Hello! Welcome to yet another new series of posts we at PrairieSeen have started, aptly titled “Conversations”. In this series, we visit a local exhibition and have a conversation about it; that conversation is what is published here.
This time around, we went over to SNAP Gallery to see their current exhibitions, Music for Teacups, a collaboration between artists Melissa Haviland and David Colagiovanni, and Patterns of Rememory, a solo show by artist Amanda McKenzie, which will both be up until August 3. Music for Teacups consists of an installation of black, laser cut teacups hung on pins, covering the walls of the gallery, as well as a video work of breaking ceramics. Also included in the gallery are an EP and an artists book. Patterns of Rememory features photo lithographs of compiled images of interiors, dollhouses, and images from the artist’s own past.
Read on below to find out more about these shows, and our thoughts on them!
Tori: Ok. So what did you think?
Chelsey: First impression - teacups everywhere! Wait, is that it? Oh, a video!
T: I really liked the visual impact of walking into like 2D-3D teacup wallpaper. But the video added… depth.
C: Yeah, I liked that the teacups were different shapes - some were chipped, etc. which made you consider them a little bit longer.
T: Definitely. There was for sure a diagonal pattern of broken vs. unbroken teacups, which is interesting for multiple reasons, but it wasn’t so repetitive that it was boring.
C: I didn’t notice that! But I did check to see if there were more broken teacups closer to the floor - there weren’t! So I assumed it was random. I really wanted to touch them, but let it be on the record that I restrained myself.
T: Doesn’t everyone? I think they really invited touching because they were hanging cutouts instead of cutouts mounted directly onto the wall or printed as actual wallpaper.
C: So it’s not just me! I also think that hanging the cutouts from pins emphasized their fragility. They kind of fluttered as I walked by which was nice.
T: And they weren’t all laying flat. One of the first things I thought of when I saw them was “how tedious”… which is also interesting for a number of reasons.
C: No kidding - but the artist statement says they’re laser cut. I’m not familiar with the process, but I’m assuming they were able to cut many at once?
T: Laser cut - definitely. But there were a lot of different patterns. Probably all designed and done on the computer, which is another thing… But the video! I loved it.
C: The video grew on me! But that always happens when I watch video art - suspicion at first, and then I start to get it. Then I keep thinking about it and that’s when I realize I like it! Or maybe that’s all art.
T: I never trust art that I like immediately.
C: Let’s put that on T-shirts.
T: Because eventually (a lot of the time) you find it doesn’t have much else to offer.
C: All flash and no substance? That makes sense. Unless flash is the point. But not in this case.
T: I agree. Lots of flash but not the “bad” kind.
C: It was strangely satisfying watching ceramics shatter in slow motion.
T: Breaking shit makes everyone feel better! Watching shit break also makes everyone feel better! (T-shirt number two).
C: I’d wear it! At first I didn’t think the sound component was from the same video clip, but after watching a couple different pieces break in the video I really liked the distorted percussion-like sound.
T: Me too. It was sort of… haunting. And the part where the video was very static-y was hard to watch. It made me feel anxious.
C: I kind of like having an anxious gallery experience. It means you’re really paying attention!
T:I just wanted to say that I thought the “artist book” and record on the shelf were sort of pointless, especially because you couldn’t listen to the record. Maybe it had the same “music” as the video? I don’t know…
C: I wondered the same thing about the artist book - is the audio the same? Is the book for sale? I guess it drew attention to the fact that the show is a collaboration of visual as well as audio.
T: Yea, but I think it did just as well with the video and the “wall paper.” What sort of conclusions did you come up with for the work as a whole?
C: My take-away from the show is that it’s an interesting exploration. My favourite part was the jug that was dropped into the birdbath [in the video]. A number of things combined to make a cool sound: the ridges on the jug, and the cool hollow sound that was made by the jug rolling back and forth on the stone surface. I didn’t read the artist statement until after leaving the gallery, which says the show explores notions of “class etiquette and family upbringing." I didn’t necessarily get that impression, did you? Other than the domesticity of ceramics.
T: At first I didn’t either, but then, as I was watching the video, it came together for me more. Definitely made the connection right away with the domesticity of the teacups, which at first seemed too literal to me, but then I was thinking about the idea of breaking them which is obviously quite violent. It made me think of domestic violence, maybe like how families put on a certain facade but then "behind closed doors” they fight etc. Which I guess could be like class etiquette? Don’t air your dirty laundry… the breaking could also represent a breaking up or cracking of the family. I had the song “Breaking Dishes” stuck in my head while I watched it.
C: Ha! I thought repeating the smashing of each cup in the video was more violent than the act of smashing alone. That’s what forces you to really look at it.
T: Definitely. Which also, for me, plays into the fact that domestic violence isn’t a one-time thing. It becomes sort of a pattern?
C: I’m picking up what you’re putting down. On to the next show?
T: Ya sure! I thought they were a good pair, thematically
C: Yes - one led me into the next! First impressions - painted floor! I liked that sections of the floor were painted in patterns echoing that of the prints, and I almost wished she covered the entire space.
T: I thought it was a little kitschy… I’m not 100% sure whether that is good or not.
C: I think I just liked that it was different. Also, the entire space was very neutral, with the light grey wall colour, black and white prints, and white frames, so it was nice to have something else draw your eye into the space.
T: What did you think of the work?
C: I liked that a number of the prints (His Other Half and Her Other Half) look like photos from the 19th century early days of photography, with the high contrast and smudgy lines. Also, the combination of photos from an actual place that has meaning to the artist with photos of a dollhouse was interesting. I almost couldn’t tell the difference, which I think was the point! Real vs. constructed memory.
T: That is true. It actually sort of ruined it for me reading it was a dollhouse before I looked, because I wouldn’t have known!
C: I always try NOT to read anything before looking for that reason! It was nice that it made you think more about her theme, though.
T: I can’t help it… I always read.
C: We are nosy by nature.
T: I thought the concept was almost too literal, though. Many of the works were beautiful (I especially liked Still, Constructs and Reconstructions and Closure).
C: Was it the construction of the image of “home” in the gallery that overdid it for you?
T: I just thought it was too literal of an interpretation of an idea that isn’t really original in and of itself. Like it was too obvious? I think I saw it that way too because I looked at the work after I looked at Haviland and Colagiovanni’s, which also made it an interesting juxtaposition of emerging vs mid-career artists.
C: That’s a good point. I think knowing the concept of photographing dollhouses made me like it more. As if the dolls have real people problems and less-than-ideal domestic lives like we do… I don’t know about you, but sometimes my Barbies would get divorced. Then again, the soap operas I watched with my mom may have influenced me there.
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