We just returned from the Cirque Eloize, the last Cultural Olympiad show we had tickets for. I guess that's it, it's really over. I managed to see the flame(s) before it went out on Friday. I missed the Canadian Mint pavilion and the Aboriginal Pavilion. I regret the latter especially. I heard it was amazing and I recently found out a good friend had worked on one of the video pieces. Many people have said they missed events that were 'right next store'. It's a strange phenomenon, this propensity to put off things that are right in front of us, as if mistaking proximity for eternity.
The Cirque's show was called Rain and hit a minor key, probably meant for a late fall kind of timeframe. This being so close to Spring, it was a little off cue. But the performers were great. I especially loved the giant hoola hoops they they used to roll around like spokes in a wheel. That looked like a lot of fun. The choreography was ok. Sometimes it played on gender stereotypes mixed with slapstick in a way that I found uncomfortable. There were no clowns which is really too bad. I love clowns. They ended the show by making it rain on stage which was fun and impressive. Overall I really enjoyed myself. I don't want to be too critical. I would go again for sure. It's nice to see actual human beings on stage, rather than stare at a screen. That's the real 3D.
As I checked in to FourSquare at the performance I got two badges: Explorer, and SuperUser. Steve thought I said SuperLoser. Maybe a bit of both. These artificial badges remind me of the "jetons" (French for chips as in poker chips) that my parents used to incite me to clean my room. I don't think it worked in the end but it was fun at first. I was a sucker for the gold stars at school though. I keep checking in FourSquare because I want to see what else could happen. I did make a new FS friend who noticed I checked in at the performance. Perhaps competition will change things.
Bacterial update: Just bottled another batch of Kombucha today. I wanted to add Chrysanthemum flowers for the secondary brew in the bottles but didn't have time to get them from Chinatown. Instead I cut two small chunks of vanilla bean and stuck them in two of the bottles. We'll see how that turns out. I'm also curious about trying cocoa nibs.
The Kefir grains are doing well and we are in a good rhythm. They are growing very slowly which is good. I don't need to get stressed out about what to do with them.
A song for this post.
Showing posts with label cultural olympiad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cultural olympiad. Show all posts
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Seeing the sites (day 176)
bacterial update: I think I nearly killed my kombucha scoby. To brew the new batch I used the baby from the previous batch. It may have been too thin when I put it in because when I looked at it on Thursday it was looking kinda strange (lots of tiny bubbles on the surface...kinda of like scoby acne) and the smell was intense, quite yeasty and vinegary at the same time. Surfing a bit on the happyherbalist site I started having a suspicion that the yeasts were taking over because there wasn't enough bacteria in my scoby to compete. Luckily I had saved the momma. Yesterday I did a switch. Things seem much better now (for both of them). Not sure what this means for the current brew or the new baby that will form. Perhaps I'll keep brewing with the momma for a few batches until I build up two good-sized scobys. After things going so well the last time, I felt a bit brought back down to earth.
I offered some of my Pu-Erh kombucha to my brother and his brother-in-law (who brews his own beer and cider). They both loved the taste but said the nose could use some help. Perhaps the pH was a little too low because they both pointed to a slight vinegar smell.
And in other news, I now have a few kombucha followers on twitter. It's a little community forming.
It's hard to believe CODE Live closes tomorrow. It's been such a huge success and I wish it would continue for another week (btw, I recommend seeing the CODE motion pictures online). I did manage to get to the Vancouver Public Library CODE Live 3 site today finally. I really loved it. The video installation outside is a very interesting set up with low benches and logs and built-in speakers into a large wooden structure that also encompasses the screen. Even though it was a bright sunny day I could still see the video and the sounds was excellent. I watched about 20 minutes of fun quirky sport related videos before I went in to see the rest of the exhibition. I had seen documentation of David Rokeby's piece 'Seen' but seeing it live was a completely different experience. It was fascinating to see the patterns of movement and stillness in the library space. To see the flow lines of people in and out even though it was really quiet when I was there. I then went down to see 'Sacred Touch' by Ranjit Makkuni from India. This may have been the most memorable experience I've had of CODE Live. Maybe it was partially my state of mind or the fact that I was alone in the exhibit. I was touched by the blend of spirituality and technology that was done in such a basic and grounded way. Particularly charming was a rotating screen interface mounted on an embossed silver base. As I walked around the post, rotating the screen, a panorama of the Ganges was revealed with occasionally triggered snippets of text and video. Having been to Nepal I was viscerally reminded of the prayer wheels and the ritualistic circumambulation of the temples. The experience was varied enough on each turn that I did several full rotations. There was another screen showing some textile and object interfaces to interactive media. I loved the interfaces requiring prolonged touch of symbols embroidered or printed onto fabric. There was also an egg-like object with buttons that was quite compelling. The whole exhibit felt really embodied and I felt good as I left the Vancouver Public Library, as if I'd visited a new place.
Other highlights for today were seeing acrobat acts at the Quebec House, and going on a video bus ride as part of Paul Wong's 5 projects. I'm still digesting the video bus ride a bit but the part that stood out the most was the juxtaposition of spectacles of real and imagined horror. For example, a mash-up of scene from "Snakes on a Plane" where Paul startles us with rubber snakes, followed by a news report of the horror of Tim McLean's death where Paul retroactively startles us by selling Nestea and toilet paper (the choice buys of the killer) before we got on the bus. It ends with a video of the aftermath of a car crash with the sound of one of the car horns blaring for the duration -- a sort of anxiety inducing virtual rubber-necking.
A song for this post.
I offered some of my Pu-Erh kombucha to my brother and his brother-in-law (who brews his own beer and cider). They both loved the taste but said the nose could use some help. Perhaps the pH was a little too low because they both pointed to a slight vinegar smell.
And in other news, I now have a few kombucha followers on twitter. It's a little community forming.
It's hard to believe CODE Live closes tomorrow. It's been such a huge success and I wish it would continue for another week (btw, I recommend seeing the CODE motion pictures online). I did manage to get to the Vancouver Public Library CODE Live 3 site today finally. I really loved it. The video installation outside is a very interesting set up with low benches and logs and built-in speakers into a large wooden structure that also encompasses the screen. Even though it was a bright sunny day I could still see the video and the sounds was excellent. I watched about 20 minutes of fun quirky sport related videos before I went in to see the rest of the exhibition. I had seen documentation of David Rokeby's piece 'Seen' but seeing it live was a completely different experience. It was fascinating to see the patterns of movement and stillness in the library space. To see the flow lines of people in and out even though it was really quiet when I was there. I then went down to see 'Sacred Touch' by Ranjit Makkuni from India. This may have been the most memorable experience I've had of CODE Live. Maybe it was partially my state of mind or the fact that I was alone in the exhibit. I was touched by the blend of spirituality and technology that was done in such a basic and grounded way. Particularly charming was a rotating screen interface mounted on an embossed silver base. As I walked around the post, rotating the screen, a panorama of the Ganges was revealed with occasionally triggered snippets of text and video. Having been to Nepal I was viscerally reminded of the prayer wheels and the ritualistic circumambulation of the temples. The experience was varied enough on each turn that I did several full rotations. There was another screen showing some textile and object interfaces to interactive media. I loved the interfaces requiring prolonged touch of symbols embroidered or printed onto fabric. There was also an egg-like object with buttons that was quite compelling. The whole exhibit felt really embodied and I felt good as I left the Vancouver Public Library, as if I'd visited a new place.
Other highlights for today were seeing acrobat acts at the Quebec House, and going on a video bus ride as part of Paul Wong's 5 projects. I'm still digesting the video bus ride a bit but the part that stood out the most was the juxtaposition of spectacles of real and imagined horror. For example, a mash-up of scene from "Snakes on a Plane" where Paul startles us with rubber snakes, followed by a news report of the horror of Tim McLean's death where Paul retroactively startles us by selling Nestea and toilet paper (the choice buys of the killer) before we got on the bus. It ends with a video of the aftermath of a car crash with the sound of one of the car horns blaring for the duration -- a sort of anxiety inducing virtual rubber-necking.
A song for this post.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Engaging in dialogue (day 163)
CODE Dialogues happened yesterday. I didn't blog about it because I needed a break to get clear on what stood out for me about the event.
Bruce Ferguson started the day with a pretty heavy talk on the responsibilities of being an artist working with technology in the context of a world where many things are not working optimally. There is still a tech divide. The disparity of, say, access to the web, is pretty glaring when you see it on a map. He was basically pointing out that artists have a role in working with technology in a way that highlights the inflection points of tech as creative and destructive. He was pointing out that culturally we are still pretty clumsy at discerning what we should do with tech, and how we should do it.
It was a nice segue into the next talk about urbanism, technology and participation. Alexandra Samuel did a great job moderating a fairly difficult group of panelists. The discussion found its legs I think on the discussion about interaction vs. participation. My feeling was participation in this case was perhaps meant in the sense of 'engagement'. The difference between interaction and participation then centres on commitment to a larger dialogue for which the artwork or technology becomes an entry point. Many interactive artworks are still very much about entertainment and spectacle. And in some ways, people expect that. As it becomes more mainstream I think we'll see a shift in emphasis to work that provides deeper ways to engage.
As I was getting ready for Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's talk during the break, the discussion in the morning started to worry me. His work is so much about play and grand gestures. It can be hard to relate his work to social responsibility. There was some controversy about 'Vectorial Elevation' being enacted in Vancouver both because of the cost of installation and the amount of power needed for the lights. Especially in the context of the Olympics where the cost/benefit analysis continues to trigger a lot of anger. Rafael himself is not one to emphasize political issues in discussion about his work. I was super nervous.
In good form, he started his talk with Mexican music to lighten the mood. He went on to describe a series of recent work from his relational architecture, shadow box, and sub-sculpture series. I was really glad that he finished his talk with Voz Alta, a work to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco student massacre in Mexico in 1968. It is by far his most political work and I think highlights the potential of participation at a visually grand scale. It was about owning a space and speaking out, involving the memory of the buidings and geography directly. It was not about 'alien memory' as he often states of his relational architecture work.
I started with a question about the tension between large scale public installations and political overt work. Creating large public installations often requires official permission and sanction so may limit the range of expression possible, yet the potential for impact is high. He spoke about the fact that the work in Mexico was commissioned by the students at the University. They were able to mount the work independent of government control. It made me wonder if this would even be possible here. He spoke about needing to compromise but not giving in on crucial points of the work.
I followed up with a question about Vancouver and why Vectorial Elevation, if he could have done a Vancouver-specific work what would it have been. He didn't answer the second part of the question but talked about Vectorial Elevation as being ideal for the Olympics because of its possibility for cross-country and international participation. Hard not to agree with that.
I then addressed the controversy more directly and asked about the need for such large scale work. Why spend such large sums when there are more pressing social issues to be solved. He spoke about the power issues with his work and said that people usually felt more comfortable once he told them that the power needed to run his piece for the entire duration of the exhibition was equivalent to three hockey games. He also mentioned that the controversy noticeably quieted down once the piece went up. He ended it with support for the fight to re-establish arts funding in BC. People clapped. Thinking about it now I think I would have rephrased my question. I framed it in the context of the Olympics and NASA, things that are expensive but appeal to a hopeful sense of unity, exploration, out of the reach of the practical grittiness of life. I think I would have asked his opinion more directly about how such endeavours help or hinder the possibilities or motivation of solving some of the more gritty issues of living in society. Because that is the tension. When I experience a work like Vectorial Elevation, am I suddenly more optimistic about world unity, world peace? By highlighting the best of human nature, do we give ourselves a push to work all the more harder to solve the problems? Or is it a distraction, a diversion? I suppose anything can become a way to hide from responsibility. When the question is framed about money I think it hides a category mistake. Many of the social issues we face are about process, not money. It apparently takes 75K per year for the government to take care of one homeless person. Clearly, money is not the issue. Still if we devoted all the energy and human resources that was devoted to the Olympics towards alleviating suffering in the Downtown Eastside, I'm sure we'd see progress. Where people are willing to devote energy is the real issue. It also helps that the Olympics has a definite end point, a goal.
Anyway, that is the real discussion that I would have liked to have with Rafael. I still don't know what he thinks about it. I sensed he wasn't going to go there with me. He spoke eloquently about his work and process but stayed pretty clear of its potential impact.
I'm sad I didn't get to ask him about the question about Augmented Reality. But I think he would have been against the personal and commercial nature of it. Over the time I spent with the documentation of his work, and at the dialogue, it became clear that he is very much about people physically engaging with each other and the space. He's a very social person and fun is very much part of his motivation.
Ok enough with the blow by blow. I felt terribly uncomfortable up there. Even though it was supposed to be a dialogue the nature of the setup made that difficult. I think I would rather do radio.
A song for this post.
Bruce Ferguson started the day with a pretty heavy talk on the responsibilities of being an artist working with technology in the context of a world where many things are not working optimally. There is still a tech divide. The disparity of, say, access to the web, is pretty glaring when you see it on a map. He was basically pointing out that artists have a role in working with technology in a way that highlights the inflection points of tech as creative and destructive. He was pointing out that culturally we are still pretty clumsy at discerning what we should do with tech, and how we should do it.
It was a nice segue into the next talk about urbanism, technology and participation. Alexandra Samuel did a great job moderating a fairly difficult group of panelists. The discussion found its legs I think on the discussion about interaction vs. participation. My feeling was participation in this case was perhaps meant in the sense of 'engagement'. The difference between interaction and participation then centres on commitment to a larger dialogue for which the artwork or technology becomes an entry point. Many interactive artworks are still very much about entertainment and spectacle. And in some ways, people expect that. As it becomes more mainstream I think we'll see a shift in emphasis to work that provides deeper ways to engage.
As I was getting ready for Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's talk during the break, the discussion in the morning started to worry me. His work is so much about play and grand gestures. It can be hard to relate his work to social responsibility. There was some controversy about 'Vectorial Elevation' being enacted in Vancouver both because of the cost of installation and the amount of power needed for the lights. Especially in the context of the Olympics where the cost/benefit analysis continues to trigger a lot of anger. Rafael himself is not one to emphasize political issues in discussion about his work. I was super nervous.
In good form, he started his talk with Mexican music to lighten the mood. He went on to describe a series of recent work from his relational architecture, shadow box, and sub-sculpture series. I was really glad that he finished his talk with Voz Alta, a work to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco student massacre in Mexico in 1968. It is by far his most political work and I think highlights the potential of participation at a visually grand scale. It was about owning a space and speaking out, involving the memory of the buidings and geography directly. It was not about 'alien memory' as he often states of his relational architecture work.
I started with a question about the tension between large scale public installations and political overt work. Creating large public installations often requires official permission and sanction so may limit the range of expression possible, yet the potential for impact is high. He spoke about the fact that the work in Mexico was commissioned by the students at the University. They were able to mount the work independent of government control. It made me wonder if this would even be possible here. He spoke about needing to compromise but not giving in on crucial points of the work.
I followed up with a question about Vancouver and why Vectorial Elevation, if he could have done a Vancouver-specific work what would it have been. He didn't answer the second part of the question but talked about Vectorial Elevation as being ideal for the Olympics because of its possibility for cross-country and international participation. Hard not to agree with that.
I then addressed the controversy more directly and asked about the need for such large scale work. Why spend such large sums when there are more pressing social issues to be solved. He spoke about the power issues with his work and said that people usually felt more comfortable once he told them that the power needed to run his piece for the entire duration of the exhibition was equivalent to three hockey games. He also mentioned that the controversy noticeably quieted down once the piece went up. He ended it with support for the fight to re-establish arts funding in BC. People clapped. Thinking about it now I think I would have rephrased my question. I framed it in the context of the Olympics and NASA, things that are expensive but appeal to a hopeful sense of unity, exploration, out of the reach of the practical grittiness of life. I think I would have asked his opinion more directly about how such endeavours help or hinder the possibilities or motivation of solving some of the more gritty issues of living in society. Because that is the tension. When I experience a work like Vectorial Elevation, am I suddenly more optimistic about world unity, world peace? By highlighting the best of human nature, do we give ourselves a push to work all the more harder to solve the problems? Or is it a distraction, a diversion? I suppose anything can become a way to hide from responsibility. When the question is framed about money I think it hides a category mistake. Many of the social issues we face are about process, not money. It apparently takes 75K per year for the government to take care of one homeless person. Clearly, money is not the issue. Still if we devoted all the energy and human resources that was devoted to the Olympics towards alleviating suffering in the Downtown Eastside, I'm sure we'd see progress. Where people are willing to devote energy is the real issue. It also helps that the Olympics has a definite end point, a goal.
Anyway, that is the real discussion that I would have liked to have with Rafael. I still don't know what he thinks about it. I sensed he wasn't going to go there with me. He spoke eloquently about his work and process but stayed pretty clear of its potential impact.
I'm sad I didn't get to ask him about the question about Augmented Reality. But I think he would have been against the personal and commercial nature of it. Over the time I spent with the documentation of his work, and at the dialogue, it became clear that he is very much about people physically engaging with each other and the space. He's a very social person and fun is very much part of his motivation.
Ok enough with the blow by blow. I felt terribly uncomfortable up there. Even though it was supposed to be a dialogue the nature of the setup made that difficult. I think I would rather do radio.
A song for this post.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Shadowing Rafael (day 161)
I spent many hours familiarizing myself with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's thought patterns today. I didn't have the luxury of speaking to him so I googled him and read books about him and watched videos and read interviews. Mercifully, there was lots of repetition. I need to know a bit about Rafael because I'll be responding to his talk tomorrow at CODE Dialogues. It occurred to me that I could go in cold, or warm I guess...because I already knew some things about him but I think the preparation will be worth it.
Some of the things I take away from my research:
A song for this post.
Some of the things I take away from my research:
- He does not like the term "collective intelligence" (Pierre Levy), prefers "connective intelligence" (Derrick de Kerckove). This seems to be a reaction to the utopian ideas behind collective intelligence. We agree.
- He currently has two streams of work: relational architecture, and sub-sculptures. Relational architecture being transformations of public spaces to promote new relationships and sub-sculptures being about dynamic and chaotic systems.
- Likes the idea of being surprised by public participation.
- Works off of Duchamp's premise that "Le regard fait le tableau" (the gaze creates the painting). Loves the dialogue between artwork and public. Sees artwork as having awareness.
- Likes the idea of temporarily changing public spaces, putting it back into the hands of the public, subverting the usual commercial or political purposes of such spaces.
- Is inspired by current scientific thought.
- Likes to reveal the mechanisms of surveillance, even in his own work.
- Shadows are an important aspect of many of his works.
- Vectorial Elevation is a work that has been enacted in other locations. If he could do a work specific to Vancouver, or one that more specifically involved its architecture, what would it be?
- In Vectorial Elevation, how does the delay affect the piece. How would real-time interaction change the piece?
- Why shadows? I have my own ideas but it would be nice to hear him talk about it.
- The tension between analog and digital in his sub-sculpture work.
- What does he think about AR? A lot of his work is about making the virtual visible in grand public gestures. I wonder what he might think about the private nature of most AR work (as in one device, one person...each having their own view of the world).
- Would like to hear more about spin-offs from his work (open software, other tech). He said in an interview that if artists had the budget of the defense department they would produce more innovation. I tend to agree. But I think that applies to a lot of fields. The defense department is overvalued.
- Sound does not feature prominently in his work. Or at least does not seem as deliberate in most cases. Why is that? Does he see that changing?
- Would love to hear his thoughts on the claustrophobia that can result from computer work. His work is so spacious, it seems an antidote to email apnea.
A song for this post.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Elevated (day 160)
I just got back from the opening of Vectorial Elevation, a public art work by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. There are large search lights, I think 9 on either side of English Bay. The patterns of the lights are input from people around the world at http://vectorialvancouver.net. I input a couple patterns tonight. In total there will be time for about 130,000 patterns, no where near enough for the amount of interest it will probably generate but the queue resets every day which helps with the fairness aspect. After you input a pattern, it tells you how long before you see it in the sky and will also send you a picture.
The feeling when you're standing underneath it is like a tent or a cathedral of light. Also feels a bit like the northern lights. It's nice that there is a pause between patterns, unlike search lights or promotion lights which just circle endlessly in the sky. I can the tops of the lights from my kitchen window. Sometimes the lights would go straight onto a highrise downtown. That must have lit up some living rooms. I think he mentioned fixing that bit of potential public annoyance.
A song for this post.
The feeling when you're standing underneath it is like a tent or a cathedral of light. Also feels a bit like the northern lights. It's nice that there is a pause between patterns, unlike search lights or promotion lights which just circle endlessly in the sky. I can the tops of the lights from my kitchen window. Sometimes the lights would go straight onto a highrise downtown. That must have lit up some living rooms. I think he mentioned fixing that bit of potential public annoyance.
A song for this post.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Opening gifts (day 159)
It feels like Christmas eve pretty much every night now. Every day there is something to look forward to. Last night was the game, tonight was preview night at CODE Live 1. Tomorrow is Opening Night for CODE Live. And it goes on. I picked up more tickets today: for a choral evening at St-Andrews, and for the Cirque Eloize.
I wholeheartedly recommend going to see the CODE Live exhibitions. There are three sites, CODE Live 1, 2 and 3. CODE Live 1 is at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC). CODE Live 2 is at Emily Carr. CODE Live 3 is at the Public Library. Some highlights from CODE Live 1:
A song for this post.
I wholeheartedly recommend going to see the CODE Live exhibitions. There are three sites, CODE Live 1, 2 and 3. CODE Live 1 is at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC). CODE Live 2 is at Emily Carr. CODE Live 3 is at the Public Library. Some highlights from CODE Live 1:
- Vested: Don Ritter - Traverse panoramas of cultural and political sites. Wear a vest. Blow them up.
- Condemned Bulbes: Artificiel - Giant lightbulbs glow and buzz in a trance inducing electric space.
- 787 Cliparts: Oliver Laric - Clipart of humans doing things, going by so fast it's like a lifetime of human diversity and passions in a minute.
- Instant Places: Ian Birse, Laura Kavanaugh - Beautiful visuals of Canadian geography, processed and mixed. A very restful and evocative piece to behold. Made me love Canada all over again.
A song for this post.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Anticipation (day 155)
I spent an hour this morning trying to plan my way through all the events at the Cultural Olympiad. So far I have tickets for Laurie Anderson, Robert Lepage, and K'NAAN. And plans for many openings including of course the CODE Live opening on February 4th. The painful part is that there are some overlaps where I have to miss something.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's work, Vectorial Elevation. He is starting to install and I saw the lights moving tonight, near my apartment. It looks like I'll be able to see some of the effects of the lights from my balcony! He's installing big search lights on either side of English Bay which will light up the sky and water in patterns input by people through a web interface. I hate to say this, but I think I'm getting Olympic fever.
I stopped by to see the David Hoffos work at 560 Seymour. His work is always interesting. He does 3D video without resorting to 3D glasses or any binocular tricks. It was the biggest installation I've seen of his but I think I prefer his smaller work, especially the ones that integrate the viewer in the scene. The feeling of this work was one of detachment, like someone filming a scene...everyone having a role but nothing being real. Because I already felt detached from the vantage point of the sidewalk, the subject felt really far away. A very lonely feel overall. Still, very much worth seeing.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Ed Pien's work in person. I've only see pictures of his intricate paper cut-outs. Bonus, his exhibit is only steps from my place.
I feel so lucky to be able to see all this work in the city.
A song for this post.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's work, Vectorial Elevation. He is starting to install and I saw the lights moving tonight, near my apartment. It looks like I'll be able to see some of the effects of the lights from my balcony! He's installing big search lights on either side of English Bay which will light up the sky and water in patterns input by people through a web interface. I hate to say this, but I think I'm getting Olympic fever.
I stopped by to see the David Hoffos work at 560 Seymour. His work is always interesting. He does 3D video without resorting to 3D glasses or any binocular tricks. It was the biggest installation I've seen of his but I think I prefer his smaller work, especially the ones that integrate the viewer in the scene. The feeling of this work was one of detachment, like someone filming a scene...everyone having a role but nothing being real. Because I already felt detached from the vantage point of the sidewalk, the subject felt really far away. A very lonely feel overall. Still, very much worth seeing.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Ed Pien's work in person. I've only see pictures of his intricate paper cut-outs. Bonus, his exhibit is only steps from my place.
I feel so lucky to be able to see all this work in the city.
A song for this post.
Monday, January 04, 2010
The limpics (day 129)
I don't think I've blogged about the Olympics yet. It's kind of the elephant in the room. The limpics. That's what it starts to sound like after a while. There is one wonderful thing about the limpics: The Cultural Olympiad. It's a somewhat grand title for a pile of events that showcase art and culture with a focus on Canada. It's not that I don't care about sports, I do. I love the idea of peak performance but I'm impressed by peak performance whenever and wherever I see it. There are many more people operating at an impressive level than are chosen for the Olympics (even without taking into account the limited choices of sports for the big O). The world coming to town is the event. The show we're putting on is the event.
So I am staying in town (the most frequently asked question), and not just because I have to. I'm staying in town to catch the shows, formal and informal. I don't have tickets to any sporting event (the second most frequently asked question) but I've thought about it. I am involved (the third most frequently asked question). Emily Carr is hosting part of the CODE (Culture Olympiad Digital Edition) Live Exhibition. And part of the Emily Carr exhibition will be in the Intersections Digital Studios (IDS). It will be amazing to have such world class artists so close. IDS is also hosting CodeLab, an artist-in-residence project which features work in the public realm by local artists and students. Lastly I'll be participating in the CODE dialogues which are a series of talks/interviews with the artists. If all goes according to plan, I'll be one of the hosts.
It's hard to follow China but someone told me that we'll be the fun and eclectic second act. I believe it.
A song for this post.
So I am staying in town (the most frequently asked question), and not just because I have to. I'm staying in town to catch the shows, formal and informal. I don't have tickets to any sporting event (the second most frequently asked question) but I've thought about it. I am involved (the third most frequently asked question). Emily Carr is hosting part of the CODE (Culture Olympiad Digital Edition) Live Exhibition. And part of the Emily Carr exhibition will be in the Intersections Digital Studios (IDS). It will be amazing to have such world class artists so close. IDS is also hosting CodeLab, an artist-in-residence project which features work in the public realm by local artists and students. Lastly I'll be participating in the CODE dialogues which are a series of talks/interviews with the artists. If all goes according to plan, I'll be one of the hosts.
It's hard to follow China but someone told me that we'll be the fun and eclectic second act. I believe it.
A song for this post.
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