c. 1983 at Presentation House Gallery

Opening January 27, 2012, I’ll be showing two analogue slide dissolves from circa 1983 -1987 for this show. Thanks to curator Helga Pakasaar for her most excellent research and encouragement of my work for this exhibition, Erik Hood for gentle spirit and attentive technical support, and Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver for continuing to pursue intriguing, subtle investigations into the phenomena of photography.

Through the Holes, Elizabeth Vander Zaag, 1982, 4 minutes, video still

January 27 – May 6, 2012

c. 1983

Part I: January 28 to March 11, 2012
Opening Reception Friday, January 27, 7-9pm

Part II: March 24 to May 6, 2012
Opening Reception Friday, March 23

Presented in honour of Kitty Heller, with generous support from her estate.

This exhibition looks at how artists in Vancouver worked with camera images during a critical turning point in contemporary art and a transformational time in Vancouver’s cultural history.  The period around 1983 was especially vital in photographic art with the expansion of the pictorial conventions and the boundaries of the medium. The two exhibitions highlight conceptualist and experimental approaches taken up by local artists, bringing together works by key innovators, including what would later be described as the “Vancouver School”, alongside practitioners who were experimenting with camera images. The exhibition includes photographs as well as slides, video, film, transparencies, found materials, photo-silkscreens and books. The artworks, some of which will be recreated for this occasion, reflect the scope of approaches to photo conceptualism and experimental thinking about “image” and the nature of the photographic that was prevalent at that time.

These artists are acutely aware of the relationships between making and taking pictures, and often reference pictorial traditions from the histories of painting, cinema and mass media. The artists work with photography as a language, often combining image and text, and the codes of representation from mass media. They explore the enigmas of time and narrative through still photographs, sequences and the interactions of moving and still images. Perceptual experience and the camera as an instrument of vision is emphasized, and pictures are treated as “technical images that are significant surfaces produced by apparatuses,” as theorist Villem Flusser has described. This exhibition highlights that camera images are material screens derived from a photographic event.

Public discussions, film screenings and a publication will be produced in conjunction with this project.

Presentation House Gallery

333 Chesterfield Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7M 3G9

Wed to Sun 12:00 – 5:00 PM   T +1 604 986 1351

water_bodies

Thanks to ECUAD’s Interdisciplinary Forums “Creative Water” audience and students, along with faculty Sandra Semchuk and Rita Wong, for inviting Baco Ohama and myself to present on “water_bodies”. An expansive discussion ensued furthering ideas about quality of water (emotions) and quality of presence within the context of improvisation and relational ethics in practice, adding to my research. Thanks to all for generosity in participation and curiosity; and to Grace Eiko Thompson for photographs.

for Occupy Wall Street

“Love Demonstrously”
Laiwan, 2008
(Sticker / T-Shirt)

drawing with light…

I’ve added a new page for for my ongoing project
she who had scanned the flower of the world…

Started in 1987, this is an ongoing project where I collect flowers from the city I am showing in, placing the petals into slide mounts…(more).

Laiwankwankage bootleg

 

Thanks to Elaine Miller for these photographs of our debut at Spatial Poetics, July 7 2011. And to my bandmates Eileen Kage and Vanessa Kwan for the most excellent experience, made even better by the enthusiastic and generous audience…my appreciations!

Meanwhile, click here to find an unlisted bootleg video of Laiwankwankage LIVE! on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Two Grannies spotted…

Thanks to John Fukushima for spotting “Movement For Two Grannies” up on the video monitors at Waterfront Station!

Today’s the launch along the CanadaLine SkyTrain Stations and online ON MAIN.

A special treat for my blog viewers here: Grannies HD

Have a lovely day!

UPDATE: See the two grannies found on the last day of viewing at the Granville CanadaLine SkyTrain Station here!

Launch “Movement for 2 Grannies” July 18

LAUNCH OF “MOVEMENT FOR 2 GRANNIES” on July 18, 2011 on the CanadaLine SkyTrain video monitors in Vancouver, BC.

Thanks to Paul Wong, On Main, Strathcona Community Center: Liza Tam, Anna Ma and Ron Suzuki, Sharon Bayly, the grannies Chan Chun and Sau Ching Choi, Grunt Artist-run Centre and volunteers, Bo Myers, Pat Warne, and, Dorothy Trujillo Lusk. And extra BIG thanks to John Fukushima (Cinematographer, Technical Director and Post-Production)

Movement For Two Grannies by Laiwan is the fourth in the 10 Seconds series of commissioned works for the Canada Line video screens as part of a yearlong project celebrating Vancouver 125.

Movement For Two Grannies is an elegant and ethereal work of cinematography that features two Chinese grannies engaged in a moment of intimate and affectionate friendship. Shot on green screen, the backlit grannies are placed against a shimmering flow – oceanic, vast and expansive, rippling with an ancient lineage. The scene is surreal, sensual and serene, unlike the environment of the Canada Line Skytrain Stations. The slow movements of the grannies are in sharp contrast to the function of Light Rapid Transit systems designed to move commuters efficiently, spaces not user-friendly for our grannies.  Here, Laiwan proposes an endearing rendition of a ten-second action movie, unhurried and cherished.

“For the 125^th birthday of Vancouver, I celebrate my elders with ‘Movement For Two Grannies’.  With tenacity, endurance, resilience and humour they move forward passing on values and ethics, rituals and philosophies, through daily movements that ripple out beyond Vancouver.  Their legacy and lineage are the foundations of a strong, vibrant cultural community in Chinatown. Dedicated to the spirit and life of my grandmother and all grandmothers for their everyday endurance and persistence despite our cultural and social neglect of elders” (Laiwan, 2011).

Laiwan is an artist with a wide-ranging practice that follows her interest in cross-disciplinary projects.  She is also a writer, educator, curator and activist. She founded the Or Gallery in 1983 and initiated the First Vancouver Lesbian Film Festival in 1988. Recipient of the 2008 Vancouver Queer Media Artist Award, she teaches at Goddard College in Washington State in the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts Program.

Movement For Two Grannies launches July 18^th to July 31^st on the Canada Line subway video screens and on www.youtube.com/offonmain & www.facebook.com/pages/On-Main/200712499969520.  A new work will be featured each month on the Canada Line April 2011 to March 2012, playing every 2 minutes to an audience of over 100,000 commuters per day.

Catch 10 Seconds at YOUR KONTINENT: Richmond International Film & Media Arts Festival July 21-24 at the Richmond Cultural Centre www.vnaff.ca (get off at Brighouse Station).

See previous projects Hippie Chick by Dana Claxton (April), Slash Forward by Michael Turner (May) and One Percent by James Yan (June) at www.youtube.com/offonmain. Coming up in September is Tony Pantages.

10 Seconds is curated by Paul Wong and presented by On Main in partnership with InTransitBC. Commissioned by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program with the support of Vancouver 125 and the participation of the Government of Canada.

For further information please contact onmain@gmail.com.

 

laiwankwankage debut at Spatial Poetics X

Come join the fun!

The Powell Street Festival presents
Spatial Poetics X
Thursday, July 7th @ Studio D, SFU Woodward’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings St. Vancouver (use Cordova Street Courtyard entrance)

7:30pm
Tickets $12/$8
More information: 604.739.9388 or www.powellstreetfestival.com

Featuring:
LAIWANKWANKAGE: LAIWAN with EILEEN KAGE & VANESSA KWAN;
MAIKO BAE YAMAMOTO with guests;
ASA MORI with SAM SCOTT

Spatial Poetics is an evening of experimental and collaborative performances by an eclectic line-up of Asian Canadian artists. Artists are encouraged to work beyond their discipline, consider their location, and speak from multiple spaces/places, both new and revisited.

Contributing to the celebratory atmosphere of the Powell Street Festival’s 35th anniversary year, this edition of Spatial Poetics is curated by event co-founders Cindy Mochizuki and Miko Hoffman and also serves as the launch of the Jukkai publication, a creative memoir of the history of Spatial Poetics.

The evening will pair a variety of interdisciplinary artists to present critical works engaging in an exploration of rebirth and the grassroots experience. Artists premiering new works this year include laiwankwankage comprised of Laiwan (interdisciplinary visual artist and writer) collaborating with Eileen Kage and Vanessa Kwan; Maiko Bae Yamamoto (actor, writer, director) performing solo in collaboration with offstage special guests; and Asa Mori (animator) collaborating with Sam Scott in a live-animation and sound performance. The event will also include a screening of video shorts by artists including Paul Wong, Leslie Supnet, Lydia Fu, Leslie Loksi Chan and more! We will also be tweeting a Movie A Day by filmmaker Midi Onodera on the Powell Street Festival Society Twitter feed (@powellstfest) for the month of July; specifically designed and conceived for the tiny screen, the movies can be downloaded through iTunes and played on cell phones or iPods.

The evening will be followed by a post-event discussion period with the audience (reception and book launch at Blim: 115 East Pender St, Vancouver).

Spatial Poetics X is a pre-festival event for the 35h Annual Powell Street Festival, held in Oppenheimer Park and the Firehall Arts Centre on July 30th and 31st, 2011.

Media contact: Sabrina @ 604.488.4474 or media@powellstreetfestival.com

Thanks to John Fukushima (photography, live projections and documentation), Cindy Mochizuki and Miko Hoffman (curation and organization), Denise Galay (physical trainer), Duffy King (guitar tutor), Jorge Chiu and Paul Maaskant (rehearsal space), Sharon Bayly (advisor), Cynthia Brooke (bass guitar), Rose Chung (wigs), Elaine Miller (costumes), Burcu’s Angels (costume assistance), and, SFU Studio D and technical assistants.

Britannia PDA Poem now up in time for Solstice!

Yay, finally i had a moment to compile all the messages many lovely folk texted into PDA for your PDA at Britannia Library Gallery, April 20 to June 3, 2011

See Ode to an Oceanic Turn

Thanks to all who texted in to build this intriguing communal poem!

Sorry we may have lost a few texts during a computer crash. You are welcome to add new or lost lines for this poem in the comments box below. That would be very lovely in continuing our oceanic turn! Happy Solstice!!

Ode to an Oceanic Turn – PDA

The fourth installment of PDA for your PDA: Public Display of Affection for Your Personal Digital Assistant Ode to an Oceanic Turn is now installed at Britannia Public Library Gallery.

Text a message of love and affection to the oceans, the seas, to tsunamis, to water, to 79% of your body, to an oceanic turn, to change, to revolution, to transformation, to love!

Dial # 778-829-7378 — recommended limit for each message is 60 characters, and dial in again if you wish to send another 60 character line.

The opening is on Wednesday April 20, 6:30 – 8:30pm at the Britannia Library, 1661 Napier St. at Commercial Drive. See you there!

It’s up until June 3, so we have a fantastic opportunity to build a really great communal poem. A printout of the ongoing poem will be made available in the gallery soon as we start compiling incoming lines.

Much appreciation to curator Haruko Okano, Britannia Staff and Librarians, Technical Director Matt Smith and all of you who text in! Happy spring! Thanks to Baco Ohama for photos from the opening and for this lovely note on her blog “simply”.