23rd Images Festival roundup

I am shocked and a bit appalled that I have not posted on here for more than a month. But now that course work is over and I'm grounded in Toronto indefinitely because of that weird Icelandic volcano incident, I'm pledging to be a much more dutiful and regular blogger.

Though it's already over, I wanted to give kudos to the organizers of the 2010 Images Festival for another fantastic year of programming, both on and off screen. Because I thought I'd be leaving for London just as the festival ended (see above reference to ancestral volcano - I'm half Icelandic), I didn't take on any blogging or organizing tasks and had the chance to experience the whole event as a spectator for the first time in a long while.

Press image for Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows' collaborative performance,
The Monkey and the Mermaid, 2010, from: www.imagesfestival.com

As Jen Hutton mused on her Images blog, dance and choreography seemed to emerge as prevalent themes in this year's programming, both in live events, screenings and off-screen exhibitions. One of my favourite dance-themed performances from the festival was the closing night collaboration between Shary Boyle and musician Christine Fellows which featured Boyle's distinctive live drawings on overhead projectors, incredible human-animal hybrid costumes and brief, riotous dance performances all set to Fellows' original compositions (except for two classic Dolly Parton tunes). The debut of The Monkey and the Mermaid took place at St. Anne's Church, which was packed with avid viewers (we kept speculating about the paintings inside and whether the stars in the dome were in fact done in glow-in-the-dark paint), and Boyle and Fellows took home an award for “excellence and promise in a local artist.” I don't know if Boyle and Fellows have plans for repeat performances or a tour of the program, but I have my fingers crossed.

Poster for Daniel Barrow's solo show "Emotional Feelings" at the Art Gallery of York University
from: www.theagyuisoutthere.org

Several off-screen, Images-related gallery exhibitions continue to the end of the month or into May and are worth checking out before the CONTACT Photography Festival takes over across the city. Whether you love it or loathe it, Ryan Trecartin's "Any Ever" show at The Power Plant is worth an hour (or five) of your time, even just to equip you to take part in the debate. I'm in the former camp with Sarah Milroy and David Balzer and think that, although it's sometimes grating and irritating in its overly rapid editing, Trecartin's project has a lot to say about the ongoing affective power of consumer culture.

If you're in the mood for quieter, more relaxing fare, Daniel Barrow's "Emotional Feelings" exhibition at the AGYU offers some beautiful, interactive overhead projector and video installations which can be manipulated and altered by viewers. Though I think Barrow is at his best when his own voice or narrative accompany the work, his tableaux are still gorgeous in the gallery setting. The artist's "Read & Listen" limited edition book, NO ONE HELPED ME, also launched this month. (Someone should give Barrow a prize for best titles for shows and books).

And, finally, you have until this Saturday to catch Tacita Dean's epic, beautiful 16 mm anamorphic film Craneway Event at Gallery TPW. Another dance-focused project, Dean's film follows Merce Cunningham's dance company during three days of rehearsals for a site-specific performance in a light-drenched old Ford Motors factory on the San Francisco Bay. As I wrote in my review for Canadian Art, it is well worth the 108 minute running time to witness the rehearsals play out in full and to see the serendipitous moments of human and mechanical choreography that take place across Dean's lens. Daily screenings happen at 12:30 and 3 pm with an extra screening on Thursday nights at 7 pm.