ART:Jamaica

ARCHIVING ART:JAMAICA

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 17:41:00 +0000

Happy New Year to All.

This open letter to you has been a while coming. ART:Jamaica as a venture has been great and put me in contact with so many interesting people. In 2006 when I launched this blog as a place for my art students at Edna Manley College, I had no idea it would become a place where I was doing most of the writing. I am not a naturally enthusiastic or great writer or art administrator so you can imagine how hard a task this has been. I am happy however that curators etc. internationally have used the site as a research tool on the contemporary arts scene in Jamaica. The writing has dwindled to nothing over the last year as I have become a full time teacher and am also undertaking more ambitious projects for my art practice. Due to this, I have regrettably had to turn down so many requests to do reviews etc. that I feel to be fair to all it is now time to wrap things up and acknowledge when the time has come to move on. In addition, a few other sites now function in similar ways to ART:Jamaica and have also even chosen to share the same name.

I am therefore formally announcing that I am closing the activities of The ART:Jamaica blog and leaving it to remain as an archive online. There is an active Facebook group and a Facebook page which I am proud of being a part of and I will keep it as place where we can share things about this art interest of ours.

Thanks so much and best to you all in your ventures this year and going forward and hope you will continue to support future projects.

See you around the internet or IRL.

-Oneika

Biennial Notes: Thread

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 17:05:00 +0000

Katrina Coombs, Absence

The 2014 Jamaica Biennial is now coming to a close on Sunday March 15th with artists talks planned to talk about new practices and directions. At major exhibitions there is always a highlight on the biggest most glamorous, glaring or loud practices. High politics, high shine, high rhetoric, high tech is trendy. Within art scenes, markets and circles this is all of course to serves its purpose to ensure that the event is remembered and thus able to enjoy continuity and growth in the eyes of the organizers. Sometimes however some work which is more reflective and less locally explosive and assertive can get overlooked. I wanted to just put together a few thoughts to call attention to the work of three artists from this other side where I can see connections. The work that struck me includes the exhibits by Katrina Coombs, Judith Salmon and Miriam Smith.

Katrina Coombs

Coombs’ work strikes me as kind of woven hood without the remaining parts of the shirt for me to qualify it as a ‘hooded’ item of clothing. I suppose I am seeking to make the connection with her work because of the relevance of the hoodie or hooded figures in visual culture and international affairs. In the UK, the minority working class teens who don the repurposed athletic wear are literally called just ‘hoodies’ as a way of referring to the imminent social threat they pose. We are also now quite familiar with the story from the U.S. of the black teenager who was seen as a threat because of the hood which he wore. As we are reminded by countless films the hood also spelled danger for blacks in the southern states of the U.S. during much of the last century’s history. The one which comes most to mind is ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’. Nevertheless Coombs has only suggested this hooded sweatshirt and gown which is so prominent and perhaps this is the actual intrigue of the work. There are actually two hoods in the work that appear to be and inner hood and an outer hood. She reflects on this when we talk to her as she speaks about ‘The Other’ or the other and her interest in perceptions of threat and isolation. The woven hood in her work in the Biennial also becomes a woven womb in other recent work seen in The Edna Manley College’s recent staff show and thus extends the links we make to the form.

Miriam Hinds

Justice Denied...1600 and Still Counting (detail), Source:NGJ Catalogue

Miriam Smiths’ work involves canvases mounted stained, scraped or printed monochrome with patches and groupings of a thick off-white thread or cord. White thread is sewn down by red thread; cocoons and tufts of white thread dangle by a single red thread and white thread becomes scars on canvas which are sewn up or sewn down by the red thread. The wounds, pods, eggs and other symbols feel like abstract tales of birth, transformation, healing and pain. When asked about the use of red in the work she doesn’t point to any one meaning but talks about using it for all its potential symbolism. What does red mean? fertility, love, anger, good fortune and any other more personal significance. Coombs also talks about red as a powerful colour filled with diverse information attached. There is also a look about the work which reminds of smaller revised versions of Robert Motherwell’s canvases with ovoid shapes and horizons.

Judith Salmon, Palimsests for life

Judith Salmon continues this play between thread and its use to join and make connections. She says that thread can be used to repair things, to put things together or rather hold things together. As we travel from one artists’ work to the other the thread gets looser and looser and thinner and thinner. Coombs’ proto-hood is tightly woven and neat in its appearance while Smiths’ thread is ravelled, hanging and winding around forms and suppressed by other things. Salmon’s thread however is more like remains or cast-off. It is one of the bits and pieces from personal items or things we encounter in life that are suspended or float in the hardened wax. Her work is somehow less referential or conceptual than Coombs’ work and feels less vigorous or dictated than Smith’s work. These shallow wax rectangles are more like reflective traces of life. They present some kind of evidence that is very personal but relatable. We all have these bits floating around.

Judith Salmon, Palimsests for life (detail)

Aesthetically and materially they show linkages in their work but I think what interests me is how I am understanding something about how different each artist’s use of the materials is. This is expected as each artist has a very different set of generational and educational experiences. There are on the other hand so many similarities however as all have connections as staff or as alumni of Edna Manley College and both Coombs and Smith have involvement in the Textiles Department there. I could make the comparison that all three are women but it is arguably the thing which ties them all together or just a background fact. They are artists who show work which traces concerns with feminist thought, body politics, conceptual Art and the list goes on. I don’t know what specifically accounts for similarities in aesthetics and concerns in artistic practice. Certain places will definitely produce certain head spaces. Places as small as Jamaica are bound to do that as the pool of interests and ideas bounces from one artist to the other in constant dialogue and metamorphosis. It makes me wish that all three artists could work together on a project or show to unearth further the potential energy of their ideas.

Katrina Coombs will form part of the artist talk panels at the closing event at The National Gallery of Jamaica at 1:30pm on Sunday March 15th, 2015.

An Impression of Marlon James' 'King Yellowman'

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 01:35:00 +0000

Marlon James, detail of 'King Yellowman', Source: The 2014 Jamaica Biennial Catalogue, The National Gallery of Jamaica

When the British Broadcasting Service [BBC]was first set up in 1927 its mission was to 'educate, inform and entertain'. Successful Art institutions such as Tate Modern, [currently the most visited Modern Art museum in the world ] might subscribe to something similar because viewing Art has become big business with entertainment seen as very much central to that project. But Art in the past was called upon to do a great deal more, such as to illuminate and inspire, glorify and celebrate, also to move and sometimes, to redeem. How useful are any of these criteria for looking at Art today when relevance to the contemporary moment, as articulated by a culturally diverse and globally connected world, is so overwhelmingly prized?

Such thoughts were circulating on a recent visit to the Jamaica Biennial where I was struck by a work which supremely fulfills many of the above mentioned criteria. Hanging in the central hall under the stairs, it is approached without warning or fanfare and were it not so distinguished, might easily be overlooked. The work itself shows the head and torso of a man sunk in stygian gloom apparently standing in a room but gazing beyond it, engrossed in his own thoughts, and lit only by a tiny crack of light on a narrow strip of his shoulder, neck and hat. A stray speck of light somehow creeps round to the other side of his head and catches the pale eyelashes of his left eye but this is about all the light that is permitted in a drastically subdued tonal register.

Marlon James, King Yellowman, Source: The 2014 Jamaica Biennial Catalogue, The National Gallery of Jamaica

No one looking at this portrait could mistake its mood for anything less than deeply lugubrious and this impression is enhanced by the subfusc tones of the man's clothing, which is rakishly respectable, and of the space itself, where the air feels heavy, and still. The sober brown palette simultaneously endorses and effaces the personality before us. It's impossible to tell whether a doorway, dimly visible behind him offers any way out.

The truly remarkable thing about this work by Marlon James is its severe restraint. James has granted us precious little visual excitement and only the minimum of information as to the man's identity except of course in the title of the piece, 'King Yellowman'. It is a mark of the work's universality however that we are in no need of any more information in order to bring our own sympathies to bear on the immense sorrow before us. Nothing extraneous has been allowed to intrude or distract us from this overwhelming quality, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Within this hermetic space we are forced to confront the limits of our own compassion and in doing so summon up from ourselves our own equivalences of kind and degree. Surely only the stony-hearted could turn away from such a work unaffected.

James is known for his many remarkable portraits, often of the troubled, disaffected or marginal among us. Typically these photographs are made, not taken, and involve complex transactions and negotiations between artist and subject which leave their trace in the resulting image. This latest example is no exception, its introspection, resignation and inner despair, glimpsed and intuited, is undeniably of the moment. Whilst it bears no superficial resemblance to the typical celebrity portrait it offers more than a hint of the strains, insecurities and perils suffered by many who inhabit them, whose public and private image frequently diverge. A glance at Yellowman's biography would reveal that he has experienced more than his fair share of life's vicissitudes. In this work, James has managed to convey most of them with the utmost circumspection and skill.

- Prudence Lovell

Virtual Curation & Alternative Biennials

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 02:26:00 +0000

Since last summer, Kathryn Buford, editor/ curator of LiveUnchained.com, and myself have been speaking about the art culture in Jamaica with the aim to collaborate on a project together. I had the chance to work with Kathryn previously when she interviewed me for one of her online articles. With the upcoming Jamaica Biennial we hit on the idea of presenting together a sort of alternative biennial via this blog with Kathryn making the major curatorial choices.

She has assembled a group of artists who she feel have a dialogue and sympathy with issues tackled in Jamaican Art. These artists however are situated in a different cultural space. In a sense she has not curated a show which highlights who was excluded from amongst local artists but rather who else could have been included using a different curatorial eye. This repeats the endgame of the Jamaica Biennial but I think of it more as making connections between the local and the global. For the alternative biennial that has been curated please visit this link. Until the Biennial closes in March there will also be shorter more focused discussions on specific artists or groups of artists being published on this blog.You are welcome to join in the conversation.

Other Articles of Interest

Jamaica Biennial 2014 - First Call

What is a Biennial? Part 1 - The Matter of Origins

What is a Biennial? Part 2 - Where Do We Go?

Jamaica Biennial 2014...A Transitional Phase in the Process of Change

Time-based Media @ THE 2014 JAMAICA BIENNIAL

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:38:00 +0000

Courtesy of The National Gallery of Jamaica, Renee Cox – Zulu Man Tree (from Sacred Geometry), digital photograph

I am currently facilitating a course at Edna Manley College called 'Time-based Media'. It is one of three Media Art courses I developed under the guidance of Annie Hamilton, Hope Brooks and Petrona Morrison back in 2006. I had just finished my MA in Interactive Media in the UK and had many ideas about how to integrate the things I had learned as well as the pathway my artistic practice was taking down the road of hybridizing traditional art method and media with new media. I only taught the course for one year before leaving to study in Asia but after returning have been teaching it for the past year.

Many things have changed. The Jamaica Biennial now has numerous multimedia works on show and in most but not in all cases there is a sense that artists who work with new media are allowed to inhabit the same privileged gallery space as artists using traditional media. I asked my first year students taking the Time-based Media course to visit the Biennial and in particular to engage with the work of artists such as Renee Cox, Petrona Morrison, Sheena Rose, Olivia Mc Gilchrist, Di-Andre C Davis and Storm Saulter as well as other less locally known artists using new media. Often work using new media can feel perplexing to audiences as it may be less familiar as an art medium for them. I asked the students to think about:

- The design of the work (images as well as physical placement of equipment)
- The equipment and physical parts used in actualizing the work
- The images and technique used in the work
- and finally to ponder what concepts and sensations emerge in the work when they look at it.

You are also invited to visit the Biennial and discuss these and other questions about the new media work on show.

What does Cultural Identity have to do with Abstraction?

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 02:53:00 +0000

so you, 44" x 65"

GA Gardner has recently returned to more regular artistic practice in Trinidad after years living and working in the U.S and launched a public project on Facebook called GetThru which functions as an artists think tank. He has also recently opened a show in Washington D.C. His work rests on the thin line between abstraction and reality or abstracted realities and has been described as a 'cacophony of messages' and information derived from mass media. He speaks with us about this work and its link to culture identity.

Art:Jamaica: The last time we spoke about your work you were making these collages which cut up source images and reformed them into figures in spaces. How have you made this transition to this newer work?

GA: This has not been a huge transition in the work; the mission and objective are the same. The pieces you are referring to were simply a more surreal approach to the same discussion and this body of work is more of an abstract approach. I have always looked at cultural identity in my work and it continues, but I wanted to speak to a larger audience - not be so specific - and I believe that abstract work has been the answer to this. I am able to discuss colors, lines, culture and contemporary materials without the limitations of figure and form. I can now approach my art in a more conceptual manner. The result is now an explosion of information that is woven together by cultural lines and tells a story about how a group of people are identified, ignored, or celebrated in the media. I continue to recycle what I and others can't make use of in our daily lives. I often take the opportunity to use this material as the foundation for my exploration of color and texture. I love to see how random images can come together and tell a story of a particular time in history and how I can manipulate them to tell my story. I am trying to find myself in the colors and content to re-purpose the materials and to find a way to discuss topics as passionately as the media publishers' materials are intent on doing.

Art:Jamaica: Your work draws these boundaries between abstraction and representation. What is your take on straddling this line? Can they both exist in the same space?

GA: Yes, they can and they often do. I went through a period where I was doing more representational work; I have not always been doing abstract. Now I am focusing on abstracts, but that does not mean that I won't do some more representational work in the future. I don't go with my feelings, I go with the message, then I decide on the medium and approach. I am passionate about color and the deconstruction of color--about lines and the complexity of patterns - and about the randomness of it all. I can accomplish this best with an abstract approach. Most of want I do is made real to viewers as it takes on familiar forms. When you see a piece like "so you" for an example, you see things that are familiar, like the weave patterns that are the basis of most woven craft, or the colors that remind you of the Caribbean. If you see this in the work, it then becomes real to you and less abstract. The randomness of the underlying media material plays second fiddle to the bold colors and geometric woven like patterns. This is when I am able to blur the lines between representation and abstraction.

Happy Black, 42" x 55"

Art:Jamaica: Much of the contemporary art in the Caribbean is very representation-based due to many of these artists seeking to question and investigate histories and realities. How does your work navigate these issues and this art scene?

GA: You can only appreciate a sharp image if you have seen a blurry one. If you have too many blurry images in your stories, it is no good and if you have too many sharp images, that's no good either; they complement each other. Often the sharp image will draw you closer to it but the blurry image will make you think more and open a larger dialog, even if the dialog is about whether your eyes are working well. The sharp images to me are representational art, and the blurry images are abstract art. It takes all kinds and all angles to tell our story. My work is about this investigation of culture and how some cultures are left out and struggle to be included in the mainstream media's relevant discussion. It has several components that are related directly to our Caribbean culture and our history as a people. The weaving of materials, for example, is simply a contemporary approach on what our ancestors did to make a living from what was afforded to them. We are a culture that knows how to deal with the things no one wants and make them into something that most can make use of. We did it in all areas of life, from food - using organs and other discarded animal parts for our meal - to clothing, music and many others. I am simply doing this in the arts, I take what is abundant and useless such as discarded media information and discuss a history of a people that then once again becomes appealing to an audience.

Read further about Gardner's recent exhibition below:

The Washington Post

Timeless Remnants -Social Alerts.com

Exhibition Press Release
Morton Fine Art

ON THE SCENE: The School of Visual Art's Final Year Show

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:10:00 +0000

Ramone Johnson, BFA Painting

The annual School of Visual Arts Show opened on June 7th. I haven’t seen a final year show at The School of Visual Arts for at least six years due to being away from Jamaica. During that time however there have been so many reports of surprising and promising work being shown. Some of that work has even gained so much notice that graduating students have been able to transition directly into curated shows at The National Gallery, attract serious critical attention and overturn expectations from certain departments. For example, Visual Communication students were making work which clearly was increasingly engaging with interdisciplinary practices and global art histories. Painting students were recalibrating what being a painting student means and Sculpture Department saw a growth in interest from incoming students thus building an energy once more.

This week is the last week of Edna Manley College’s School of Visual Arts Final Year Show and if you haven’t seen it here are a few reasons why you should:

Ramone Johnson, BFA Painting

Ramone Johnson (Painting) -

This room is filled with walls of wood and glass boxes reminiscent of the stained glass of local Catholic and Anglican church architecture. On closer viewing, snippets of newspaper articles documenting Jamaica’s political and social problems.

Stephanie Channer, BFA, Visual Communication

Stephanie Channer (Visual Communication) -

This room is a quiet contemplative but cozy space dedicated to her creative brand ‘i&i’. The space is also lined with posters reflecting the philosophies of the brand.

Necon Bailey, BFA, Jewelry

Necon Bailey (Jewelry) -

This space feels like a side gallery in a small museum. There were several original remakings of classical stringed instruments. There was also a little table of items made as memory, documentation, altered tools from daily and traditional local culture eg. the machette etched with drawings on both blade and handle.

Natali Daley, BFA, Visual Communication

Natali Daley (Visual Communication) -

The work in this room while being large and commanding has a jewel-like surface with applications of various patterns to various religious iconography. The juxtaposition of the images is the trick to finding some of the more political meanings in the images.

Kareen Weir, BFA, Sculpture

Kareen Weir (Sculpture) -

Very daunting prospect to be in a room filled with contorted faces that are human size. They don’t intimidate however but rather attract viewers. They are something very interesting to see.

Traci Wong, BFA, Sculpture

Traci Wong (Sculpture) -

Described by one visitor as a ‘beautiful room’, the metal wireframe sculptures are large yet delicate at the same time. They are like solid 3d drawings. This work is really about spatial relationships and play with materials.

Lowell Roger, BFA, Visual Communication

Lowell Roger (Visual Communication) -

A space made from plyboard but the interesting part is the charcoal drawings of mythical creatures engaged in battle. Tattoo design, fantasy film genre such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and Asian art all come to mind.

Yannick Pinnock, BFA, Visual Communication

Yannick Pinnock (Visual Communication) -

The artist, influenced by Matthew McCarthy's work of a year ago, uses graffiti, cartoon, street art as a platform. He developed fictional characters, ‘Lionz’, which go about daily life all over the city of Kingston.

I went to see the show on a Friday at mid-morning which perhaps explains the very quiet and almost deserted feeling of the building. Not many students were around to engage with and many rooms were closed or lights were off. A suggestion to the school to solve this is perhaps to assign a few students to act as docents for the whole show for visitors who may need information and assistance.

Don’t let this deter you however as what rooms I did see were on the most part impressive. The energy that I saw from many of the students mentioned is very promising. I think it indicates that more importantly than departmental divisions and trying to define a discipline anymore is earnest investigation, openness to multiple influences, cultures, practices and a commitment to honest exploration. A fresh crop of creative thinkers and practitioners is definitely something that Jamaica could use now.

The show runs from 11am-7pm during the week and 12-5pm on Saturdays. To find out more contact Edna Manley College’s Cage Gallery or email them at cage.gallery@emc.edu.jm

ON THE SCENE: Diversity Spreads in the Kingston's Art Scene

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 21:30:00 +0000

Members of the JA Cosplayaz in character and costume.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to attend a few of the art events happening in Kingston. From exhibitions featuring Hello Kitty to online events enabled by YouTube Live and Google Hangouts, there has been a range of experiences to be had. Our local art scene is not necessarily being compared with other more expansive and developed scenes overseas but it is being seen in its own context.

Sento-kun character inside the exhibition 'Japan: Kingdom of Characters'

LOCATION: DOWNTOWN

The local micro-culture of youth involvement and and admiration of Japanese Manga and Anime would have been sated by ‘Japan: Kingdom of Characters’ now on at The National Gallery of Jamaica. The event even featured the budding society of teenage and college-age cosplayers who perform under the name JA Cosplayaz. The pop culture of Japan has obviously hit a nerve with them as their Facebook group has 1,746 members and has found endorsement from the Japanese Embassy in Kingston. In addition the opening featured the newly formed local alternative Reggae band, The Sky is Broken, performed several songs from Anime sources in its original language. The exhibition itself demonstrated for the beginner a general survey of the history of Anime and Manga in Japan from the 1950’s and 60’s to the contemporary period. The objects, materials and audio-visual titles on display cover large toy collector’s figures such as Mobile Suit Gundam, life-size plushy suits of regional characters such as the city of Nara’s beloved character Sento-kun, miniature anime dolls, video projections of contemporary satirical animations like those made popular by Zuiyo Studios. This exhibition runs until June 14th.

Installation view of 'Canopy Guild' at NLS

LOCATION: MOUNTAIN VIEW

Leasho Johnson's reworking of Rodell Warner's imagery

In contrast to the scope of the show at The National Gallery, NLS currently features in their micro-gallery the results of a collaboration between local and overseas artists exploring the work of their resident artist, Rodell Warner. The exhibition, Canopy Guild, started with an opening event on May 9th and runs until June 28th. The public may view the show by making an appointment. Warner began his residency by visiting various sites in Kingston to photograph aspects of the landscape such as tree formations and leaf clusters. The photos were then processed and reworked via Photoshop and became new imagery for digitally printing on fabric and applying by hand patterns to paper. This imagery and the source photographs also became raw material for the other artists to make garments, video, sound and paintings. One of the most interesting things about the show is how Warner’s work seems to encapsulate the space and draws you in by folding and crumpling the paper to form three-dimensional wall structures.

Booths setup on the grounds of The Chinese Benevolent Association

LOCATION: LIGUANEA

Andranique Morgan's ceramic works at The Liguanea Art Fair

Leaving from the contemporary art nucleus which the NLS show presents, the Liguanea Art Fair was open at the Chinese Benevolent Centre on June 1st for one day. The fair showcased dozens of artists and creatives who sometimes fall outside of the contemporary art scene in Kingston for various reasons such as geographic location, differing markets and tastes. There were also various artists who have connections with the Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts as Alumni or as Faculty. The scene was lively but relaxed with food, music and outdoor and indoor booths. The work on display ranged from hand-made instruments, to large colourful canvases, garments, miniature objects made from found materials and various eye-catching displays of hand-made local jewelry.

Megan McKain's Jewelry Collection

It is a shame that this is only a one day event. It would be good if some kind of regular event could be organized for all kinds of creative pursuits to be made available to the public on a regular basis. The Liguanea Art Fair curates submissions as they seem to be distinguishing between what they want to offer and local craft market-style products. They do now have a Twitter account and Facebook page.

LOCATION: NEW KINGSTON

Documentation photo courtesy of Motza Motza (Facebook User) via Invisible Presence: Bling Memories Facebook Event page

NLS’s art radio’s last broadcast of the IN series discussed Ebony G. Patterson’s protest/ art happening staged behind the procession of the bands at the Jamaica Carnival parade. The Carnival’s Grand March happened simultaneously with the flash-style performance on April 27th. Planning and gathering of participants as well as the making of the coffin-shaped objects began months before the actual event. The performance proved successful in its shock-oriented strategy as local entertainment and newspaper style sections gave air-time and page space to feature the happening. The effect is reminiscent of the unsettling feeling of the New Orleans funeral parade particularly of the scene from Live & Let Die. Apart from the flash aesthetic of the work with its multi-patterned coffins mounted vertically on poles transported by costumed participants, the effect conveys more serious intent. The artist talked about wanting to bring attention to the over 73 persons killed during the 2010 Tivoli Gardens Unrest in Kingston. The performance I would imagine, matched the brightness of the main parade as well as taking onlookers outside the Carnival experience.

Art events are ongoing in Kingston, particularly in the mid-Summer. We can look forward to the opening of the Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts’ Final Year Show on June 7th @ 6:30pm. Kingston Art on the Edge-fuelled exhibition ‘Social Atrocities’ is also coming up at Olympia Art Gallery on June 26th and. Did you attend any of these events or other? What did you think?

ON THE SCENE: Theatre tackles Science in 'HeLa'

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sat, 17 May 2014 16:24:00 +0000

Adura Onashile performs solo in HeLa

The HeLa cell has been a major component driving the major scientific research and advancement in the last sixty three years. The particular qualities of the cell to grow rapidly and it’s resilience has made it an invaluable component in over 90% of scientific labs worldwide. If we think about the scale of which the HeLa cell has had an impact we can think of research in the HIV vaccine, In vitro fertilization, prescription pharmaceuticals, genetics and cloning. This is however a list of facts which you could find in any search engine a few clicks away. We often think about and even more importantly hear about Science in this way.

The HeLa cell in its very name carries with it a more personal but troubling story. It is this story which British-based performer Adura Onashile gave a powerful treatment in her one woman play, HeLa. The name HeLa comes from the hospital lab’s abbreviation of the name Henrietta Lacks. Lacks was an African American woman who was diagnosed with cancer at a hospital in 1961. The other part of her story is that a cell sample was taken from her during her treatment without permission thus beginning the story of the HeLa cells in scientific research. From that moment, even though the course of modern science was set on a path of rapid and highly innovative discoveries enabled by the HeLa cell, the family of Henrietta Lacks was set on another. Onashile in her composed and convincing portrayal of Henrietta’s daughter, Henrietta, The Narrator, The Lab Technician and other characters, relayed how the family have constantly questioned and sought to protect and reclaim the ‘spirit’ of Henrietta as she lives on in some form through HeLa cells worldwide. At one point, we realise via one of the characters that Henrietta Lacks is the only human to ever have more cells outside her body than inside it.

The dramatic imagery & sound of 'HeLa'

Various questions of the ethics in conflict with the ambition of the field of Science come in to play. Onashile’s voicing of Henrietta’s daughter finds her thinking about the cells as pieces of her mother who was exploited by her own doctors. In other segments of the performance we see images and video projected of the various Nobel Prize winners whose research and scientific discoveries depended on the use of this immortal cell line. Many of the issues raised are not new questions, as those of us paying attention to worldwide news would be familiar with the issues of ethics involved in the manipulation of nature involved with scientific research such as Stem-cell research. What ‘HeLa’ presents is an argument for humanizing and reconsideration of how Science’s race towards advancement occurs.

The history of The HeLa cell line is delivered to the audience

The performance was pared down with elements of multimedia, dance and the set working to present a sometimes abstract and sensory and at times clinical experience. Onashile managed to step back and forth between place and time notably by her use of various regional accents and use of a small number of props such as a large chalkboard recounting the names of scientists benefitting from the Henrietta’s cell line. The performance was followed by a Q & A session which left audience members with the beginning of a dialogue about the issues. Eventually though you ask the question, is it ok that the HeLa cell was taken because of what it has contributed; or does the greater good of scientific advancement trump individual rights?

The play was sponsored by The Jamaica Cancer Society and staged at Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts. It was directed by Graham Eatough and inspired by ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot.

INTRODUCING: Christina Leslie’s Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:38:00 +0000

Christina Leslie, The Video Hoe Vixen

Curated art site, Wondereur’s most recently selected artist to watch is Christina Leslie. Leslie creates using photography and African and Jamaican art collector/ curator Kenneth Montague describes her work as having ‘a deep poignant message around multiculturalism’ with ‘a terrible beauty’. Leslie has connections to Jamaica but lives and works in Canada. A selection from her series of recent double portraits can now be viewed. Each work uses two versions of the same person placed next to each other. The automatic impulse is to search for the relationship between the images or to compare them. In one of the double portraits, the close-up frontal photograph of a young black woman’s face is placed beside another photograph of the same woman in blackface and a blond wig. The work’s title, The Video Hoe Vixen is what readily reveals how each image informs the other.

Christina Leslie, Calcutta Curry Boy

Her work offers two representations of the young woman and asks us to choose, to reflect, to think and associate these with certain realities and experiences. She asks friends and family to recall their own personal experiences with racial issues and assumptions about their identity. These stories apparently influence the images she decides to makes. Other works such as Geisha The China Doll, Calcutta Curry Boy and Bollywood Beauty present similar stereotypes which minorities in North America may have experienced. With each of the double portraits, each individual goes through a transformation via masking of their faces and bodies with makeup and costumes which reflects the racist imagery concerning their ethnicity. “I might be opening up old wounds’ she says ‘but it’s not about throwing salt into them. It’s about opening up a conversation.”

Olivia McGilchrist, Red Dress 3

This conversation about racially problematic imagery is one which finds a connection with the various dialogues, voices and viewpoints in various contemporary art practices in the Caribbean. In 2009, Leslie showed work alongside other artists, including myself at the Rockstone & Bootheel exhibition at Real Art Ways in Connecticut. The show featured the work of artists connected to the Caribbean who were exploring various complex layers of Caribbean identity and experience. In particular there is a connection with the concerns of Renee Cox, Ebony Patterson and Marlon Griffith. In that exhibition the artists were involved in re-contextuazlising and thinking about identities via photography. Charles Landvreugd and Olivia McGilchrist’s work presented in other forums relates to this visual language of reclaiming and taking on stereotypes by using masking and cloaking of the body in reference to popular culture and thought.

The juxtaposition in Leslie’s work does play on the ideas of dual truths about individuals. How we see ourselves and how we are seen is a major point emerging from the work. The work holds two striking yet opposing points in that perhaps stereotypes do hold a version of a truth after all; and revealing that all images are constructed for desired effect. Leslie says about her work that “If one less person laughs at one less racist joke, I’m still doing my part in it.” These issues cannot be expected to be directly transplantable in the Caribbean. While we do speak about imagery and representation I don’t know that racism can be understood in the Caribbean in the same way as that which the artist attempts to counter. Her dialogue is clearly aimed at the particular atmosphere in Canada and the U.S. but it finds kinship with the kind of work other artists are doing regionally.

See the full photo-journal story on Christina Leslie’s process and work at Wondereur

The Importance of Social Art Spaces

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:31:00 +0000

Students of the Time-based Media course at Edna Manley College participate in a studio visit at NLS

Over the past three weeks I have had the opportunity to engage in different ways with the new local space, NLS. The space has been active for about a year and is run by Deborah Caroll Anzinger and a small team of volunteers. With each visit a new opportunity presented itself to the various hats I wear as contemporary artist, art educator and arts writer among other things. On my first visit I had the chance to meet the newly arrived artist participating in the residency programme, Rodell Warner. There was also the chance to present my work to visiting curators and catch-up with other artists.

Local artist, Leasho Johnson talks about branding, sexuality and identity in his current work

On the next visit there, just a week after, myself and other artists had the chance to have discussions about trends in art, the local art scene and look at each others work. The interesting part for me was that even though as local artists we were familiar with each others work, this more intimate, personal and social setting was a rarity. There was the realization that as artists we mostly ever saw each other's work when it was already smoothly projecting the aura of 'Art' after being mounted in national and international exhibitions. We never had public chances to see the developmental stages and phases or to listen to the background and ideas of the work. What occurred to me was that we mostly understood each others work as exhibition items or tools to win curatorial, institutional and public favour and notice. This second visit to NLS made me ask the question as to why local artists didn't meet to discuss and show their work to each other more often. If like our Tourism industry we only ever maintain links with the external purveyor of our 'goods' then an element of non-sustainability and risk of exploitation may creep in.

Visiting artist, Rodell Warner, explains development and technical processes in his work to students

That visit pushed me to make an appointment to have my current class of Time-based Media students from Edna Manley College make a studio visit with Warner. This past week the students took an approximately twenty minute walk over from Edna Manley College to NLS at Mountain View Avenue to listen to Warner's presentation. The proprietor, Anzinger began by introducing students to the micro-gallery/ studio and outdoor yard which form NLS. We heard about the yearly curatorial programme and open-call submissions from artists as well as the local and global initiatives being encouraged. The presentation once again fueled questions as to how the art scene and creative industry locally and regionally would be affected if more little hubs of small but active local spaces like NLS were to start-up. It is encouraging as Gallery 178 downtown has also recently had its first committee meeting so good things should be in store. There are undoubtedly many more local spaces and groups but the interconnectedness with each other and public awareness is thin and thus makes these spaces sometimes difficult to access. It can only create a healthier cultural environment if multiple independent spaces, encouraging social interaction and supporting creative practice were operating. The result might lead to the much needed diversity and counter-balance to often all-encompassing and sometimes exclusive state-initiatives for creative industries and The Arts.

Have you interacted with NLS or are involved with another independent initiative which facilitates local creative practices?

Stefan Clarke :Artist Talk's at Edna Manley College

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 22:27:00 +0000


Stefan Clarke explains his work during an artist talk at Edna Manley College

Edna Manley College's School of Visual Arts (SVA) has a semester long programme of talks designed to stimulate both members of the art community and students alike. On select Thursday afternoons from 2pm to 3pm, a selection of SVA's faculty will be presenting their work and engaging in dialogue with the audience. Last Thursday's talk showcased Stefan Clarke's work which uses a combination of labour intensive processes involving Sculpture and Photography.

He spoke passionately about the sweet spot of his work lying in planning, staging and construction of his spaces, body armor and image-making. He also described his constant involvement in both public commercial work and commissions and its importance to funding his more personal conceptual projects. His involvement in the design and installation of spaces for major local party and session events are equally as important to his practice as his metal work fashion pieces and digital photography.

Clarke, a particularly society-challenging artist, facilitated discussions which encouraged students to take more interdisciplinary approaches, self-teach dying techniques and to constantly stay curious and excited about creative practice. One of the issues he bemoaned was the constraints of finding models open to participate in the creation of his photographic images in a conventional society like Jamaica.

Upcoming talks will feature The Sculpture Department's Jeff Menzies. To find out more about this series you may get in touch with co-ordinator Katrina Coombs.

The JCDC Visual Arts Exhibition: A Niche in Creative Development

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 16:58:00 +0000

Dwight Larmond

The Jamaica Cultural Development's (JCDC) annual Visual Arts Exhibition is now open for public viewing at The Jamaica Conference Centre, Downtown. It runs until December 22 and opens from 10am to 6pm from Mondays to Saturdays. While there, I had the chance to catch up with Sana Rose, JCDC's Visual Arts Specialist at the exhibition last week. We spoke about many things related to The Arts in Jamaica and how the Visual Arts Exhibition fits within that scope. With the unfortunate closing of The Mutual Gallery earlier this year in an art system as small as ours is in Jamaica, each organization serves a specific and vital role.


Stephan Shedrowitz

I asked her how she felt the exhibition fit within the scope of the current art scene. She explained that in her years spent working on the annual exhibition, she has come to understand that there are different pathways for visual artists in Jamaica and the JCDC presents one such option. The JCDC's Visual Arts Exhibition doesn't seek to achieve what The Mutual Gallery did with its contemporary edge geared towards collectors; or what The National Gallery does with its expansive shows designed to reflect the current climate and document and highlight past moments. The JCDC provides access and encouragement for both trained and untrained artists in the early stages of a career or who operate outside Jamaica's more established and sometimes more elite art system. We spoke about a realization that The JCDC'S Visual Arts Exhibition reflected also a different Art model within the cultural landscape and that the artists in the show benefit by embracing it as a show which frames creative output in another way.

Antwain Clarke

As a former JCDC Merit awardee myself, while first studying at art college, I can agree that The JCDC's role at the time for me was to provide an outlet to showcase ideas I was not sure had worth and to build the esteem of a young artist trying to work things out what Art was. The show this year was presented in a way that did not highlight the clear differences between so called amateur art and career artists. This was interesting as you could see the legacy that artists of older generations had on these artists who ranged from age 6 to adulthood.

Jermaine Morgan

Antwain Clarke's narrative conceptual drawing, 'Fermentation' shows connections to artists who have shown regularly at The National Gallery such as Roberta Stoddart, Khary Darby and Phillip Thomas. The drawings framing of its small figures shown frozen in the midst of activities in an imagined world, while the environment holds the keys to the mystical story. Stephan Shedrowitz's assemblaged sculpture, 'Mama Maria: Protector of Lost Souls' reminds me of a tiny African deity scaled up to human size. The sculpture also reveals various entry points for viewers to begin thinking about its story. On the other side of the Sculpture/ Assemblage category is Jermaine Morgan's on trend platform heel shoes but the twist is that it is made completely of mackerel tins. Dwight Larmond's Ruins of War, evoke American artist, Leon Golub's work while documenting the politically-charged current events in Jamaica. The painting's use of a stlye similar to the look of documentary photojournalism hints at the role of the media in such problematic events.
Morgan's 'Tin Boom: Hot & Spicy' does make us think harder about how much raw material the creation of art uses and how artists can better think about better environmental efficiency. Michelle Lee Lambert's paper work shows another side to the creativity that is currently happening in Jamaica. Her work 'On the Pond', uses layers of washes of thin paint on textured paper surface to create a soft impression of the natural occurrence of light reflecting on water's surface. Lambert's work finds familiarity with noted artists Monet, Rothko and also local artist Tricia Gordon's work. It is also good to see that there is still interest in Painting.

Michelle Lee-Lambert

There is so much to look at with this exhibition that it is so difficult to discuss it all here. What showed however was that the Art that those in the youth category had the facility to make these days has become much more expansive. It is also interesting to see how photography has taken off as a way for people to express and document this culture. The show in general has an overtone of humour towards life, awareness and curiosity about creative activity in various forms and pride in documenting local life and environments. There is also outside the exhibition space, an ongoing painting which the public can participate in to add to the general air of the encouragement of creativity.

Have you seen the exhibition? What did you think? What other kinds of organizations does the creative industry in Jamaica need?

Graphic Novels & Cartoons in the Caribbean

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 23:32:00 +0000

Lauren Hinds at her desk working on her comics

In contrast to my time studying at Kyoto Seika University in Japan, one of the main hubs of Manga and Comic research, the Caribbean has not been as acutely aware of sequential art/cartoon/ comics as a creative practice. Many of us in Jamaica for example, grew up exchanging Archie comics, borrowing a few Marvel and DC comics from friends and reading the Sunday funnies. The stories in these comics have often not been our own however. The appeal has always been there for these very relate-able and human stories which poke fun at daily life situations. The Jamaica Observer and The Daily Gleaner both feature the work of acclaimed cartoonists Las May and Clovis. These at least are daily reminders and reports which poke fun and satirize the political and social situations. Many cannot close the newspaper without their daily fix, whether it be local or syndicated from overseas.

There has also been a huge influence of Japanese animation on Caribbean creatives however and occasionally there will appear reports of Caribbean comics which closely resemble either the DC/ Marvel aesthetic or Anime and Manga (Japanese comics). It can leave us as audiences thinking that comics are an artform dominated by pre-programmed aesthetics from other regions and also as a more male-oriented artform. I recently spoke with Lauren Hinds whose work takes a different approach. She is influenced by literature and her work deals with issues such as growing up, being an outsider, relationships and friendships and internal dialogue. Her work relies mainly on the visuals rather than the wit of her words even though the words themselves are often quite poetic. Lauren talks more about her work with me below.

You run a blog, "Sketch in Stories", what motivated you to start blogging publicly about your creative journey and how does blogging contribute to your creative work?

I started my blog by guess not really putting much thought into what I was going to blog about. It then turned into an avenue for me to become conﬁdent and comfortable about letting my work be seen. I think visibility is important if you want to take your work seriously and be successful at what you do. If anything it has contributed to pushing me to be my best and zero in on the projects that I enjoy doing.

You trained at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, what was that experience like and what do you feel you took from this experience?

Being a cartoonist is a very humble profession. I think anybody who decides to become a cartoonist must know that it will push your skills at different levels. You have no control over what that will do to you. I went there not knowing much about comics except for reading Archie Comics, Mad Magazine, Photographic Romance comic books, the odd comic strip in the newspaper then later Graphic Novels. Because I went in sort of ‘naive’ about comics at CCS, I soaked up everything and questioned everything even things about myself. It worked for me and I believe at the end of that experience I became who I wanted to be, a cartoonist.

On returning to Trinidad, how did your training at The John Donaldson Technical Institute and time as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer increase or change your creative options and outlook?

Those skills I acquired in the early part of my career have been good foundations going into comics. I deﬁnitely feel both occupations have brought me to this point in my life. They’ve added tremendous beneﬁt to the process of making comics which demand the ability to illustrate and design a sequential story well. I also feel I can make better creative decisions due to these skills.

Frames from Lauren Hind's Outaplace

Your online comic "Outaplace" ﬁrst caught the notice of ART:Jamaica as having a different perspective from a lot of the visible Caribbean comics. It is about a little girl at school, told from a female perspective and it doesn't explicitly reference Marvel, DC or Japanese comics. Tell us what “Outaplace” is about and what the story will develop into and what inﬂuenced it.

Comics has provided me an outlet to tell stories and give my perspective on topics that interest me. I feel that I’m bringing something unique to an audience who still view comics as only humorous or it has to have the appeal of mainstream comics to be accepted. My hope is to continue making honest stories I enjoy, using my voice.

Outaplace actually began with the present character in my comic strip, Frances Rustlebean. I wanted to introduce a girl who was very assertive, who said and did many quirky things. As I wrote and drew more she developed into a meek character who didn’t ﬁt in at school and couldn’t make friends while questioning her place in the world. I approached the story from both a personal and observational account of how girls socialize with each other where they all meet for the ﬁrst time, at school. Based on those experiences both good and bad it determines who they become. The main character is older, at 11, on the cusp of becoming a teenager who moves to a new school in the city. It’s a view into her world as she makes those transitions. Outaplace is being developed into a book, roughly about 64 pages.

A page from Hinds' graphic novel- in - progress, Wingless

You have a new project called "Wingless" which is a graphic novel. Is this based on Jamica Kincaid's short story of the same name? Will this be published as a book and what is it about? The initial drawings you have shown are very eye-catching, how do you develop the aesthetic and story of this seemingly personal graphic novel?

Constructing a story where I am the main character has forced me to peel away many layers of myself, as I grow, the story grows as well. It’s hard to explain how I developed the aesthetic for those initial pages, they were really based on a feeling or a memory while I was abroad. In some cases the writing came ﬁrst, other times the image but I always leave some room for fantasy and the unexplained, it keeps the story interesting.

Although I had been gradually developing this story for some time as it was initially called "Fear". The title changed when I came across Jamaica Kincaid’s short story Wingless. It was fascinating to me that there was so much subtle connections in her poetic prose, imagery...I saw myself, my story.The narrative started to come together as some of the themes I was exploring in my writing and illustrations had been written in her short story. There are underlying similarities - the constant use of nature as a mode to self-discovery that keeps recurring in my work also. That aspect of Kincaid’s story I’ll be exploring further in my graphic novel. Wingless is still being developed, not sure yet how much more of her work will be reinterpreted in mine. My hope is to have my book published.

See more of Lauren Hinds' work and contact her at her blog Sketch in Stories

Residency and Exhibition Connects Regional Artists

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 02:54:00 +0000

Ateliers '89 Foundation and the Mondriaan Foundation in collaboration with ARC Inc., and The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. presents Caribbean Linked II, a residency programme and exhibition which will take place from August 25th through September 6th, 2013 in Oranjestad, Aruba. Invited Artists include: Omar Kuwas (Curaçao), Veronica Dorsett (The Bahamas), Mark King (Barbados), Shirley Rufin (Martinique), Sofia Maldonado (Puerto Rico/US), Dhiradj Ramsamoedj (Suriname), Rodell Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), Robin de Vogel, Kevin Schuit and Germille Geerman (Aruba). The selected artists were chosen collaboratively by Annalee Davis, Holly Bynoe and Elvis Lopez.

Caribbean Linked II will be held in association with Studio O, Terafuse, Museo Arqueologico Arubano, UNOCA, San Nicolas TV, Departamento di Cultura, SVE TV, Alydia Wever Theatre Dance Company and Gang di Arte Aruba. Most popular through Facebook and social media platforms, to be linked or to be connected is the world’s most common way to be associated right now. This residency and exhibition will present young talent while raising issues of their collective futures by discussing the survival of artists, and the sustainability of local creative communities that nurture their development and maintain their connectivity. This residency becomes a crucial space for building awareness across disparate creative communities in the Caribbean and its diaspora by finding ways to connect young and emerging artists with each other. Selected participants will engage in two weeks of open discussion and critiques, various professional workshops, visit established local artists’ studios and better understand the creative cultural industries that propel Aruban art. An exhibition of work produced during the residency will be displayed at Ateliers ’89 and will open on September th5

.

Collaborating local artists include Alydia Wever, Ciro Abath, Evelino Fingal, Glenda Heyliger, John Freddy Montoya, Marian Abath, Nelson Gonzales, Osaira Muyale and Ryan Oduber. Collaborating partner professionals and institutions include Vivi Ruiz of the Archaeology Museum of Aruba, Lupita Giel of UNOCA and Siegfried Dumfries of the Department of Culture.

Participating institutions include:

ARC Magazine -
ARC Magazine is a non-profit print and online publication and social platform founded in 2011. It seeks to fill a certain void by offering a critical space for contemporary artists to present their work while fostering and developing critical dialogues and opportunities for crucial points of exchange. ARC is an online and social space of interaction with a developed methodology of sharing information about contemporary practices, exhibitions, partnerships, and opportunities occurring in the Caribbean region and throughout its diasporas. ARC’s mission is to build awareness by fostering exchanges and opportunities that expand creative culture, within the visual arts industry across the wider Caribbean and its diasporas.

Fresh Milk -
The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. is a Caribbean non-profit, artist-led, inter-disciplinary organization that supports creatives and promotes wise social, economic, and environmental stewardship through creative engagement with society and by cultivating excellence in the arts. The idea for Fresh Milk developed over years of conversations with other practicing artists around the need for artistic engagement amongst contemporary practitioners living and working in Barbados, with an expressed need to strengthen links with the region and the diaspora. Fresh Milk bridges the divides between creative disciplines, generations of creatives, and works across all linguistic territories in the region – functioning as a cultural lab, constantly redefining itself. The platform transforms into a gathering space for contemporary creatives who are thirsty to debate ideas and share works through local and international residencies, lectures, screenings, workshops, exhibitions, projects etc.

Ateliers ‘89 -
The Foundation ‘Ateliers ’89’ offers Arubans and others interested from the Caribbean region an orientation on contemporary applied art and design. Workshops in different disciplines as painting, installations, videoart, photography, drawing, fashion, theatrical-design, ceramics, animation, graphic design and history of art are organized in a spacious, open and comfortable setting. Established foreign and local artist teach at the studio’s. Every workshop culminates in an exhibition which is open to the public. Furthermore, there are special workshops and tours of the exhibitions for children and young students. Ateliers ’89 works in close cooperation with a number of art academies in the Netherlands. This way, young talents who started off in the workshops of Ateliers ’89 can easily find their way to a Dutch academy.

Mutual Gallery closes one chapter and opens another?

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 05:07:00 +0000

Inside the Mutual Gallery during its closing period

For ten years The Mutual Gallery built its reputation as the most prestigious of Contemporary Art Galleries in Kingston. It was much like Jamaica's own White Cube or Gagosian Gallery. Many graduates from the Fine Art programme at The Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts, continually tested out their creative ideas via exhibition there. Artists who we made contact with continually repeated the same sentiment about The Mutual being the first place they debuted as a career artist. I can’t say this as I first exhibited at Gallery Pegasus with a group of colleagues from the Painting Department while still in my third year at the art college. It was controversial for students to be exhibiting in public at this time but we had it in mind that this was practice for the day when we could actually exhibit at The Mutual Gallery. This wasn’t by accident as The Mutual’s curator/ director, Gilou Bauer, over the period organized several shows which enabled the public and art students to see what the contemporary art scene was like.

Some of the works displayed for a closing auction

Over the years The Mutual organized various exhibition series, art competitions, talks and opening events that provided a haven for young and practicing artists searching for a receptive space for their work. The closure of The Mutual undoubtedly came as a shock for local artists all over. Rumours of it spread on Facebook and via email with July being the last month its doors were open tot he public. Though the closure was said to be due to changes in the arrangements between The Gallery and The Mutual Group administration, it is deeply unfortunate that some agreements could not have been reached to keep this institution going.

A corner of The Gallery exhibiting the work of The Intuitives

With this closure, the question has been asked of Bauer perhaps more times than can be counted: ‘What is next?’ The speed at which the closing and final arrangements had to be made have undoubtedly left little time to consider the future of The Mutual. It presents a unique opportunity for reinvention as well as new initiatives and offshoots. Maybe The Mutual’s model was not as adaptable to this new harsh economic climate in Jamaica which leaves collectors more hesitant than ever about purchasing art and companies less willing to be philanthropic. There are however other ways that the art market and system can evolve to suit these changes. What seems sure is that new initiatives may need to be techno-savvy, world-culture connected, and employ inventive and alternative initiatives. With new arts spaces like NLS and Roktowa in Kingston, commercial galleries in Kingston could be taking new directions. What directions do you think the art gallery in Jamaica should take to be more sustainable?

Less is More Design in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 19:07:00 +0000

Last Summer, while walking in a little off-road in Kyoto's city centre, I saw this window display.

Arrangement of clothes hanging in the window display

Arrangement of objects at the bottom of the window display

I couldn't really believe it was a shop until checking that it did have a sign on the door and a few racks of clothes. In that street, which is next to a temple and a very quiet upscale part of the commercial district of quaint Kyoto, the store was just believable enough. It demonstrated several differences in approach to commercial design and aesthetic taste of the Caribbean. Our stores in the Caribbean are more direct and definitely colourful. They invite you to think about lifestyle and entertainment for example. Upscale UK and North American stores tend to have a very grand, opulent use of display space to trigger desire in customers. The display for UK store, Wallis for eg. shows the mannequins clothed in the wares of the franchise and other props to convey summery activities.

Window displays similar to those seen in the Caribbean

Display Design of Diesel's flagship store

In comparison, the display for "Urim" pictured below projects the zen-like, less is more, simple aesthetic Kyoto is famous for. It is not clear whether this store actually sells to the public or has private clientele or only serves as a space for aesthetic play. It is interesting to look at how arrangement and colour of natural elements and the goods in the store can be used as a another approach to design rather than large colorful, synthetic graphics. These are two approaches to bringing attention to the story of the brand.

Sign at the entrance of small store on Teramachi-dori, Kyoto

This is not to say that Kyoto doesn't have its fare share of large department stores like Louis Vuitton and Lacoste showing very eye-catching work. Vuitton has long been known for its collaboration with popular local artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Takeshi Murakami but this style of pared down hand-made visuals is more typical of smaller stores off the main roads.

What do you think is communicated by each approach? Do you think this minimal aesthetic has a place in Caribbean design?

Sex, Drugs & Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:19:00 +0000

The author of Sex, Drugs & Jerk Chicken, Marcus Bird

A few months ago Marcus Bird described his experiences in Tokyo and the impact on his creativity. Now back in Jamaica, he has launched his new novel, Sex, Drugs & Jerk Chicken on Amazon. His journey is one of the creative today seeking to link the multiplicity of media and marketing tools available to reach audiences for his work. It is a story that is not foreign to many artists today who are trying to handle their own publicity and ensure that their work reaches the marketplace. He shares the source for this story and how he took the project from concept to actualization. Keep reading for tips and tricks for becoming a media savvy creator and ways of channeling your inspiration into creative content.

The title for your novel Sex, Drugs & Jerk Chicken references the infamous song about the punk rock scene and decadent lifestyles of a particular sub-culture in the US at a certain time. Is this link to Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll of particular weight in your novel? What about the ‘Jerk Chicken’ in your title?

Just before the internet hit the real broadband stage in Kingston, my only easy access to international music was from shows like The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 and The World Chart Show. I still remember hearing Alanis Morisette’s Ironic for the first time. I really vibed with that sort of introspective, angry music, and I think like most Jamaicans who were a little alternative, that was the inception of some of my future curiosities about other cultures.
Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll to me is about raging through issues and life in a blur of bad decisions where you live to happily tell the tale. For most people Sex, drugs and ‘anything’ is a part of their life. People drink, people smoke, people have sex, it’s a reality. We all aren’t rock stars, but we all have decadent moments, we all make bad decisions and we all get burned. It happens sooner or later, and how people deal with it varies. This is how my book title really comes into play. Sex, Drugs and Jerk Chicken follows that line of exploration with the characters, just like us, where we occasionally dive into the shallow end of the pool and smack our heads on the bottom.
Jerk Chicken represents the Jamaican element of the book. The three main characters are Jamaican, they are literally the meat of the story, the “jerk chicken” so to speak. What else screams Jamaica like “Jerk Chicken”? I can’t think of much else.

Washington D.C. at night

You went to Howard university in Washington D.C...Does this story about three Jamaican guys in Washington D.C., come from a place within your own life experience?
I think everyone has periods in their lives when things are revealed to them in slow bursts or all at once. A person close to you might die, a girl you love might cheat on you, you probably realize your career is going nowhere… all of these things can shatter the previous paradigms of life you held on to. There was a period of time when Washington D.C became very different for me. Initially I was insulated in the “student bubble” of Caribbean Student’s Association parties and hanging out mostly on campus. But during that time I had some issues with school and ended up taking about two years off. When I returned, most people I knew had already graduated, and I was this slightly older fellow in a sea of freshmen. So the city became my new friend; restaurants, bars, you name it. In the middle of all this noise, I started to see different sides of myself and the city around me.

Interactions with different kinds of people in different circumstances became more vivid and illuminating. Washington D.C has all these different areas, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, etcetera, but you also have your people who live in Virginia or Maryland and commute to the city, people passing through, school kids, lawyers and so on. Then there are all these areas like The Mall, Chinatown, Adams Morgan and so on. In the book I create characters and scenarios that attempt to illustrate aspects of this D.C reality. I chose three characters because the strongest elements of this book; loss, isolation and searching felt like too much for just one character. I wrote about three Jamaicans because I’m Jamaican. It wasn’t an overt decision. My reality and experience as a Jamaican in most situations mirror the regular realities of other people and I wasn’t worried about anything involving authenticity.

In D.C I met tons of different kinds of people, including Jamaicans, and we all aren’t the same. Three Jamaicans in D.C is as plausible for me as three Irish guys, or three Ethiopians. What mattered mostly was their realities, and whatever situations they were in. As a writer it is also good to operate in a context that you are ridiculously familiar with, you so you get into certain nuanced perspectives on a character’s conflicts or issues based on say, something cultural, that you can really illustrate from personal experience.

Sketches for the book cover

At Howard, you studied filmmaking, How did you make the switch from filmmaking to designer to writer? How are you seeing these various roles as fulfilling your creative vision and how do they overlap and emerge separately?

I never actually switched. I say that because I was a writer first, before I got the filmmaker title. It’s funny how cyclical life is when you are a multi-talented individual, because depending on where you are, you might be using one skill for an extended period of time, but you still have a lot of other ideas burning inside you. I became a “filmmaker” technically after completing my Film Production degree at Howard University. Soon afterwards, I went to Japan and a few other countries and shot videos and spent some time fleshing that side of myself out. Now I was still writing on my blogs and for online publications, but definitely at the time, videography was more of a focus. What most people don't’ know, is that I wrote my first novel a while back, maybe eight years ago. Then, I was really gung-ho about being a writer, and despite doing a Computer Science major (which obviously I stopped) I ended up penning about four manuscripts over a two-year period. I wrote a science fiction work, a work about unrequited love, a novel set in Jamaica, and a non-fiction project. I wrote thousands of pages and pushed the limits of my desire to write.

I did all this operating within the framework of a system I used to see if I really want to do something. Basically the system’s mantra is: if you can go to the near maximum extreme of a goal you are setting, you will really see if is something you want to do. If writing thousands of pages doesn’t tell you if you want to write or not, I don’t know what will. So, at that time, for a few of my projects, I sent out numerous query letters to agencies and publishers. After relatively mum responses from a few Literary agencies and collecting a ton of rejection letters, I said “maybe writing isn’t my thing right now.” The designer side of me emerged in between being a writer and a filmmaker. I’m a serious “ideas” man, and I always look at ideas as a balance between skill and execution. I thought a “designer” was a person with a design degree. But what I learned eventually is that a designer is a person with the skills to do design. I’ve always had ideas for web comics, t-shirts and characters, and I learned the skills to create my thoughts using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. So I also had a period when people called me a designer and were curious about projects that ran along those lines, so that’s why I said emphatically I never switched, I just developed a few core, very strong skill sets over a five to six year period in a few different areas.

All of this overlaps now in interesting ways. For the last few years I’ve worked hard at building a personal brand through experimentation. I made a few web series on Youtube, I wrote a bazillion essays on a few of my personal blogs, wrote for some websites, got published in a few literary journals, designed clothing and even did some TV production. I did it all. In the midst of all these skills is simply function. Meaning, I’m able to think about something and execute it quickly relative to the project I’m working on. Because I can write, design and brainstorm it gives me a pretty insane workflow which I don’t think is easy to duplicate, but that’s how everything added up over time. What my skills allow me to do now is really look at an idea from different angles and accurately judge the variety of ways I can initially express it. When I was finishing Sex, Drugs and Jerk Chicken, because I’m able to design the cover, I obsessed over that almost as much as the endings for the characters in the book! In fact there were many days I couldn’t even write, because I was working on different cover concepts and trying to match the feel of the novel with the feel of a cover image. Sometimes it feels like it's blazing in 3D sometimes, across multiple concepts, but I think the balance of skills I have allow me to give a different personal expression to my work, in the way a person with a small creative team would.

The cover of Marcus Bird's novel

Your book was promoted, launched and sold via Amazon and social media. From the initial conception of the idea through design & layout to the launch, what was your process for bringing Sex, Drugs & Jerk Chicken into the market?
The process of doing this mirrors a few campaigns I’ve worked on in the past. Since 2009 I’ve worked on a lot of trial and error methods to try and get exposure for my previous projects. What I learned was a few crucial things. One was that if you don’t tell people you are doing something they won’t know. You have to scream it, and shout it from the rooftops within reason. I love this quote I heard from American Fiction writer, Sarah Vowell recently. She said, “It’s a pretty megalomaniacal job being a writer, because you just assume that other people need to know what you say.”
This is so true. You have this concept, and this world you’ve created, and now you need inhabitants to live in it with you, people that will spend six to eight hours of their life in your mind, experiencing your journey with you. Initially it is easy to believe that people will want to go into this world with you, but that isn't the case.

What happens is that the next step is to ask, “How can I catch people?” or “How can I introduce them to this reality I’ve created?” So you need some basic eye candy with your book cover and title to make people curious. Then you have to figure out a way to generate significant interest for your project. I find interest tends to generate when you state expressly what you want to do to people. I’ve found that simply posting content online in this fast-paced world isn’t enough, you need to contact people before hand, let them know what you are doing, and see how they can help. Friends with good “people equity” (an established brand for example) are good if your goals align with theirs. Once they know what you are trying to do and why and then ensure they are there to help you. It’s not that people aren’t willing, but it’s a different story if you tell someone a successful book is your last reason to live versus “I wrote a book”. That’s an extreme scenario, but you need to nail the message on the head. A lot of people pushed my book for me in ways I didn’t expect. I didn’t even ask them to, it made me realize that if I had asked more people, I’d probably even have way more exposure right now across different avenues. Also, this book had a few things going for it. One was a really catchy title, two was a cool-looking cover and three was the surprise factor. I know a few people know I make films or do design. I think many people had no idea I wrote as well, so the interest would be even higher. ‘Writing a book’ in our present reality is a big deal, so some people get motivated to help you out. On launch day I probably had more Facebook activity than the last three years combined.

I also think an important thing is to have a lot of redundancy in what you promote, the same message everywhere. This helps keep people from asking too many different questions(which can sap time and energy). I started marketing the book subliminally for about a month. I had my Facebook cover photo as a picture of the bear with the empty bottle of liquor, taken from my novel book cover image.
The novel cover itself could be an entire interview. I went through several radically different designs trying to capture the vibe of what I wanted the book to say. Since a big part of my design style was “cute things “ I figured I could blend cute and decadent. A teddy bear, passed out with a hidden identity seemed perfect and fit with the title and also what I wanted to say about the book. Innocence lost, bad memories from the past, there are a million things a person can associate with the image, which makes it better.

The launch was just contacting a lot of people, making a video explaining what I was trying to achieve and giving them a date, plus a reason to buy on that day. I blasted this promo on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and worked on getting a list of people ready to buy on launch day. Then I formatted the book in Microsoft word and published it through Amazon using the Kindle Direct Publishing program. I chose this because these days everyone has a device they can read on, and it would be easier for people to get the book this way even if they didn’t have a Kindle.

What's next in your plans for this book? What targets do you have for developing this creative project? Will we see a film, audiobook or webisode for eg.?

I want to be the Jamaican Hugh Howey. Like most people with a project like this, I actually want it to do well. What’s weird is that right now I’m not thinking like an artist, I’m thinking more logically about PR and trying to do better SEO (search engine optimization) for the web and seeing how well I can work with the Amazon marketplace. I see the book starting on the Kindle, and eventually going to print in the near future.

It is hard to really gauge what you think will happen from something you made up in your head. I think most writers who get successful are pretty shocked themselves, simply because of the way the odds work. I can’t say I’ve told myself I will sell millions of copies of this book. What I’ve definitely told myself is that the book is super marketable because of the title and the very attractive cover. I believe that alone will start to attract some readers. Then, I’m reasonably confident in my writing ability, so I know the writing isn’t terrible, or waning, and doesn’t drift here and there. The characters have issues, are interesting and conflicted. So I know these three key things are solid for credibility.
The only other real consideration is numbers. How do I get thousands of people reading so I can start seeing tens of thousands of downloads? I’m testing out a few things with Amazon to do just that. I believe with some good promotion and if Amazon pushes my book even once, it will become one of “those” books that do well.

I have a few plans in place for some tangential marketing around the book, but I need more time to think about it. A web series related to this book needs to make logical sense. So does a podcast. Do we talk about Sex, Drugs, or Jerk chicken? It has to have a relative synergy.
To date I’ve done a lot of investigative video journalism in a simple way. I go to interesting places and occasionally talk to interesting people. Maybe I’ll do something where I’m chasing hot girls or something, but it has to be logical and fun. I definitely think a film can happen with the right team and budget, the world needs another D.C arthouse film!

What projects have you used social media to launch? How did it work out?
See more about this book project here
Purchase the novel on Amazon here

ART:Jamaica Upgrade!

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:35:00 +0000

Thanks for your patience with this site and your support. During these last 5 years plans were being made to make this space more functional, consistent and forge new directions. With a staff of one part-time person some of these things take time to balance them with other life demands. The process of upgrading and reshaping the site has finally begun however so I ask your understanding while this takes place. Assistance is always appreciated. If you are interested in suggesting and or creating content for this space or contributing to the design of it as well as advertising here please feel free to make contact via Facebook or in an email or response to this post and we can talk. I look forward to your continued support.

Thanks
Oneika

Imagine New Dimesnions in Jamaican Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:42:00 +0000

Storybook Theatre Productions have begun staging a nine-show theatrical production titled 'Imagine'. The show has various elements of theatre uncommonly seen on Jamaican stages. The production is more of a rolling montage of skits put together to make one performance. It is held together by the presence of signing performers in various stage positions throughout. 'Imagine' offers much to enjoy in sensory terms as well as it makes use of sound design, light effects, large scale puppetry, harnesses and suspension devices, animation technique, illuminating and fluorescent materials and mime.

Scenes range from choreographed tribute to the many phases of Michael Jackson; a gothic tale involving the illusions of time and space created by moving beautifully painted scenery panels; an underwater sequence reminiscent of Disney's 'Little Mermaid' but performed to 'The Yellow Submarine'; a mime involving french style tramps and-punchinello clowns; a highly dramatic old story time sequence; and a charming dream-like dance of an approximately life-size puppet girl and her dog dancing to Whitney Houston's much acclaimed 'I Believe the Children are our Future'.

The production is not without its flaws however as the connecting time between the various scenes could be further considered and a few other details sharpened. 'Imagine' is despite this, a unique experience within the Jamaican Performing Arts scene. It was in the second to last scene that the real message of the production was delivered: a call for society to respect, consider and use greater sensitivity to our hearing-impaired population. The message is of such importance that it is a shame that the tickets are not priced within the range which makes it affordable to wider audiences. It is said that the reason for the ticket price is the expensive overheads at The National Indoor Sporting Complex venue. The venue was used because it is the only stage in Kingston large enough to facilitate such an ambitious production. There are also reports that the request to the country's private sector to sponsor and enable cheaper tickets has been poor. The show could also be titled 'Believe' as it makes it believable that the diversity and innovation within the cultural sector is within reach.

New Caribbean Artists Residency

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:52:00 +0000

The options for artists in the Caribbean have steadily been increasing in the last few years. In Trinidad & Tobago, Alice Yard has become increasingly more active in the region with its 24 hour invitational residency. The Popup Studios in Bahamas also has become known for its Drawing Residency. In Jamaica, NLS has recently invited several socially engaged photographers to participate in their own residency programme. Fresh Milk Barbados, has now launched its own international artists residency.

Fresh Milk Barabados is a team of creatives including an art historian and a writer who are interested in political and social engagement via the Arts. The residency can accommodate two artists or writers simultaneously. This works well with the option to collaborate with local artists or amongst artists in residence. The space appears to be an idyllic island setting of wood floored studios situated under shade-giving trees. There are several facilities also included such as use of the on-site reading room and wireless internet access.

To apply you need to fill out their application form, attach references and a portfolio. Find out more by visiting the link below for more details on residency costs and to make contact.

Have you been an artist in residency in the Caribbean? What was your experience like?

Fresh Milk Residency link here

If you would like to publicize your residency programme on this site please make contact via Facebook

Thanking Petrine

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 10:59:00 +0000

Skype screenshot from virtual Artists Talk with Petrine's Cornell Uni. course., 2006. Source Panmedia.com

Yesterday, I received the news that Petrine Archer-Straw had passed. This news dis take me by surprise. My connection with Petrine was mainly as a mentor for my artistic and academic work. Throughout this period she showed great generosity in encouraging my artistic practice, academic pursuits and especially this blog. I first met Petrine when I had my final exams at Edna Manley College in Kingston. She was one of the examiners of my final year Painting Show. I remember her for insistence that I shouldn't settle for the easy pathways in my work.

Later on I had the chance to work with Petrine on her website Diaspora Dialogs by providing discussions and artist talks with her course at Cornell University. Throughout that time my interaction with Petrine as a young artist made me feel that there was something of importance in my work. When I last connected with her it was to ask her to be an external supervisor for my doctoral thesis in Japan. For administrative reasons this didn't work but she allowed me access to her writings to help guide the way for me. It therefore hits me with the weight of the news that one day after handing in said thesis that there will be no more chances to connect with Petrine.

I want to therefore thank you Petrine for encouraging and supporting me in my endeavors. I also want to thank you for contributing so much to the arts and understanding of culture.

What I found on Twitter: Tallawa

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:26:00 +0000

Screenshot from tallawacollection.com

I just found this website this morning where you can see designs like the one above. They have a new Spring Collection with really eye-catching textile designs. The team consists of a husband and wife team John and Hillary, who are based in New York. They use the Jamaican Patois phrase 'we likkle but we tallawah' meaning 'we are small but strong' as the inspiration for their brand. The site features not only a clothing line but various images they seem to have collected and made appropriating other images. There is a real link that can be seen between the aesthetic tastes of the designers, the art they make and their fashion designs which indicates the Tallawa concept. Their interpretation of 'tallawah' seems to be a small group with bold and diverse creativity. What do you think of the Tallawa designs?

Tokyo Story: Creative Culture in the City

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:40:00 +0000

The last part in an interview with Marcus Bird about his fascination with Tokyo and its creative life. He has spoken about his ideas about lifestyle branding and art activities he participated in while living there. This time he speaks about the multitude of influences and visual stimulation. From Harajuku to Shibuya to Vuitton and being out there. His words out remind me of a documentary Pharrell Williams did last year called Tokyo Rising.

Tokyo at night, Below Jamaican Kingston dayscape courtesy of Silvio Luz

You taught yourself design and have worked in design in Tokyo, what is the creative culture like in Tokyo and what future plans do you have for your creativity?

Oh man can I talk about this for days! A real creative culture to me is one with enough people actively doing stuff that can inspire other people and also give people an idea of how far they can reach in whatever field they are trying to break into. Over thirty six million people live in Tokyo, so that’s a lot of artists, architects, singers, sculptors, painters and graphic designers. In Tokyo I was able to see art that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the world (except maybe Berlin) and there is a sense of a creative “pulse” in certain areas. In Omotesando you can see the uber-upscale but wonderfully creative ideas used in the high end stores like Louis Vuitton and Burberry, and then a few blocks away you see some really awesome shirts, shoes or accessories stores in Harajuku. But its not just that. Lots of people in Tokyo experiment with different kinds of fashion, so the regular way of dressing and what I call “thinking modes of creativity” are more acceptable. So if I want to wear spinach green boots and skinny jeans with my character shirts on, I don’t feel like I’m going “out there” with it. I love that feeling; where you can step out of your apartment in a crazy getup, or walk with the knowledge that you have access not only to creative works, but a creative mindset. Plus, in such a densely populated city, advertising is different. Stores use more art and media to grab your attention, buses and taxies have a bit more colour and attention to detail. It’s like as you breathe creatively, the city breathes too.

Kingston is much, much smaller and much, much, more chill and the art you see around naturally reflects that. It’s very “folky” if that’s a word. You’lll see lots of landscapes and scenes from the country and portraits of women with baskets on their heads. You’ll see stuff with beaches and rivers and canoes. That stuff is great, but it doesn’t make my mind get buzzing. My mind isn’t flooded with stimulation the way it is in Tokyo. It might seem obvious that It reflects island life and that’s cool, but you wouldn't’ get the same stimulation in a city with skyscrapers and high-speed trains.

Don’t get me wrong, Jamaicans are ridiculously creative people, but I don’t think we’ve embraced our prodigious talents much in the area of the arts. I even wrote about this recently in a local paper, asking “Where is Kingston Harajuku”? Because we don’t really have an art district in Kingston. That’s what I mean when I said in Tokyo you can “see where creativity can take you”.

I wasn’t working creatively on a full-time basis in Tokyo, and I was completely fascinated by the idea of having a constant creative purpose in such an awesome city, or a city of a similar size. There were days it blew my mind just to even be in Tokyo, because years before I had off-handedly said to myself “I’d love to launch my clothing at some point in Tokyo, or live in Tokyo”. But my will was definitely tested there. My Japanese was moderate but not super fluent, and on top of hustling with photography, odd little “baito-batio” (part-time work) it left me with little energy and often little motivation. But back to my original point about the things you see around you, this is what would make me get up in the morning and still try. I would walk around and see some cool photography at a gallery somewhere, or visit some bizarre exhibition in Shibuya, or see some amazing advertising artwork in the subway, or I’d go to to some odd shop in Mid-town. All these places would remind me that the shops, the items, the advertising, everything was created by “out there” creative thinkers. So even if my motivation was low, I could “plug in” to a lot of art in a lot of places and be reminded that creativity can actually take you somewhere. So I’d love to be doing a project with my work, or media in Tokyo that I’m doing all day, everyday.

I don’t like comparing places really, but Jamaica doesn't have that sort of creative pulse, mostly I believe because there are only 2.6 million people in Jamaica and Jamaican art is a little different. If you checkout the average Jamaican gallery, there are tons of landscapes and scenes from the country. It reflects island life and that’s cool, but you wouldn't’ get the same stimulation in a city with skyscrapers and high-speed trains.

Where do you think the creative pulse is in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries?

Watch Tokyo Rising here:

N.L.S., A New Local Space

noreply@blogger.com (Oneika Russell) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:50:00 +0000

Deborah Anzinger's own studio space

I met Deborah Anzinger the way I meet most people in the Arts these days, via Facebook. She spoke about a new arts space that was opening up in Kingston soon. This was great news as I can't tell you how many times when I was a younger artist working in Jamaica's urban metropoilis that I longed for some kind of arts culture beyond exhibitions and galleries. I always felt there was never enough focus on the process of art-making outside of the art school environment and that the art scene was designed to privelage the collector. I suppose inveitably many of my colleagues and myself left the country seeking this opportunity in other larger 'art circuits'. I asked Deborah to tell us more about herself and the new art space project and plans.

What is NLS and what is the aim of this project?

NLS is an artist-run initiative, consisting of a gallery program and an artist residency program, scheduled to open at the end of 2012. NLS aims to effect a culture of relentless experimentation and intellectual accessibility in the visual arts by:
1. Promoting local artists and curators that are already working hard in this way
2. Strengthening the local and international community of such individuals
3. Building new audiences for these artists

The name NLS, functions as a point of origin for an endless initialism that is constantly growing. So far the name has grown to be: Nuclear Localisation Signal, New Local Space, Natty's Loquacious Stylings, Nerds Love Serpents, Nobodies Loving Something, Now Look Sideways, No Longer Single, Notable Love Stares. Consequently, the name is not only interdisciplinary in context/origin, but has been contributed by a group of individuals. The activation of the name in this way is a metaphor for the tone of the programs that NLS embodies: an open, collaborative and organic environment in which different disciplines freely mix and push boundaries through experimentation, play and constant work.

How did you come to be involved in this project?

I came to be involved in this project in a very organic way. The ideas behind NLS are ones that I have been in the process of documenting for about five years and they revolve around my experiences as an artist in various situations such as my studio, being a member of an artist collective, a gallery artist, an artist-in-residence, and manager for a non-profit art gallery in Washington DC. Throughout these situations, I’ve noted recurring circumstances/environments that correlate with periods of creative breakthrough, high productivity, and rewarding career relationships.

When circumstances lined up for me to relocate to Kingston I was very ready to take advantage of the opportunity to start NLS. The people with whom I’ve started this, Mandilee Newton, Chajana denHarder, Simon Benjamin, Richard Lyew, are persons whose work I admire and with whom I have formed meaningful relationships through work along the way.

How important is the site's location in Kingston to the aims of the project and what kind of space/s are you planning to setup?

Some renderings of the future arts space.

The site’s location in Kingston is significant and convenient for me on a number of levels. The site for NLS is at 190 Mountain View Ave— about 3 blocks from the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing arts, from which recent graduates like you are doing great things. Notably, we are sharing address with Creative Sounds, a recording studio that’s been around since 1982. We are very fortunate to be able to start NLS somewhere that is not only geographically convenient, but also located within a hub of creative activity and talent. And because we have easy access to the recording studio any artist-in-residence of NLS wanting to include sound as a component in their project can do so readily as part of their residency.

NLS is going to be operating out of its own building that houses the exhibitions, studio space and resident artists. The ground floor is going to be a 640 square foot exhibition space, that functions as a studio space during residencies, and is going to be equipped to show video and sound art as well as work in more traditional media. The second floor includes the administrative office and sleeping quarters for three artists-in-residence.

I think of Kingston as being a place where the desire for nowness is palpable and has led to inventiveness. For me this is most easily demonstrated by the speed with which new musical genres have developed here in the last 50 years. I also think there is an inherent inventiveness that comes out of urban environments where life moves faster. I love being around that and I like tapping into it. There is also a wide breadth of walks of life in Kingston, and I’m of the opinion that the power to invigorate and move people has something to do with usurping a space across class and other boundaries; this is something NLS aims to do through visual arts. We want to open up the conversation to whoever is interested in accessing the energy and new ways of thinking and looking that the artists in our program have to offer, and we want to give these artists the support that will help them bring their novel ideas and vision into fruition, however large or small.

There is mention of three artists residencies being planned, how do you see these artist residencies as being an important catalyst for the things that you hope to achieve with NLS and in the contemporary art scene?

By providing studio space, a stipend and room and board we are giving support to visual artists working in ways that might be ahead of what the general public knows or understands of art, without artists feeling the need to compromise singular ideas worth exploring. While we believe the commercial gallery system is valuable, it can encourage artists relying on an income to make work with which the public already feels comfortable. We believe that an aspect of art is a constant two-way conversation, between artist and public, about progress. The support NLS offers gives artists a stronger voice that can be heard in this conversation.

We also want to give the public the opportunity to see, understand and appreciate these new ways of seeing/thinking. Therefore essential parts of NLS’s programming are planned studio visits open to the public of the resident artists’ workspace, as well as panel discussions during the run of exhibitions; all part of a mechanism for creating a strong culture around visual arts.

Part of the outline of the program is to have a mix of local and international artists during each residency cycle. This is to facilitate a larger network, a larger conversation, and really allow local and international artists the opportunity to see themselves in different contexts, as well as adopt and borrow things they may never have imagined on their own…these are things that are valuable for creative breakthroughs.

Visit NLS site to find out more. What hopes do you have for a new art space in Kingston?