Shades of Bansky

And guess where?
On the back streets of Ottawa. Behind an abandoned school board building.

Has anyone else noticed similar art-on-the-street?
Please post!

Keyboard Pink Slip Pinata Makes a Political Statement

What it looked like installed at Confederation Park.

It certainly would have been grand to have had more artists at the Day of Action this past Saturday at Confederation Park in downtown Ottawa but I held down the fort in all of our names. It was fun and not too long a day at four hours requested presence.

Sometimes, art can be political in nature and in this case, in keeping with the theme of the day, We Are All Affected, my point was that government output rises and falls on the use of computers. Many people have been laid-off and this will perforce have ramifications for them and their families but also for their communities.

Rear view.

And yes, it did look fabulous when the wind blew.

Driftin' Doug points out that this was one of the best displays at the Day of Action.

Artists Continue to be Creative

A call went out from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) via ArtEngine a couple weeks ago whereby three artists were sought, each to create an art installation suitable for a park setting. The stated  themes were, Harper Hates Us, and/or We Are All Affected. These refer to the thousands of people who've lost their government jobs, 50% of StatsCan, alone, more than 19,000 civil service jobs in all. PSAC is the union representing many of these workers and has called for a National Day of Action which should result in a huge rally at Confederation Park in Ottawa. Cities across Canada will be holding similar rallies.

Fisheye effect.

I saw the request and immediately submitted my idea which was to create a pinata comprised of keyboards, partly because I am a keyboard artist and partly because the government rises and falls on the output of more than a million computers across the nation.

My original idea was to create a keyboard pinata  by cable-tieing six keyboards to form a loose box that would then be stuffed with pink slips, universal symbol of getting the sack. This would then be suspended and people would be invited to strike it in order to make the pink slips rain down. This may have worked only there is nowhere to suspend the pinata from at the park and having people flail about in a crowd might have been asking for problems.

I have ended up keeping the keyboard pinata, four keyboards affixed to a reinforced cardboard box with printed circuit acetates on the sides, and then went on to create hundreds of pink slips attached to ribbons which have then been glued to two inverted keyboards. This is a variation on the strike-and-break pinata. Some pinatas do have strings or ribbons attached, one of which will release the contents. But in this case, all cords have a pink slip attached, in keeping with the theme, We Are All Affected.

The addition of signs in red and black, overlaid with urethane that had glitter suspended in it completes the installation.

What is interesting about this project is that I am, apparently, the only artist who applied. The timeline was short, less than two weeks, but the PSAC people easy to work with and talk about wonderful exposure.
I am happy to be involved. 

Tassels are glued along the top edge which will look fabulous when the wind blows.

Before the glitter and tassels. 

The keyboard pinata atop its six-foot high perch. 

We Have Patrick John Mills Gallery in Our Hearts

Aha, the Patrick John Mills sign is up! But not at the gallery. Instead, it graces an extemporaneous, some would say, auxiliary PJM gallery. To wit, I have created a bed sitting room in an unused garage.

And with walls and art to hang, of course, art is now hanging on the walls. Especially featured are the many signs I fashioned for the A-frame in front of the gallery that announced each month's new show over the past couple of years.

It was a contribution I could make and did.

 This bed sitting room or Bed/Sit, as it's known, has most of the appurtenances of a studio apartment including a small fridge, a table that seats eight, a burgundy leather couch and a black leather recliner. There are rugs on the floor, a book shelf, a fake fire place, end tables and flowers in vases.

There is a lamp.

So I can say, Let there be light...and there is!

I'm not known for installations but in the vein of Tracey Emin, one of the Young Brit Artists, who won international fame for "Everyone I've Ever Slept With 1963-1995 " aka "The Tent", and subsequently, "My Bed" in 1998. I wanted to not stop at one item.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Emin

Everything in the Bed/Sit was found along the side of the road, the discards of other people's lives.

My Bed by Tracey Emin 1998

Au Plein Air First of September

The call went out on Facebook and I was there. Corner of Bank and Laurier for a bit of au plein air painting this morning.

I decided to do a sign to let passersby know which gallery the artists were with.

Bit windy and the sign kept on blowing over and a bottle of blue paint broke on the ground (the plastic was brittle) but otherwise, a good and productive time.

I used my tricycle as a rest for a muffin tin into which I decanted paint.

Just as I was completing my sign, a young man arrived with a remarkable=sounding cello. Wish I could have stayed longer. The acoustics are excellent at this corner.