Focus

I have officially changed my proposal and the sound work is off. The source material was not at all what I thought it would be. The disk arrived a while ago and is extremely uninspiring. Critics refer to it as an hour long work (the longest piano piece for it's time - the fifties) that uses only four notes, but this is simply not true. Maybe there are four root notes, but the piece is smothered with flourishes up and down the keyboard. I played around a little by isolating certain notes, stretching them, delaying them, slowing them down, etc. etc. but it's all pretty generic fiddling, nothing extraordinary. Additional research about the composer/composition has turned up little else of interest to work with, so the project is on the scrap heap.

Also, the work was going to employ a series of Focus Speakers as part of the installation, so that the viewer/listener could move between the asynchronous loops and have the sound change with their movement, with the notes overlapping in space as well as time. I was lead to believe Focus speakers could more or less approximate this type of experience. Turns out they're not a new technology at all, but simple a cone around a regular speaker and the sound they produce is tinny and shite. I think they are marketed to audiophiles aware that a new technology exists (not far advanced from the military stages, and therefore very very prohibitively priced) and hoping to rope in some unsuspecting buyers. I was nearly one of them. Thanks to Jon for settin' me straight.

I am much more excited about the new project. I kept trying to think of audio alternatives until I realized all I really want to do is make some fucking Scotch. So I have proposed creating a barrel of one hundred year old Whiskey. This will not be easy as there are many legalities regarding what can and can't be called Scotch and many other obstacles to overcome in terms of alcohol levels, evaporation over the extended period of time, taste, etc. etc. These difficulties will become part of the work, which will exist as a custom-made barrel, texts, photo documentation and an edition of fifty wooden gift set 'caskets'.

We will attempt to pre-sell the whiskey to the consumer – both art collectors and whiskey connoisseurs. An explanatory text will outline that the purchaser can claim the whiskey once it reaches its planned maturation in 2108. It will truly be a gift set, because anyone who is currently old enough to purchase it will be dead before it is available to drink (as will I be). It becomes a piece about trust, history, investment, inheritance and patience.

The work will be called A Drink to Us (When We’re Both Dead).

Venice, 2009

I just learned that Mark Lewis, from Hamilton Ontario, will be representing Canada at the 2009 Venice Biennale, curated by Barbara Fischer, one of the country's most reliable and consistent curators. From the Canada Council:

"Mr. Lewis’ project for the Canadian Pavilion in Venice is a short, silent film titled Romance that uses the classic film technique of rear projection combined with state of the art digital technology. The rear projection technique brings together in montage form staged events (the foreground action) with documentary footage (the background locations). Mr. Lewis is currently making a documentary on rear projection in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, the Van Abbemuseum (Netherlands), BRITDOCART (UK) and Le Grand Café St-Nazaire (France)."

Last back-dated Update

I'm abandoning my efforts to catch up with sequential posts. Too laborious. So here's the fast rundown of the missing time:

After Calgary I returned to Toronto for a week, in order to present my curatorial projects at the Nuit Blanche press conference. In my half-zone, I will be showing work by Jacob Dahlgren, Jon Sasaki, Yoko Ono, Michel de Broin and Matt Suib. The open call projects I selected are by Bruno Billio, Brian Joseph Davis and the Custodians of Destruction. The press conference went well and the coverage was good after the fact. Though CBC misquoted me extensively.

I wasn't homesick in Scotland, but was in Calgary, despite having friends and family and a somewhat familiar arts community there. I realized that I'm never homesick in solitude, only with other people. Hmmm. But either way, it was great to be back in my bed for a few days, and to see Roula, who won't be out to visit me here for another month.

While in town I saw Aileen Burns' curatorial debut, as it was being installed (it opened the day I left). Titled Stories, In Pieces, it also includes Jon Sasaki, as well as Geoffrey Farmer, Curtis Grahauer & Kara Uzelman, Liz Knox, and Myfanwy MacLeod. Liz Knox is presenting an updated version of a great piece that she first showed at Mercer Union last year, and Myfanwy is showing work she made her at the Glenfiddich Residency. The show is top rate, and a stunning debut for AB. Also went to her nice picnic and got to catch up with some people I was missing.

Saw Lee 'Scratch' Perry at the Harbourfront, which was great, though the show was fairly mediocre. I think the first four songs all included the phrase "rub a dub dub" and Perry's name. Other than the incense burning atop his head, there was none of the crazy Scratch Perry behaviour we've all heard about (such as whipping out his cock and proclaiming himself the lord, which he did at a press conference a few years ago). Somehow it was still amazing to be outside in the sun eating fresh coconut and listening to free music, by a living legend. Got to see our friends Paul and Wendy, too, which was nice.

Earlier that night Roula and I went to the cinema, something I've been missing here (that, and the ability to order a pizza). We saw Son of Rambow, which had been well reviewed, and I was hoping was going to be like Be Kind Rewind, except good. But it wasn't. It couldn't decide on a tone and didn't know if it wanted to be a kids film or for adults (both would have been excellent, but it ended up as neither). It seems the 'Youtube genre' of cinema is still in its infancy.

The only other social thing was a nice rooftop party at Micah Lexier's house, with Michael Klein, Jeannie Thib and Bruce, Luis Jacob, etc. etc.

Trip back to Scotland was less fun than the first time, and flying into Glasgow vs Aberdeen was a bit of a false economy. Once I added up the costs of a bus, train and cab to get from Glasgow to Dufftown, (to say nothing of my time) it no longer felt like such a substantial savings.

Yesterday I had a photoshoot for the Glenfiddich website, which was actually my fourth in three months (and I think the last time before that when I was professionally photographed would've been sitting on Santa's knee). In Toronto last week the National Post sent a photographer who had just come from shooting Kid Rock. He is best known for the paparazzi shot of Conrad Black heading off to jail (oh the Schadenfreude on that day). He shot me in the narrow alley between my house and my neighbour's. Similarly, Glenfiddich photographer John Paul shot me through a long line of whiskey barrels. I don't know what this says about me as a subject.

The problem with getting your photograph taken is that you usually have to turn yourself towards the light source (natural or otherwise) and look up. I have a huge fear of looking pensive. I don't think pensive is a good look. It makes me think of the Faith + 1 episode of South Park, where Cartman forms a christian rock band and takes them out to the beach for a photoshoot, demanding that they all look off into the distance. He shouts at them "You're supposed to be standing around in random places, looking like you don't care. "

Eno, Cage, Borsato

Having a really interesting conversation (over email) with Diane Borsato about the nature of residencies (she's in Paris right now). We're talking about time and isolationism and about the luxury of being able to determine what you want to do, vs what is wanted of you (commissions, curatorial themes, etc. etc.). I inadvertently stumbled across a great interview between two of my favorite musicians/thinkers, and both touch on the themes that we are talking about:


ENO: The reason to keep working is almost to build a certain mental tone, like people talk about body tone. You have to move quickly when the time comes, and the time might come very infrequently - once or twice a year, or even less.

The difficulty of always feeling that you ought to be doing Something is that you tend to undervalue the times when you're apparently doing nothing, and those are very important times. It's the equivalent of the dream time, in your daily life, times when things get sorted out and reshuffled. If you're constantly awake workwise you don't allow that to happen. One of the reasons I have to take distinct breaks when I work is to allow the momentum of a particular direction to run down, so that another one can establish itself.

then later in the interview, Cage adds:

I had a difficult time recently. I was commissioned to write a piece for organ, and I was sent half the commission in advance. And then a correspondence developed that explained that the piece that they really liked, I had written in 1948 (Dream), and would I please write something like that [laughter]. And so I sent the check back and said that I was not interested in repeating some past work and that I wanted to write something completely new. And then they said, Oh, please... They sent the check back, it kept bouncing back and forth from the west coast to the east. And they said, You can do anything you want. You have carte blanche. Then when I had carte blanche, I felt obliged to do what they wished [laughs]. And so I wrote a piece that will be played here in London shortly called Souvenir. And the title is obvious.


I love that he is ultimately acquiesces, but only after the right is granted to not have to. Like the story of the dog tied by a ten-foot leash to the backyard tree who barks and barks until he is freed, only to then rest in the shade of the branches all afternoon.

Day 24

Opening yesterday was well attended and I think the talk added some nice context. I wrote a short didactic panel (which I'm usually loathe to do) in the hopes of compensating for some of the more obscure connections. Ducked into the Glenbow briefly to see work by Luis Jacob (who I only bumped into briefly on the street one day, he took off before the opening to get back to Toronto for Will Munro's Vazeleen), Peaches and Wim Delvoye. Neither Wim nor his great assistant Gianni were in town, but the smaller version of Cloaca was pretty great. It shits on 2:45 every day, I'm told.

Today I went with Scott and some of his friends to the Sled Festival that we all discovered we had comp tickets to. The organizers made a bold decision to close with an instrumental act (Mogwai, from Glasgow, who were great) and also on the bill were Of Montreal (different than I would expect given the songs I have by them), Wire (pretty good given they've been around for more than 30 years) and Jonathan Richman. He was the highlight for me. Also presumably in his fifties, he was funny and charming and his act (contrary to my fears) actually translated well to a large outdoor festival.

Day 22

Today we host a 'media launch' for the Glenfiddich residency, which doubles as a 'preview' for the exhibition, which opens tomorrow. I have enough experience to know that when an artist-run centre hosts a media launch, you count yourself very lucky if anyone shows up, let alone the media. But the combination of the offer of free whiskey and the skills of the PR company mean that we not only get an excellent audience, but we get coverage on Global TV, CBC, the Calgary Herald and the National Post (forthcoming, a travel diary, apparently).

The exhibition is okay, but not great. I can't place exactly what disappoints me about it. I like most of the works individually, and I think that they are well-paired together, in ways that draw out new meanings. Yet somehow I'm still dissatisfied. Maybe it's because two of the three new works (the more ambitious of the three) are underwhelming.

I'm looking forward to the talk tomorrow, though, which I think will be good.

Day 19

I find myself surprisingly interested in the legalities surrounding Whiskey production. If it is matured for less than three years, it cannot be sold as Scotch. The same applies if it is less than 40% alcohol. If a batch of 60 year whiskey is topped up a little with 5 year old whiskey, the law states it must be labeled as 5 year old. If it is made anywhere other than Scotland, it is not Scotch. This may be self-evident to others, but was all news me. I am becoming more and more convinced that I should scrap the sound project and just make some damn whiskey.

I'm in Calgary but can't concentrate on the exhibition as I am anxious to get back to Scotland. Everyone at the centre is fantastic though (Renato, Erin, Jason, Suzanne) and it's good to see my family while I'm out here.

The teddy bear nanny-cam I ordered and had shipped directly has arrived, though it is different than described online. My ability to filter the audio via the RCA cables is disrupted by the fact that a built-in speaker exists. WIthout the ability to limit or gate the sound, the feedback will continue until the cam and monitor are blown. So my remake of Nam June Paik's TV Buddha for teddy bear will have to be silent (which is in keeping with the rest of the exhibition, I suppose).