Lola

Yesterday Kelly Mark, Roula and I drove to London, Ontario, for the Lola festival. It's about a three hour trip and along the way we drove through at least a dozen towns I've never heard of, all with bigger populations than Wasilla, Alaska.

The Lola Festival (no relation to the now defunct Toronto arts mag of the same name) started out three years ago mostly as an indie rock fest, but the organizers (Andrew Francis and Paul Walde) have been increasing the number of work by visual artists each year. I had three pieces in the show - Pop Quiz was rear-projected in a few bank towers, the previously mentioned Big Bang FM, and Life and Death, which uses the lightbox of the advertising venue to illuminate a lesser-known Paul is Dead 'clue'. This is from an ongoing body of work which investigates the way fans insert themselves into rock folklore by shaping the mythology, particularly around issues life and death (Paul is Dead, Elvis is Alive, etc.). My billboard was blown down when London got the tail end of the hurricane, but I gather it's back up now.

Kelly Mark debuted a new project called The Band, which uses the marketing machinery of the music industry to promote a fictional rock band. Laurel Woodcock presented a new billboard and neon work, both using rock lyrics as her source material. David Poolman created works based on the tattoos of metal fans and Rich Jacobs created a 'rock family tree' for the Washington hardcore band Minor Threat, which I understand has already caught the attention of singer Ian MacKaye.

Do May Say Think, Polmo Polpo, and Holy Fuck played Saturday, but I had to get back for a Nuit Blanche meeting, given that the event is less than two weeks away now.

The above image is of Life and Death, which shares a lightbox with one of Kelly's many Band photos. Hopefully pics of all the works will be posted to davedyment.com in the next coupla days.