about this landmark? Read the article and call 311 to give your viewpoint to the city.
After some of our special projects last year, like In/stall/ed, we’re planning to continue our collaborations in the Boyle-McCauley neighborhood. Here’s our latest call for our next project with McCauley Revitalization:
Latitude 53 creates sites for the intersection of contemporary art and ideas in Alberta.
We are seeking contemporary artists living in the Boyle Street – McCauley area for future projects.
Help us get to know you better by sending us up to five images of your art (digital images, jpegs at least 300 dpi), an artist statement, and some information about you—this could include an artistic resume or biography.
Latitude 53 is interested in ethnocultural artists that reflect the diversity of our nation as well.
Please send to todd.janes@latitude53.org or via mail to: Latitude 53, 10248 – 106 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1H7
Sound interesting? Get in touch.
Our friends at Edmonton Arts Council are also taking submissions for two public art projects in east downtown with an eye to emerging artists. Take a look.
mastermaq:
(via City can’t guarantee High Level Bridge waterfall will ever flow again)
“The tap is likely to be turned off again this year on the High Level Bridge’s Great Divide waterfall, and city officials can’t guarantee it will ever start flowing.”
Although the Edmonton Journal didn’t mention it, this Edmonton landmark is one of our most visible public artworks, commissioned based on a proposal by artist Peter Lewis. For some reason—perhaps its popularity—the “Great Divide Waterfall” is often not seen in those terms.
It’s quite a juxtaposition, compared to the other public art controversy happening this month, also making the rounds on tumblr:
maybeedmonton:
<3
sappyapple:
Hey fellow Edmontonians,
Take a look at the blog post my uncle Ryan posted last month. And for a real hoot of a time, be sure to read the comments. Just click on the link below.
Reading David Staples’ article today in the Edmonton Journal regarding his rectally-derived opinions on “Talus Dome”, the $600,000 bauble at the side of Quesnel Bridge, I was compelled to respond to his nonsense.
The loudest voice is local artist Ryan McCourt—familiar to Latitude 53 regulars after submitting this image anonymously to last year’s National Portrait Gallery show and then complaining about it (the show also included Trevor Anderson addressing the bridge and waterfall itself, which you can see a later version of on his website). But alongside his browbeating of Journal writer David Staples, he points out that he isn’t alone in finding the work problematic. While the “Great Divide Waterfall” is forgotten as an artwork and considered part of the local architecture, “Talus Dome” is the work of American architects and is, in the eyes of its critics, just a pile of building materials. But, like the waterfall, it is also expensive.
What do these scandals say about the future of public art in Edmonton? Can we imagine a future when now-controversial projects like “Talus Dome” or the world’s largest Baseball Bat are as beloved as the “Great Divide Waterfall”?
Latitude 53 Video Podcast
Check out our recent foray into public art: a video installation we made with Highwire Films and nine students from Jasper Place High School.
It’s already played at the Nina Haggerty and United Way, and it plays tonight and tomorrow night at The ARTery!
The Edmonton Journal was out at In/stall/ed on Saturday:
Empty parking lots and concrete spaces were transformed into art installations in Edmonton’s McCauley neighbourhood Saturday.
In the middle of the Sacred Heart Centre parking lot at 96 Street and 108 Avenue, 81-year-old Nick Shostak Sr. and his granddaughter Amy set up a coffee table, rug, some books and chairs. Shostak Sr. sat back in his burgundy recliner and told the audience stories of a youth filled with failed get-rich-quick schemes involving unsold umbrella hats and cafeteria trays.
Shostak’s performance was part of a free outdoor art show sponsored by the McCauley community revitalization project, where artists explored the divide between public and private life.
The article also includes a few comments from Kelta Coomber here at the gallery, as well as a little more on other projects in case you missed.
Of course, we’re still in the thick of it: come see our untitled project with Jasper Place High School students in the windows of the Artery tonight!
