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International Art Treasures Web Magazine May 2006 |
Images of Toronto
Images Festival
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IF 2006 included discussions with a twist: pumpkin pie. Talks at IF 2006 were accompanied by a free slice of pie. |
A portion of the activities at the Goethe Institute was a dialog with the curator of Futurisms - Film, Architecture, Urbanism,
Marc Glöde and architects Paul Raff and David Warne discussed the historical influence of visual media on architecture and urban planning. John Bentley Mays moderated the discussion. One of Raff and Warne's projects is included in the current exhibit at the Goethe Institute Urban Deconstructions. That exhibit runs through September 2006.
Title: Urban Deconstruction
Artists: Paul Raff and David Warne
Image Courtesy: Paul Raff Studios
To wet the appetite Glöde screened Splitting, a fascinating appropriately themed work by Gordon Matta-Clark. In this short film Matta-Clark divides a house down the middle. It is left standing, though de-constructed, for a period of three months. One of the pieces was taken to a gallery. This film led to a discussion, was the work on the house the artistic endeavor or were items taken for display at another locale the actual 'art'. Perhaps both. Matta-Clark trained as an architect but his father was a surrealist painter and this certainly would have influenced him. The discussion surrounding Splitting merged neatly with the two architects who had undertaken a similar project.
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Speaking of Splitting Paul Raff observed, "film can interact with the nature of architecture and space." |
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David Warne queried, "is is art or architecture?". Concluding, "it brings up issues and questions." |
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The talk moved to the current exhibit Urban Deconstructions. In their portion of this exhibit the two architects worked for eight months altering or deconstructing a cottage. It was in a terrible state of decomposition caused by raccoons, squatters and neglect. It had to be removed for a new building to take its place and they offered to do the work, altering the then present structure in unusual ways to tantalize the mind. The gentleman who owned it entered a retired person's home and left the house virtually as it was when he lived there containing most of his possessions. They observed that during the 8 month long project 1,000 people walked through the structure and perhaps more than 10,000 have visited it through the exhibit. It would have been their preference to have more visit the house during the project and feel the disorientation of the space.
Following the discussion was the program: Futurisms - Film, Architecture, Urbanism. The Goethe Institute of Toronto hosted this retrospective of historical interpretations of the idea of a future city through film. How did earlier visual artists view the future of architecture? Naturally an excerpt from Fritz Lang's Metropolis was featured along with Alexander Korda's Things to Come . The movie was based on an HG Wells book. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was responsible for some set design though he isn't actually credited in the movie. Created in 1936 it deals with the world a century later, incredibly predicting some of the global events of the future or the near future, such as the approaching Second World War.
Das Wort aus Stein [The word in Stone] is a German Nazi Propaganda film of the remaking of Berlin and Munich to display the power and might of the Third Reich. Screened after Things to Come and Metropolis it proposed architecture as a natural manifestation growing from the Nazi ideology.
The Mike Taanila documentary Futuro: A New Stance for Tomorrow, of the design, creation and demise of the Futuro house created by the Finnish architect Matti Suuronen.
At one point German conceptual artist Charles Wilp owned a Futuro. Among his invited guests were princes of Kuwait, Andy Warhol, and Christo, who transformed a Futuro by wrapping it as one of his art projects.
There were many exciting installations and displays at IF 2006 including works by John Oswald and Mieke Bal.
John Oswald
"Music came first." Oswald explained, "being a composer for 30 years, I've been a visual artist for 2 years." He designed his own album covers using visual collages and went on to co-found a magazine in the 1970s. Just before IF 2006 opened John Oswald held a musical recital at the Edward Day Gallery with his artworks in the background combining his talents and providing a brilliant kick-off for the exhibit.
Title: After Rembrandt
Artist: John Oswald
Medium: Wall Mounted LCD Screen
Dimensions: 16" x 12"
Image Courtesy: Edward Day Gallery
The artist said about After Rembrandt, "It is based on Rembrandt's painting called Portrait of a Young Lady. I attempt to reproduce graphically using my own sketching to find out how Rembrandt did it. You see people with easels in museums trying to copy. I use chronophotics, which alters over time. It is a slow change from Rembrandt to the 21st century."
Later this year Oswald will have a solo show opening the new Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. In addition there will be a permanently installed large-scale sound scape at the Spirit House atrium of the Museum.
Title: Inconsolable Memories
Artist: Stan Douglas
(2005, Canada, photography and film installation)
Image Courtesy: Images Festival
Mieke Bal
Mieke Bal said of IF 2006, "the festival is the surprise of my life. It is cutting edge of experimental blend of aesthetics and politics." She was delighted to have come to Toronto for the festival, adding, "V Tape is where I want to be. All the work I see is fantastic. This is not just for the big names, it shows the experimental; it is personal not commercial. I am privileged that they took me on."
Title: Return of the Native
Artist: Suky Best
(UK, 2005, installation)
Part of the Timeless: Time, Landscape & New Media exhibition at Harbourfront Centre (York Quay Gallery)
Image Courtesy: Images Festival
This year’s programming showcased approximately 200 artworks in film, video, gallery installation, live performance and new media as well as artist talks, parties and walking tours. There were 25 participating venues across Toronto. The diverse media ranged from Super-8 film to high-tech artificial 3D universes. Local, national and international artists participated , from student undergrads to high-profile luminaries including Stan Douglas, Sharon Lockhart, Mike Hoolboom, Laiwan, John Oswald, Zoe Beloff, Susie Ibarra and Mark LaPore.