FEMINIST ART MUSEUM at the GARDINER MUSEUM OF CERAMICS
August 9-17, 2017
Christopher Willes with Anne Bourne and others, Tsēma T. S. Igharas, Christine Migwans and Ed Freeman
FAM's project at the Gardiner saw the installation of two piles of bricks, conceived of by Xenia Benivolski and Su-Ying Lee, as material and metaphoric references for building community, organizations, institutions and feminist practices as well as deconstructing, critiquing and dismantling conventional practices and those that don’t serve women, non-binary people, BIPOC and the disability-identified.
Tsēma T. S. Igharas: Riot Rock Rattle workshop
May 27 (Leslie Spit and Brickworks) & June 3 (Gardiner Museum of Ceramics)
The installation was preceded by a Riot Rock Rattle workshop by artist Tsēma T. S. Igharas. Riot rocks are stones that fit into the palm of your hand. At this size, the stonescan be easily acquired, carried and thrown by the unarmed against weaponized authorities, used for destruction, thrown in protest etc. With Igharas we walked the Leslie Spit, a waterfront park that has been used as a dumping ground for bricks and stone building material waste.
Riot Rock Rattles relates our bodies to the land. During the activity we walk on the land looking for rocks, rolling them over in our hands and eyes to find the one that feels comfortable in your hand and will become the mould for your rattle.
“The aim is to realize Indigenous methodologies individually and together as a community through listening, talking, and creating awareness of bodies acting on the land and making new histories.” Tsēma T. S. Igharas
The rattles, along with Igharas's audio work “Khohk’ātskets’mā (When the Stikine’s Waves Crash Against the Rocks and Make Bubbles)” were included in the and among the brick installation.
Special thanks to the Evergreen Brickworks for their support of this project.
Sonic Meditations: Public Rehearsal with Christopher Willes and Anne Bourne
Saturday August 12, 10 am – 12 pm / 2:30 – 5 pm
Sunday August 13, 2:30 – 5 pm
Monday August 14, 2 – 6 pm
Tuesday August 15, 2 – 6 pm
Wednesday August 16, 2 – 6 pm
Performance of “To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation"
Thursday August 17, 6:30 – 8 pm
The choice to include only audio works can be understood as part of our research mandate to think critically about whether, when, and how we take up space. Initiated by artist Christopher Willis with Anne Bourne, a group of musicians rehearsed the Sonic Meditations, musical scores, by pioneering sound artist Pauline Oliveros. The group met daily over readings, discussions and instruments. The public were given access to this process and at times, invited to join. While a group of musicians and their instruments take up physical space, FAM was able to support the production of new works and make audiences privy to the process.
As a metaphor, the aural space occupied by both Igharas’s work and the Sonic Meditations propose an organization with a new spatial model that spreads through resonation and retreats when the broadcast has been completed. More literally, FAM’s presentation holistically supports the production of culture wherever it can and, makes sense to occur, as in Igharas’s workshop at the Leslie Spit and Evergreen Brickworks and in the case of the Sonic Meditations the use of the exhibition hall is expanded to a space of experiment, discourse and rehearsal and finally, presentation.
For more documentation and information about this project visit Christopher Willes's website
Below image credits: 1st image Claire Harvey, following images Yuula Benivolski
Public Talks
Saturday, August 12, 1 – 2:30 pm
Why Indigenous Knowledge Matters: Creating New Moral Fabrics in Settler Colonial Societies with Christine Migwans
Sunday, August 13, 1 – 2:30 pm
The History of Brick-Making with Ed Freeman
Learn more about the Community Art Space and see the full schedule of events here