something, I don't know what Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition (TREX) Program Interpretive Guide

Transcription

1 something, I don't know what Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition (TREX) Program Interpretive Guide

2

3 s o m e t h i n g, I d o n ' t k n o w w h a t Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Interpretive Guide Caroline Loewen, Curator Developed by the Alberta Society of Artists

4 (c) 2014 by the Alberta Society of Artists Front Cover Image: Collage of various artworks from something, I don't know what Page 8/9: Helena Hadala, something, I don't know what #5, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. Page 14/15: Helena Hadala, something, I don't know what #1, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist.

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS About the Alberta Foundation for the Arts 4 About the Alberta Society of Artists 5 Artist Statement 6 Exhibition Statement 10 Visual Inventory 16 Biography 20

6 T h e Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) was established under the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Act, September 1, Since 1972, the AFA and its predecessor foundation, the Alber ta Ar t Foundation, have been collecting ar t work and funding a wide range of cultural programs. The purposes of the Foundation are: To support, promote and contribute to the development of literary, performing, visual and media arts in Alberta To provide people and organizations with the opportunity to participate in the arts in Alberta To foster and promote the appreciation of art works by Alberta artists To collect, preserve and display art works by Alberta artists To encourage Alberta artists in their work The AFA has suppor ted a provincial travelling exhibition program since The mandate of the AFA Travelling Exhibition (TREX) Program is to provide all Alber tans with the oppor tunity to enjoy visual ar t exhibitions in their communities. Three regional galleries and one ar ts organization manage the travelling exhibition program for the AFA: Region 1 - Northwest The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie / Region 2 - Northeast / North Central The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton / Region 3 - Southwest Alberta Society of Artists, Calgary / Region 4 - Southeast Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre, Medicine Hat / For more infor mation visit the AFA website at

7 The Alberta Society of Artists was established in 1931 as an organization of professional artists. The ASA, operating as a registered charity, continues to promote the visual arts in Alberta through access and support to professional artists and their work. The Society also educates the public on the importance of the arts in their community by developing exhibitions that focus on aspects of Alberta's cultural development. The ASA has a long history of producing and promoting local, regional and interprovincial travelling exhibitions. The Society is currently contracted by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to develop and circulate art exhibitions to venues throughout southern Alberta. The art works are intended for display in schools, libraries, museums and other public facilities. The southwest region of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program in managed through the Calgary office of the ASA.

8 ARTIST STATEMENT The original 16 collage drawings entitled something, I don t know what, were created using a combination of mixed media techniques including watercolour, gouache, charcoal, crayon, graphite and collage papers assembled onto a base of Arches paper. I prefer the indirect process of collage as it offers the potential to create imagery with a sense of spontaneity, where there is no such thing as a mistake; everything can be continually edited and re-organized. Each piece started with initial marks made directly onto the paper using watercolours and a variety of media. Then, with a collected reserve of papers including some of my previous reclaimed drawings, paintings and prints piled high on my desktop, I added new layers of collage to integrate and relate to the original marks. Through this intuitive process, working back into the images with more mixed media and collage layers until the pieces came to a point of resolution, I continued until I felt something was complete. The compositions are like a puzzle -- simultaneously static and dynamic at the same time. All the details are supported by the overall structure. Even though, these non-objective images are resolved, the compositions have open and fluid spatial relationships. This special characteristic lends itself as the basis for a collaborative project. So, rather than framing each individual piece behind glass as a picture only to be viewed, I decided to turn this series into an interactive installation. The idea of a traditional chalkboard came to my mind as an appropriate matrix for the exhibition format of this series. An ample black border not only enhances the presentation of the image but also facilitates the opportunity for a participatory AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

9 response to the image. The originals have been reinterpreted in digital format and embedded onto a chalkboard panel. Each panel holds coloured chalks and a chamois to use as an eraser if needed. I invite the participant, with the chalks provided to respond to the original image by adding colours, shapes, lines or even words not to the actual image (because this a travelling show) but to the borders around the image. I believe creativity is enhanced through the collaborative process. The opportunity to write on a chalkboard shifts the focus from just viewing the image and frees one to respond in a spontaneous and individual manner. As more marks and colours are added to the borders, the images will have the potential to evolve and reflect the unique sensibilities of each participant. If the design is completed to the edge of the chalkboard, an innovative and vibrant composition will no doubt emerge. These new works will truly become something more, I don t know what. Thank-you for your participation, Sincerely, Helena Hadala RCA

10

11

12 EXHIBITION STATEMENT something, I don t know what offers an accessible point of entry into abstraction and subverts the idea of the work of art as a precious and esoteric object. The content and form of the artwork are emphasized as a means to explore ideas rather than as an object of value in and of itself. The acts of creating, responding and collaborating are valued over the final product. COLLABORATION AND EDUCATION The tradition of adding to a creator s work is not new. In Medieval times, the creator of a work was often not known by name. Multiple artists or artisans would work together on an altarpiece, illuminated manuscript, stained glass or mosaic. During the Renaissance, members of an artist s studios were often responsible for finishing large works of art in the style of the artist. For example an artwork might be attributed to the Studio of Raphael meaning that the painting was likely painted by a pupil of Raphael s in his studio, under his direction, and perhaps even with his direct assistance, but not solely by his own hand. In other cases the artist would complete the most prominent and important parts of the artwork while leaving the background or other details to his pupils. The purpose of this was twofold timesaving but also educational. The educational aspect of collaboration is very important to Helena Hadala. Her collages have been set into a chalkboard matrix to recall a schoolroom chalkboard. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

13 The chalkboard stood as the focal point of the classroom for many years - although now it is as likely to have been replaced by a whiteboard or even a SMART Board. It was a semi-public surface on which ideas and lessons would be laid out for all to see and contribute to. But it also served as a location for playful graffiti. Hadala s artworks serve the same function to teach and inspire but also to provide a place for play and spontaneity without fear of reprisal. SURREALISM The movement of Surrealism was developed with the purpose of tapping into the subconscious mind through literature and art, often through a rejection of traditional artistic means. One of the main tenets of Surrealism was that in order to access the subconscious, the artist must let go of control and reason. In his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, André Breton, the founder of the movement, defined Surrealism as Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express the actual functioning of thought in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern. Automatism, collaboration, juxtaposition, recycling and recombining ideas were some of the ways that the Surrealists sought to achieve this. In the 1920s, the French Surrealists invented a parlour game that would remain popular to this day. It is called the Exquisite Corpse and you ve likely encountered it or a variation of the original. The Exquisite Corpse is a collaborative writing or drawing game. Each participant takes a turn to draw part of an image (or to write a word), then folds the paper to conceal their contribution. The paper is passed to the AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

14 next participant and they continue the drawing in another segment. Each participant can only see the edge of the previous participants drawing to maintain alignment, but doesn t know what the original drawing looks like. In this way a drawing emerges that may make no logical sense. It is a result of playfulness, spontaneity and collaboration. No one person has control over the final image and as a result the participants manage to dissolve the essence of the individual artist as creator. The author has no authority in this case and even the subject matter is completely destabilized by being unknown, unplanned and often unfinished. Helena Hadala and you, the participant, continue this tradition of playful collaboration in the exhibition something, I don t know what. The title refers to this destabilization of both subject and creator. The subject is something, but remains unknown even to the author herself, she doesn t know what the final piece will look like as it will be a product of multiple collaborators. When two artists, or an artist and viewer, work together allowing for an element of chance and spontaneity, a distinct and alternative personality often emerges between them, a so-called third mind. It is this third mind that is responsible for the final product. The term, the Third Mind, was popularized in William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin s collaborative book The Third Mind which uses the cut-up technique. This literary technique involves cutting up a text and rearranging it to form a new text and, like the Exquisite Corpse game, its origins can be traced back to Surrealism. Hadala uses this technique in her artworks, using a variety of materials including her own recycled drawings, paintings and prints. She cuts up these images and rearranges them in a visual collage.

15 By recombining her own past works and found papers into a collage, and then allowing the viewer to further contribute to the image through the impermanent medium of chalk, Hadala creates layers of meaning in her work. The artworks will morph as they travel to reflect the community in which they currently reside. Photographic documentation of the artwork will allow for the creation of an archive. The archive, which will be available to view online at will allow participants to continue to engage with the artwork even after it has moved on. Over the course of the exhibition, the artworks will be transformed several times into new and exciting forms opening up avenues for collaboration and creating reciprocal relationships between the artist and the viewer and between the participants themselves.

16

17

18 VISUAL INVENTORY #1, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #2, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #3, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #4, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist.

19 #5, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #6, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #7, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #8, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist.

20 #9, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #10, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #11, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #12, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist.

21 #13, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #14, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #15, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist. #16, Digital image on rag paper, chalkboard, chalks. Courtesy of the artist.

22 HELENA HADALA RCA Helena Hadala is a professional Visual Artist and an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. She was born and raised in Calgary, and in 2002 received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Calgary. Helena has traveled extensively, resided in Japan for two and a half years, and attended international residencies including Australia and Spain. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the USA, Japan, Finland, Poland and Portugal and is in numerous private, public and corporate collections including Canada Council Art Bank and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. A recipient of several scholarships, grants and awards, Helena has maintained a full time studio practice for over thirty years. She has been a sessional drawing instructor at the University of Calgary, and the Alberta College of Art and Design. Website: helenahadala.com

23

24