LONGITUDES

Longitudes cuts across Latitudes’ projects and research with news, updates, and reportage.

Presentation by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty and Askeaton Contemporary Arts around “The Pilgrim” research, 6 May 2023 at 12 pm

 Thu, Apr 27 2023
Carrer Pou de la Figuera, Barcelona. Courtesy Eulàlia Rovira.


Presentation by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty and Askeaton Contemporary Arts around “The Pilgrim”
Saturday 6 May 2023, 12 pm

Carrer Pou de la Figuera 16, baixos. 08003 Barcelona
In English. Limited space. Reservations: info@lttds.org

Irish artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty will present their work as part of a two-week residency in Barcelona and their approach to the extraordinary story of “The Pilgrim” (narrated here – an 18th-century Barcelona merchant who ended up living his last sixteen years in penance in the Irish town of Askeaton. They will be accompanied by the project co-curators Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch from Askeaton Contemporary Arts who will highlight some of their recent programmes.

“The Pilgrim” is a pilot exchange programme linking Barcelona with southwest Ireland, Latitudes with the organisation Askeaton Contemporary Arts), and Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira, who hosts this event in her studio.

Illustration found during Latitudes’ research at the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona (Casa de l'Ardiaca).

Throughout 2023, artist residencies and a public programme will enhance new artistic and curatorial research, and create new possibilities for international collaboration.

“The Pilgrim”’s curatorial framework derives from an extraordinary story from over two centuries ago. It is recalled that a Barcelona merchant named Don Martínez de Mendoza, one of the wealthiest men in Catalonia during the mid-1700s, murdered his son-in-law to avenge the death of his daughter in childbirth in a Barcelona convent years before. Don Martínez ended up living his last sixteen years as a pilgrim in penance in Askeaton, County Limerick. A cryptic inscription can still be found in the cloister of Askeaton Friary: “Beneath lies the Pilgrim’s Body, who died January 17, 1784”.

More info here.

Follow: #PilgrimAskeaton

“The Pilgrim” is supported by the Irish Arts Council’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme 2022.


RELATED CONTENTS:

  • “The Pilgrim” in Barcelona and Askeaton, 31 Jan 2023
  • Audio – "The Pilgrim" by Tim Kelly. Read by Carl Doran. Published in Askeaton-Balysteen Community News, Summer 1984, August 2018, 24'57''
  • Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride, 1 August 2018
  • Residency report: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018x, 30 July 2018
 2018, 2023, archive, Askeaton, Barcelona, curated by Latitudes, Eulàlia Rovira, Michele Horrigan, Niamh Moriarty, research, residency, Ruth Clinton, Sean Lynch, The Pilgrim
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“The Pilgrim” in Barcelona and Askeaton

 Tue, Jan 31 2023

Left to right: Eulàlia Rovira (photo by Aníbal Parada), Ruth Clinton (photo by Colm Keating) and Niamh Moriarty (photo by Cian Flynn).


Askeaton Contemporary Arts and Latitudes are delighted to announce the launch of “The Pilgrim”, a pilot exchange programme linking the two organisations in southwest Ireland and Barcelona, respectively, and Irish artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira. Throughout 2023, artist residencies and a public programme will enhance new artistic and curatorial research, and create new possibilities for international collaboration.

“The Pilgrim”’s curatorial framework derives from an extraordinary story from over two centuries ago. It is recalled that a Barcelona merchant named Don Martínez de Mendoza, one of the wealthiest men in Catalonia during the mid-1700s, murdered his son-in-law to avenge the death of his daughter in childbirth in a Barcelona convent years before. Don Martínez ended up living his last sixteen years as a pilgrim in penance in Askeaton, County Limerick. A cryptic inscription can still be found in the cloister of Askeaton Friary: “Beneath lies the Pilgrim’s Body, who died January 17, 1784”.

More info here.

#PilgrimAskeaton

The Pilgrims Grave, Duffy’s Fireside Magazine, January 1853.

Since 2006, the artist-led initiative Askeaton Contemporary Arts has commissioned, produced and exhibited over a hundred contemporary art projects in County Limerick, Ireland. 

Latitudes is a Barcelona-based curatorial office that works internationally across contemporary art practices. It was initiated in 2005 by Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna.

“The Pilgrim” is supported by the Irish Arts Council’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme 2022.


RELATED CONTENTS:

  • Audio – "The Pilgrim" by Tim Kelly. Read by Carl Doran. Published in Askeaton-Balysteen Community News, Summer 1984, August 2018, 24'57''
  • Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride, 1 August 2018
  • Residency report: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018x, 30 July 2018

 2023, Askeaton, Eulàlia Rovira, Ireland, Latitudes-curated, Michele Horrigan, Niamh Moriarty, research, residency, Ruth Clinton, Sean Lynch, The Pilgrim
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Report: Buenos Aires during Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires, Semana del Arte and arteBA fair

 Mon, Apr 22 2019

Invited by Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires to participate in their Parallel Talks programme during ArteBA, Latitudes spent a week in Buenos Aires (9–15 April) visiting a range of studio spaces, non-profit initiatives, commercial galleries, residency programmes, collectors, artists, and the arteBA art fair itself. 

(Above) Mariana Tellería ("Dios es inmigrante", 2019) and Carlos Huffmann (below) "Hito de frontera", 2019).

Tuesday 9 April 2019: We arrived in the evening in time to join the opening of the Buenos Aires Art Week (Semana del Arte) at Plaza Seeber. On the square, several sculptures were commissioned for the occasion, including works by Mariana Tellería (representing Argentina in the 2019 Venice Biennale), as well as works by Margarita Paksa, Marie Orensanz, Luna Paiva and Carlos Huffmann (photographed below).


Façade of MALBA — Museo Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires.

Wednesday 10 April: Morning visit to MALBA — Museo Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, who just announced the appointment of Gabriela Rangel as its new director. MALBA we saw "Inner world Modern Argentine Photography 1927-1962" with really compelling photographic work by Horacio Coppola, among others, as well as the survey "Latin American Art 1900–1970" from the MALBA collection.


 (Above) Pistal Central de La Rural.

In the afternoon we went to the Pista Central of La Rural to attend the opening of ArteBA. Later in the week, twelve concurrent talks — the Parallel Talks programme organised by Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires — would take place inside transparent geodesic domes installed on this arena.

"Cultivar el suelo es servir a la patria" (Cultivate the soil is to serve the homeland).

 Inside the art fair ArteBA.


‘Lleno de sonrisas serias’, a 1963 work by conceptual artist and fashion designer Dalila Puzzovio (work above, the artist is photographed below on the left) was presented at Rolf Art gallery. Her discarded cast piece was included in the 1964 exhibition ‘New Art of Argentina’, organized by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires (installation view in the background where her piece was presented on the floor). As Walker curator Siri Engberg wrote, the show ‘brought to Minneapolis Argentine artistic trends in geometric, abstract, and collage painting, constructivism, and other developments’. Rolf Art also presented works by José Alejandro Restrepo ‘Parquedades’ (1987) and María José Arjona's performance ‘Línea de Vida’.


 (Above and four images below) Nicolás Robbio at Museo Sívori

In the evening we had welcome drinks at the Museo Sívori, which hosted the fantastic solo show "3 de espaldas" by Nicolás Robbio, curated by Sebastián Vidal Mackinson.



Thursday 11 April 2019: Morning visit to several studios in the Once neighbourhood, including that of Eduardo Basualdo (above and two images below).

Later visited a group exhibition at galería Revolver which included "Aspiradora" (2017) by Alberto Borea.

Vicente Grondona's work also at Revolver.

cheLA studio spaces in parque Patricio neighbourhood.

In the afternoon we divided into smaller groups. We went to cheLA, a large 1930s industrial building in Parque Patricios hosting a programme of international residencies directed by Pablo Caligaris. In its 5,000m, cheLA hosts a range of organisations ("Constellations") including Móvil, a non-profit directed since 2014 by Alejandra Aguado and Solana Molina Viamonte, occupying the sala Tatraba.

Entrance to Móvil in cheLA. 

(Above and below) Exhibition "Sí, no y otras opciones" by Tucumán-born artist Mariana Ferreira at Móvil.


Evening opening at Centro Cultural Kirschner (CCK) (pictured above) hosted a large survey by 47 Argentinian artists titled "La marca original: arte argentino" presented over their vast exhibition spaces on the second and fourth floors. The building was a former post office and reminded us of Madrid's CentroCentro which has undergone a similar readaptation of its use, both struggling to adapt their spaces to the presentation of contemporary art.

 House-gallery of Maria Casado.

 Friday, April 12, 2019: Morning visit to El Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, visiting the home-and-gallery of Maria Casado and the residency programme Proyecto URRA.

(Left to right) Stuart Fallon (Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburg), Marie Christine Schuh (Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires), Latitudes, Richard Parry (Glasgow International), gallerist Maria Casado and Sandino Scheidegger (Random Institute).


Onwards to the nearby Proyecto URRA artists residencies, also in El Tigre. Introductions by the resident artists Antonio Castillo Coo, Claire de Santa Coloma, Enrique Radigales, Lucas Despósito and Marisol San Jorge, and URRA director Melina Berkenwald.

Photo: Stuart Fallon.

 (Above and below) Installation by Madrid-based artist Enrique Radigales.

Enrique discusses his piece with visitors and other residents. Photo: Stuart Fallon.

Afternoon at the Parque de la Memoria—a fourteen-acre remembrance park situated in front of the Río de la Plata, commemorating the victims of state-sponsored terrorism from the 1976–83 military regime. Here we met Florencia Battiti (Curator at Parque de la Memoria) who explained the mission, programme and public commissions. 





Saturday 13 April 2019: On Saturday morning we joined the arteBA tour to a few galleries in La Boca neighbourhood: Fundación El Mirador (showing Alfredo Prior), Quadro Galería (showing Karin Idelson) and (photographed) Galería Barro exhibiting Marcelo Pombo. Fundación PROA presented contemporary Argentinian design, and we had ‘choripán’ lunch at the nearby Fundación PROA 21.


Back at the fair, transparent geodesic domes had been set up by Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires at the Pista central in La Rural. Each space hosted the three consecutive conversations, starting 5:30. Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna's individual conversations ran consecutively (at 6:30 and 7:30) each for an hour. 

As narrated by co-guest Sandino Scheidegger of the Random Institute, other talks included topics such as ‘An Exhibition By Any Other Name’, ‘How Can Art Institutions Foster Experimentation?’ or ‘Curating in Context: How to Be Site-Specific’ (programme pdf here).

 On the subject of the 3-year relationship between arteBA and Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires, Kerry Doran wrote his impressions in Artforum diary. 





Sunday 14 April 2019: A very welcome free day Sunday. We visited MUNTREF—Centro de Arte Contemporéneo's recently opened Premio Braque 2019 exhibition featuring works by fifteen Argentinian artists: Alfredo Dufour, Belén Romero Gunset, Celina Eceiza, Erica Bohm, Gustavo Nieto, Julián Sorter, Malena Pizani, Mariana Ferrari, Mónica Heller, Nacha Canvas, Nicolás Mastracchio, Juan Sorrentino, Mariana López, Dani Zelko and Cecilia Szalkowicz, awarded this year Premio Braque with her piece ‘Cosmos’. The award consists of a six-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. 

 (Above and below) ‘Cena recalentada’ by Celina Eceiza.

 (Above, left) Belén Romero Gunset ‘Pensar sola es criminal’ and (right) Erica Bohm ‘El cristal perfecto’. 
(Above) Julián Sorter ‘Doble de cuerpo’.
View of the show with works by Alfredo Dufour ‘Cest la vie I’, Malena Pizani ‘Cinco monos’ and Nicolás Mastracchio ‘Inducción VI’. 
(Above, foreground) works by Nacha Canvas ‘Símil’ and (background) Mariana Ferrari ‘Vivir aquí’.

Entrance to Carla Zaccagnini's "Mañana iba a ser ayer" curated by Lucrecia Palacios y Agustín Pérez Rubio also on view at MUNTREF—Centro de Arte Contemporéneo.




A classic fugazzeta at El Cuartito was followed by 1h walk to the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bellas Artes in San Telmo, with a short diversion to El Ateneo bookstore (below).




At the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires: "Una Historia de la imaginación en la Argentina", subtitled "Visiones de la Pampa, el litoral y el altiplano desde el siglo XIX a la actualidad", one of the most interesting shows in town. We wished we had seen it earlier as a means of introduction to the historical and artistic context. It included 250 works from different geographical points of the country, selected around their representation of nature, the feminine body and violence. It was curated by Javier Villa, Chief Curator at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires.

(Above) Works by Calixto Mamani and exhibition views below.



Installation "Mi Silencio miseria" (2015-19) by Carlos Herrera.


Also at MAMBA, we caught the last day of Mercedes Azpilicueta's solo show ‘Cuerpos pájaros’, and more specifically, her performance "Oh Eduarda!".





(Above) Azpilicueta performing during her "Oh Eduarda!", a script realised in collaboration with Agustina Muñoz, who performs alongside the artist. 


RELATED CONTENT:
 2019, Argentina, Art Basel, art fairs, art weekend, Buenos Aires, Gallery Weekend, Mercedes Azpilicueta, report, residency, studio visit, studios facilities, talks programme
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Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride

 Wed, Aug 1 2018
Latitudes' home page www.lttds.org

The August 2018 Monthly Cover Story "Askeaton Joyride" is now up on Latitudes' homepage: www.lttds.org

 "Strange and wonderful things happen in Askeaton—especially during each summer for the last thirteen years. Initiated by artists Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch in 2006, the residency programme Welcome to the Neighbourhood hosts artists and curators in the midst of this small town community in County Limerick, Ireland, under the umbrella of Askeaton Contemporary Arts."

—> Continue reading
—> After August 2018 it will be archived here.

Cover Stories' are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes' homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial activities.


RELATED CONTENT:

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
  • Cover Story – July 2018: "No Burgers for Sale" 2 July 2018
  • Cover Story—June 2018: Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group 4 June 2018
  • Cover Story – May 2018: "Shadowing Roman Ondák" 7 May 2018 
    •
  • Cover Story – April 2018: "Cover Story—April 2018: Dates, 700 BC to the present: Michael Rakowitz" 3 April 2018
    •
  • Cover Story – March 2018: "Armenia's ghost galleries" 6 March 2018
  • Cover Story – February 2018: Paradise, promises and perplexities 5 February 2018
  • Cover Story – January 2018: I'll be there for you, 2 January 2018
  • Cover Story – December 2017: "Tabet's Tapline trajectory", 4 December 2017
  • Cover Story – November 2017: "Mining negative monuments: Ângela Ferreira, Stone Free, and The Return of the Earth", 1 November 2017
  • Cover Story – October 2017: Geologic Time at Stanley Glacier 11 October 2017
  • Cover Story – September 2017: Dark Disruption. David Mutiloa's 'Synthesis' 1 September 2017
  • Cover Story – August 2017: Walden 7; or, life in Sant Just Desvern 1 August 2017
  • Cover Story – July 2017: 4.543 billion 3 July 2017
  • Cover Story – June 2017: Month Light–Absent Forms 1 June 2017
  • Cover Story – May 2017: S is for Shale, or Stuart; W is for Waterfall, or Whipps 1 May 2017
  • Cover Story – April 2017: Banff Geologic Time 3 April 2017
  • Cover Story – March 2017: Time travel with Jordan Wolfson 1 March 2017
 2018, Askeaton, cover story, curatorial writing, Ireland, Jonny Lyons, Matt Calderwood, Michele Horrigan, Niamh Moriarty, residency, Ruth Clinton, Sean Lynch, The Pilgrim
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Residency: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018

 Mon, Jul 30 2018

The annual residency programme ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ curated by Askeaton Contemporary Art's director Michele Horrigan has situated Irish and international artists in the midst of Askeaton, a small town in County Limerick since its conception in 2006. Over one hundred artist's projects have been realised in public spaces throughout the town, bringing forward layers of daily life and creating a rich framework for encounters.

In its thirteenth year, the 2018 edition of ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ invited artists Matt Calderwood, Jonny Lyons, Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty, and curators Gareth Bell-Jones (Flat Time House, London) and Latitudes. 

The programme began on July 14 and wrapped up on July 28th with an Open Day where the artists-in-residence unveiled the works they had produced.  

2018 programme.

Latitudes arrived at Askeaton on the 20th, following a short stint in Dublin's The LAB Gallery where they participated in a closed-door seminar in the context of the exhibition ‘I Slept Like A Stone’ curated by Sheena Barrett and Julia Moustacchi.

"Many public events have occurred during Welcome to the Neighbourhood, each introducing new perspectives to the role and purpose of contemporary art and knowledge production in the Limerick region. Public talks by Gareth Bell-Jones (Flat Time House, London), Latitudes, Patrick Comerford and Karin Dubsky (Coastwatch Europe) explored topics from contemporary curating practice to El Greco and marine ecology. Carl Doran’s ongoing collaborative work with Askeaton Castle’s conservation theme was showcased, while Anthony Sheehy led tours of Askeaton’s medieval heritage." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]

Askeaton's square. Desmond Castle is in the background. All photos: Latitudes.

Artist and "Welcome to the neighbourhood" mastermind curator Michele Horrigan in Desmond Castle.

Artist Sean Lynch talking about the previous editions of "Welcome to the neighbourhood".
Sunday BBQ with ACA family. Rory Prout (left) and 2018 "Welcome to the neighbourhood" artist Matt Calderwood (right).

Local guide Anthony Sheehy has led tours around Askeaton since 1964.

(Above and below) Visiting the RUSAL Aughinish alumina plant near Askeaton.


Picnic site on our way to Lismore Castle.

2018 "Welcome to the neighbourhood" artist Niamh Moriarty and ACA Assistant Curator, Jessica Kelly.

(Above and below) Visiting Lismore castle’s impressive gardens.


Detail of Stuart Whipps's work included in "The Expanded Field" exhibition co-curated by Lismore Castle Arts and Askeaton Contemporary Arts at the St Carthage Hall, Lismore, which also presents work by The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Olivia Plender, The Domestic Godless, Superfolk and Filip Van Dingenen.

(Above and below) The Grange Stone circle, the largest stone circle in Ireland, was built by the Bronze Age people who lived around Lough Gur in 2100 BC.


 Enchanting studio visit with local legend and stick-maker Seanie Barron.

View of Desmond Castle from the top floor of the Civic Trust.

 Banqueting Hall next to Desmond Castle is also under restoration.

Tour by the OPW workers restoring Desmond Castle.

As we later learn, these two rectangular columns in Askeaton's Friary contained a much-hunted treasure. It became the spur for Latitudes' research in the links between Barcelona and Askeaton. To be continued...

In "The Pilgrim", Latitudes reprised a 1984 article written by Tim Kelly in the back issues of The ABC News, Askeaton’s annual journal. Made available online and through social media platforms, an excerpt was heard at the Franciscan friary, of a dramatic narrative bringing to life a cryptic inscription found in the cloister there that reads "Beneath lies the Pilgrim's body, who died January 17, 1784". The story is read aloud by artist Carl Doran. The tale involves an Italian, a Spaniard, and a morbid blood hunt that links Barcelona with Askeaton. 

Hear more at https://soundcloud.com/lttds/the-pilgrim

Cloister in the Franciscan friary.

Ray Griffin's magic hands fabricating Matt Calderwood's boat.

Matt's first rehearsal, testing the oars on the River Deel. 

Ray and Matt carrying the boulder to the water.

"London-based artist Matt Calderwood’s installation Erractic (Approximately 4.5 Tonnes) can be seen floating on the River Deel. With a healthy interest in what the artist describes as the “non-expert production of things”, Calderwood without any prior experience, guidance or clear blueprints, constructed his own boat, and vigorously rowed it up and down the Deel. On Open Day, it is seen on the river with what appears to be an enormous rock inside it. The longer you look at this apparition, the more uncomfortable its appearance becomes as if the boat and stone were a tangential echo or parallel universe of the stone buildings and maritime traditions of the region. In addition, a series of large-scale prints detail a selection of Askeaton stones, some real, some not, seen in various locations throughout the town." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]

Matt floatin’ out on the River Deel. He sails off accompanied by two show-dog Rottweilers (they are not part of the work!). 

Matt Calderwood and rock on the River Deel in front of Askeaton's 14th Century Franciscan Friary. 

(Making of) Jonny Lyons’s "Joyride" during the morning high tide at the River Deel. 

"Glasgow-based artist Jonny Lyons debuts a new installation, Joyride, at Askeaton Community Hall. Impressed by the rhythm and assured style of card playing he encountered in Askeaton, his artwork was realised in collaboration with local card sharks William Sheehan, James and Antoinette Fitzgerald, and Noel McCarthy. Surreally they appeared unannounced early one morning at high tide in the middle of the River Deel, playing the trick-taking card game of forty-fives that originated in Ireland on a specially constructed pontoon." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]




Players signing two joker cards.

On Saturday 28 July, the Open Day, over 50 guests joined the tour which took off from Askeaton's Civic Trust.

Matt Calderwood's boat made a new apparition upstream for the Open Day.

Calderwood displayed some large prints at a former hair salon. Below Calderwood discusses his work with Sean Lynch.


Jonny Lyons's new installation, Joyride, at Askeaton Community Hall. Featured in Latitudes' August 2018 Monthly Cover Story (after August it will be archived here).

A paparazzi moment with the artist and the card players. Below Lyons's installation presents the table borrowed from Ranahan's pub on the pontoon, alongside a fresh Guinness pint, two signed joker cards and the 7 of hearts – the card that blew away during the making of.





 Ruth and Niamh reenact the small photograph on the upper left which can be found at Cagney’s Bar – featuring two local women aside from a broken-hearted Kiefer Sutherland (here brought to life by artist Jonny Lyons). 

“Dublin and Sligo-based artists Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty are known for their intense sensitivity to microhistories and the local. In recent days they have uncovered the story of Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland’s visit to Askeaton, soon after being dumped by Julia Roberts days before their planned wedding in 1990. A 24-year-old Sutherland ended up in the west of Ireland where, in his own words, he was going to “try have a drink in every town I passed through.” Clinton and Moriarty’s artwork acts as a form of fan fiction, a stream of consciousness spread throughout the rooms of Cagney’s Bar and Ranahan’s Pub. A lino print and video accompany a photograph of Sutherland partying in Askeaton, while the artists perform an intimate scripted theatrical performance in the snug of Ranahan’s at 3.15pm and 5pm respectively.” [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]

 It's been grand!
RELATED CONTENT:
 2018, Askeaton, Ireland, Jonny Lyons, latitudes, Matt Calderwood, Michele Horrigan, microhistory, Niamh Moriarty, residency, Ruth Clinton, Sean Lynch, talks programme
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Sediments of the Geologic Time 4-week residency at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity

 Tue, Oct 10 2017



September 11, 2017: Banff is a town located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta. Elevation: 1,383 m. We'll be spending four weeks at The Banff Centre, at the foot of Sleeping Buffalo Mountain (Tunnel Mountain) overlooking the Bow Valley. 

 The programme conceived by Latitudes (Lead Faculty), and with the participation of Irish artist Sean Lynch as Guest Faculty, asked how a geologic lens might affect artistic and curatorial practice.

 Participants: Justy Phillips & Margaret Woodward (A Published Event) based in Hobart; Semâ Bekirovic, based in Amsterdam; Caitlin Chaisson based in Vancouver; Becky Forsythe, based in Reykjavik; Chloe Hodge, based in London; Shane Krepakevich, based in Toronto; Caroline Loewen, based in Calgary; Penelope Smart, based in St. John's, Newfoundland; and Camila Sposati, based in São Paulo.



Views of the Banff Centre campus from the Vistas dining centre, the trees slowly starting to turn yellow.

 

Group photo of 'Geologic Time' 10 participants and Lead Faculty – participant Penelope Smart and Guest Faculty artist Sean Lynch are camera shy.


 
The door to Latitudes' Studio 317 in Glyde Hall.



Stunning views towards the Banff Springs Hotel and Sulphur Mountain from the GH 317 studio.



'Geologic Time' dedicated section in the library.



Campus tour with local legend Jim Olver, Customer Service at Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, "passionate about river canoeing, geology, ski-touring & curling!"



September 16, 2017: Hike up to Tunnel Mountain, with panoramic views of the town, the Bow and Spray River valleys, and the Banff Springs Hotel site. The Stoney people (indigenous people of Western Canada) had long called the mountain "Sleeping Buffalo", as it resembles a sleeping buffalo when viewed from the north and east. The name Tunnel Mountain was given in 1882 when a proposed route for the Canadian Pacific Railway was to be blasted through. An alternate route costing much less money was put around the mountain, but the name Tunnel Mountain remained.



September 17, 2017: (Above and below) Hoodoos Trail descends to the river and follows it east and north under the cliff face of Tunnel Mountain. We were interrupted by a herd of elk (wapiti) so decided to turn around.





September 19, 2017: Lecture by the legendary Rocky Mountains expert Ben Gadd, 71 (pictured above), one of Canada’s better-known naturalists, geologists, and mountain writers.



Some of the rock specimens brought by Ben Gadd to his lecture – including some very fetching custom cushions sewn by his wife.



Ben Gadd during his Q&A with Geologic Time participants.



Gadd holding a 170-95 million-year-old coast mountains granite.



September 20, 2017: Morning visit to the archive of the Whyte Museum in Banff, a museum that collects, preserves, and exhibits all kinds of materials related to the cultural heritage of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.



September 20, 2017: Afternoon visit to Bankhead and Lake Minnewanka ("Water of the Spirits" in Nakoda).

Bankhead is an abandoned coal mining town in Banff National Park. The mine began in 1903 and ceased operations in 1922 when it was generally understood that mining had not been profitable. In 1926, many of the town's buildings were moved to Banff and Canmore. Bankhead was located at the foot of Cascade Mountain, which contains high-grade anthracite coal deposits. The Bankhead coal mine was operated by the Pacific Coal Company, a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which needed the coal to fuel its steam engines.





Air powered (fireless) locomotive on display at Bankhead, Alberta.



(Above) Rhubarb grows out of jet-black anthracite: high-grade coal formed 100 million years ago. At its peak in 1911, the Bankhead mine that once stood on this site at the base of Cascade Mountain employed 480 men. Its tunnels produced half a million tonnes of coal that year, destined for the furnaces of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Miners came mostly from Poland, Italy, Britain, and Russia, while a group of 90 Chinese men were brought to Canada to sort rock from coal for minimal wages. Unwelcome in the town, they set up on the far side of the slag heaps, where they made a shanty town from scrap wood. They also created a kitchen garden, where they cultivated, among other plants, the hardy rhubarb that still thrives today.

 Apart from it being forbidden to remove plants from what has been a part of Banff National Park since its designation in 1930, the whole site is contaminated with dioxins from waste oil. So no crumble today.



'Wave Sound' (2017) piece by Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore commissioned by @landmarksreperes2017



Rocky Mountains beauty by Lake Minnewanka.



A Jeff Wall-esque shot of the group by Lake Minnewanka.



September 21, 2017: (Above and below) Geology tour around campus with Jim Olver (Director of Customer Service, Banff Centre) "reading" the campus, its formations and fossils. Olver has worked at the Banff Centre for 35 years.





(Above) A well rounded composite rock and (below) finding rocks around campus.


September 23, 2017: (below and following six) Stunning Bow Lake hike with independent curator and BICI resident, Heidi Rabben.













September 24, 2017: (Below) Visual Arts + Digital department excursion to Lake Louise, named 'Lake of the Little Fishes' by the Stoney Nakota First Nations people.

Lake Louise's impressive emerald colour of the water is due to the silt-like rock flour continually being carried into the lake by melt-water from the surrounding glaciers. The tiny and uniform particles become suspended in the water, refracting blue and green wavelengths of light.









September 25, 2017: (Below) Monday weekly meeting and afternoon group seminar led by Caroline Loewen, Shane Krepakevich and Semâ Bekirovic around Don McKay's essay “Ediacaran & Anthropocene: poetry as a reader of deep time” inducing imaginative speculation through geopoetry. Guest Faculty Sean Lynch arrives from Ireland.





September 26, 2017: (Below) Afternoon lecture by "Geologic Time" Guest Faculty Sean Lynch on the value of conversations, Bardic traditions, stone-carvers James and John O'Shea, and fried chicken.





September 27, 2017: (Below) 1:1 sessions with Sean Lynch and a bit of time to dig into the library and read the beautifully written book "The Writing of Stones" by Roger Caillois (1970) with an introduction by Marguerite Yourcenar: "Those fusions, pressures, ruptures, imprints of matter in matter have left traces inside and out which sometimes almost exactly resemble writing and which actually do transcribe events from millions of years ago."




September 28, 2017: Evening seminar in the Banff Upper Hot Springs, elevated at 1,585 meters it's the highest hot water bathing in Canada.



September 29, 2017: (Below) "Geologic Time" hike to the Stanley Glacier in the Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, led by guides Rona Schneberger and Jane Whitney. At the base of Mount Stanley, we turned over some rocks and found 505-million-year-old Burgess Shale trilobites, soft-body fossils from the Eldon formation.





















September 30, 2017: Second screening night led by Sean Lynch.
 
October 2, 2017: (Below) Final week of the programme. Last Monday's weekly meeting, this time under the snow. Third and final afternoon workshop led by 'Geologic timers' Becky Forsythe, Caitlin Chaisson and Chloe Hodge around Hito Steyerl's text "In Free Fall: A Thought Experiment on vertical perspective" (e-flux journal #24, April 2011).






October 3 and 4, 2017: Final 1:1 conversations with participants, and open studios by the Independent artists.
 
October 5, 2017, 5—7pm: (photos below) The Open event ofGeologic Time in the library, followed by a visit to Illuminations, "a participative artwork experience by Sarah Fuller, Moment Factory and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity".

The closing event of Geologic Time was conceived as a two-hour infiltration into the pages, shelves, and display possibilities of The Banff Centre library. Featuring storytelling, documentation, annotation, sculpture, video, conversation and other live situations, the event presented some sediments of the ten participants’ ongoing research and lithic collaborations. PDF of the event programme here.




Caitlin Chaisson has been researching a former experimental farm station in Agassiz, British Columbia, and a forgotten centennial time capsule buried under a granite marker there. Caitlin also presented a cut-and-paste station on the table next to the photocopier, and a display for the tall vitrine just behind it. If you plan on attending the Agassiz Fall Fair and Corn Festival around September 14, 2018, Caitlin will be there, lending an extra hand in the rocky relay that is the shape of time. Pickles may be involved. 

Meanwhile read her reflections on her "Geologic Time" experience.


Also on the main floor, Chloe Hodge made an arrangement of book spreads and purloined texts on a large desk on the side of the library that faces Sulphur Mountain. From 1956 to 1981 the latter peak was the site of a high-altitude geophysical laboratory, a Cosmic Ray Station. Chloe’s presentation filters the macro-perspective enabled by this buoyant micro-history into a speculative research workshop around freefall, the loss of perspective, and groundlessness. 






Becky Forsythe has been making plans for a future exhibition inspired by the artist and naturalist known as Petra, who spent decades collecting stones and minerals from the mountains in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland. Camila Sposati has been reflecting on the various “extractions” of a residency and exhibition that took place in the Amazon in 2004, gradually turning them into a script for a play. Becky and Camila are collaborating for this event on a procedural work using the library photocopier on the main floor (Receding Agate and Rhodochrosite). On the upper floor, they present two further collaborations via the media of “chairs and view” – Looking at the mountains and The mountain at my back – that recontextualize the interior space with respect to vistas of Mt Bourgeau, the Massive Range, Pilot Mountain, and so on.


Chloe is also one of eight 'Geologic Time' narrators whose readings can be heard through speakers on the main floor. What we are hearing are excerpts from Lost Rocks (2017–21), a growing library of short fiction books commissioned by Justy Phillips & Margaret Woodward (A Published Event). Described by the Hobart-based duo as “an accumulative event of mineralogical, metaphysical and metallurgical telling”, the books that have come into the world to date have been incorporated into the library’s holdings alongside a glossary and can be found in the geology section upstairs.

Caroline Loewen has put together documentation at the top of the stairs, along the narrow “bar”. Caroline delves deep into the story of sandstone in Alberta, a rock that gained widespread favour for building and decorative use following Calgary’s Great Fire of 1886. The black-and-brown Rundle Rock that was once quarried at the base of Banff-Centre-neighbour Mount Rundle and was used extensively in creating the Banff Springs Hotel also joins a conversation that anticipates an exhibition scheduled for next summer at Lougheed House in Calgary. (The same Lougheed dynasty lends its name to the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Building (JPL), the Banff Centre’s media headquarters.) 



For these two hours in the library, Semâ Bekirovic employed a number of external hard drives to act as pedestals for small stones. How many terabytes can a hunk of rock hold? What fragments of data detritus, chunks and grains of documents, broken-off images, or weathered files, might be read and written, stored or retrieved? We might ponder this as we stand by the “bar” looking towards Sulphur Mountain. 


An audio narration drafted by Penelope Smart was also heard on the upper floor via a Bluetooth speaker in the stacks, near “memoirs and narrative”. Here, an image of the exquisite marble bust by Giovanni Strazza animated Penny’s writing during the last weeks. It came to St.John’s, Newfoundland, in 1856. Ring the bell to the right of the main door of the Presentation Convent adjoining the Basilica in St.John’s and maybe one of the sisters will let you see it.



Shane Krepakevich has been prototyping an exhibition display system, or running a 1:1 scale artist-run research institute, in his studio overlooking Mike MacDonald’s butterfly garden. Shane has been thinking about design impulses, transparency, support structures, and the refraction of light through glass, sometimes during the hours he has spent sanding and polishing a series of bronze paperweights, or prospecting the library for textual gems. For the library presentation, Shane made 8.5"×11" arrangements of found sentences, printed them, and then squirrelled them away inside selected library books, alongside images he had photocopied for his display system project.




A number of commemorative posters by Latitudes are presented in the meeting room upstairs. These mark some of the excursions and talks that have formed a part of the last weeks through the motif of the human hand as a geologic scale device. 



Finally, if we ever need reminding about the mystery and power of geological formations, 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', the 1975 Australian film directed by Peter Weir, was screened on a monitor on the upper floor.

Special thanks to Mark Black, Brandy Dahrouge, Peta Rake, and Angela Schenstead. 

 October 6, 2017: Exit interviews, pack up, and departures.

'Geologic Time' participants: Justy Phillips & Margaret Woodward (A Published Event), based in Hobart; Semâ Bekirovic, based in Amsterdam; Caitlin Chaisson based in Vancouver; Becky Forsythe, based in Reykjavik; Chloe Hodge, based in London; Shane Krepakevich, based in Toronto; Caroline Loewen, based in Calgary; Penelope Smart, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland; and Camila Sposati, based in Sao Paulo.

'Geologic Time' was a residency programme of the Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI), organised by the Banff Centre for Art and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. The 2017 residency took place between September 11–October 6 within the framework of the group exhibition 4.543 billion. The matter of matter curated by Latitudes at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France, on view until January 7, 2018.


RELATED CONTENT:
 2017, 4543 billion, CAPC Bordeaux, curatorial writing, display, fieldwork, geologic time, mentoring, residency, seminar, The Banff Center, tutoría
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“Thinking with” geology at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

 Mon, Sep 11 2017

Greetings from the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies!

For the next four weeks, Latitudes will be Lead Faculty of the residency programme "Geologic Time" organised by the Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI) at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. 

 Curators, artists and writers Justy Phillips & Margaret Woodward (A Published Event) based in Hobart; Sema Bekirovic, based in Amsterdam; Caitlin Chaisson based in Vancouver; Becky Forsythe, based in Reykjavik; Chloe Hodge, based in London; Shane Krepakevich, based in Toronto; Caroline Loewen, based in Calgary; Penelope Smart, based in St. John's, Newfoundland; and Camila Sposati, based in Sao Paulo, are here for a month to discuss geological formations and timescales, while speculating about a more expansive and longer-term view of art, exhibitions, and their institutions. 

Through fieldwork, seminars, and independent study, 'Geologic Time' we will be thinking with geology as a potential way to consider non-conventional, deep-time perspectives on curating, exhibition making, programming, and fieldwork within contemporary art.


Programme on Banff's website.

On September 12, 4 pm, Latitudes will give a lecture presenting their practice at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Building 204. Everyone is welcome!

"Geologic Time" is a thematic residency programme of the Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI), Visual + Digital Arts organised by the Banff Centre for Art and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. Within the framework of the residency, Latitudes curated the group exhibition "4.543 billion. The matter of matter" at the CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France, on view until January 7, 2018.  


Entrance to one of the two wings of the exhibition "4.543 billion. The matter of matter" at the CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France, on view until January 7, 2018. Photo: Latitudes / RK.

RELATED CONTENT:
 2017, 4543 billion, Canada, CAPC Bordeaux, deep time, fieldwork, geologic time, Geology, residency, seminar-on-wheels, The Banff Center, visiting lecturer
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"Geologic Time" thematic residency programme at the Banff Centre for Art and Creativity in Alberta, Canada

 Fri, Jun 16 2017
Julius von Schoppe (1795–1868), Illustration of giant stone near the Rauenschen Mountains near Furstenwalde, 1827, Lithograph, von Tempeltey.

Between September 11 and October 6, 2017, ten artists, researchers, writers and curators from around the world will ponder geological formations and stratigraphy, minerals, and resource extraction to speculate about a more expansive, slower and longer-term view of art, exhibitions, and institutions. The spectacular Rocky Mountains will not only be the backdrop, but the active participants.

Through fieldwork, seminars, and independent study, 'Geologic Time' participants will be “thinking with” geology (beyond the depiction of landscape) as a potential way to consider non-conventional, deep-time perspectives on curating, exhibition making, programming, and fieldwork within contemporary art. 

Lead faculty: Latitudes  
Guest Faculty: Sean Lynch

"Geologic Time" is a thematic residency programme of the Banff International Curatorial Institute, Visual + Digital Arts organised by the Banff Centre for Art and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. Within the framework of the residency Latitudes curated the group exhibition "4.543 billion. The matter of matter" at the CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France, on view until January 7, 2018.   


View of the Banff Centre campus. Photo: Latitudes.

 RELATED CONTENT:

  • "4.543 billion. The matter of matter" in pictures.
  • Guest Faculty of the Thematic Residency 'Blueprint for Happiness' at The Banff Centre, Canada, 27 July–8 August 2015 16 July 2015
  • Cover Story – April 2017: Banff Geologic Time 3 April 2017
  • Cover Story – December 2016: Ten years ago – Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook 5 December 2016 
  • Cover Story – May 2016: Material histories – spilling the beans at the CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux 10 May 2016.
  • Second research trip to Bordeaux 16 July 2016 
 2017, 4543 billion, CAPC Bordeaux, Curatorial Practice, curatorial writing, deep time, Faculty, fieldwork, research, residency, Sean Lynch, seminar, The Banff Center, Workshop
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Cover Story – April 2017: "Banff Geologic Time"

 Mon, Apr 3 2017
The April 2017 Monthly Cover Story "Banff Geologic Time" is now up on www.lttds.org – after April it will be archived here.  

"Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent a great deal of time worrying about stones. Not least, he was troubled by a giant 700-tonne granite rock that lay near the otherwise flat land near Berlin. What on earth was this alien to the region’s geology doing there? Goethe’s realisation that the strange mineral object must have been displaced by glaciers helped instigate the theory of ice ages and deep time. Stone provokes us to recalibrate our concept of the past and our place in the world. Rock is radical." Continue reading by clicking the grey bar underneath the image.

We remind artists, researchers, cultural writers and curators interested in slower and longer-term view of art, exhibitions, and their institutions (as well as rocks of course!) that the call for the Banff thematic residency programme "Geologic Time" (September 11–October 6, 2017) led by Latitudes and artists Sean Lynch as Guest Faculty, is open until May 24 (11:59pm MST).




Cover Stories' are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes' homepage and feature past, present or forthcoming projects, research, writing, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial activities, and are archived here.

Related content:
 2017, 4543 billion, Canada, cover story, curatorial writing, fieldwork, residency, Sean Lynch, seminar, slowing down, teaching, The Banff Center, visiting lecturer
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Session with first year participants of the MA Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts (CCA), San Francisco, 8 September

 Tue, Sep 15 2015
Photo: Arash Fayez.  

On September 8, 2015, Latitudes led a 3h session with the participants of the first year of the MA in Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. This was our last day as residents at the Kadist Art Foundation.

 As a mode of introduction, we presented a range of projects we have worked on and referred to the closed-door seminar ‘The Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group’, we had led a week earlier with the participation of colleagues and art professionals – an informal dialogue about the future of contemporary art institutions, and more particularly concerned with programming speeds, institutional scale, and periodicity. 

For the second part of the evening, we split the group in three and asked them to prepare descriptions of hypothetical art organisations and to reflect on urban/ non-urban contexts and mission statements. 


 RELATED CONTENT:

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This is the blog of the independent curatorial office Latitudes. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
All photos: Latitudes | www.lttds.org (except when noted otherwise in the photo caption)
Work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
 2015, curating, Curatorial Practice, Kadist Art Foundation, Near Future Artworlds, research, residency, seminar, teaching, Workshop
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