Welcome to ReIssue Digestif, a bi-weekly-ish round-up of events on our radar. All times in PDT.
If you are BC- or AB-based and have an exhibition, event or job posting to submit for consideration in the next Digestif, email details to editor@reissue.pub
Mariah Miguel-Juan: Remnants
Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 103-421 Cawston Ave, Kelowna BC
June 16–July 5, gallery hours here
Free
The next Members Gallery exhibition at the Alternator is emerging artist and UBC Okanagan BFA student Mariah Miguel-Juan with her series of collage-based screen prints. Through this series, which draws on experimental screen printing with different media, Miguel-Juan maps significant places in her memory.
The New Daydream Imaginary: On the Ethico-Aesthetics of Spontaneous Thought
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre + Cinema, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the arts, 149 W Hastings St, Vancouver BC
Friday June 16 and Saturday June 17
Free, info and schedule here
In his 1972 essay “Passing for Human” (read at the second annual Science-Fiction Convention in Vancouver), Philip K. Dick observed that The State was unable to tame the erratic behaviours associated with youth culture, and predicted that burnouts, paranoids, and heavy trippers would therefore be the salvation of the future in North America. However, Dick’s prediction has not exactly come to pass, for today we see such modes of thought as co-constitutive of the attention and information economy.
What role does the wandering mind play in the productive operations of cognitive capitalism, and what remains of its potential for resistance? How do cognitive processes such as distracted fantasizing figure in the current marketplace of meaning? Is there any hope left for the safeguarding of unruly and non-commodifiable forms of thought? With presentations by ReIssue contributor David Biddle, Mena El Shazly, Gabrielle Moser, Tania Willard, and many other artist-researchers in the field.
Listening experiences by William Russell & Silas Ng
Lobe Studio, 713 E Hastings St, Vancouver BC
Saturday June 17, 2:15pm and 3:45pm
Tickets here (PWYC, suggested $15-$30)
A combined listening experience featuring William Russell‘s Lost Spaces, followed by Touching Unseen Sound by Silas Ng. Working with spatial audio, Russell’s work is concerned with sonic dynamics of climate phenomena, combined with music to stimulate the listener’s empathetic awareness. For his soundwork, Ng went on performative soundwalks through familiar urban and natural environments, where actions of walking, throwing rocks, kicking metal bins, and so on were recorded and arranged as a way to explore how sonic memory is stored in the body. The runtime for this program is 45 minutes.
Eco Film-Processing Workshop with Ana Valine, Karen Zalamea, and Sidney Gordon
Or Gallery, 236 E Pender St, Vancouver BC
Saturday June 17, 11:30am
Free, register here
Join us for an eco film-processing workshop led by exhibiting artists Ana Valine, Karen Zalamea, and Sidney Gordon, responding to the Coursing exhibition guest curated by Katrina Goetjen. This program will involve a neighbourhood walking tour and plant botanical film development lesson. At the close of the workshop, participants will be invited to respond with a guided writing exercise reflecting on collectivity, care, and water stewardship.
Art Rock Summer
Libby Leshgold Gallery, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, 520 E 1st Ave, Vancouver BC
June 17–August 12, daily 12–5pm
Free
This summer, the Libby Leshgold Gallery is taking a vacation from Art and embracing Art Rock! The exhibition will play music and sound art by visual artists, host performances by art rock bands, show visual artists’ music videos, host a listening library of artists’ albums, and display and sell merch by artists’ bands. See the full schedule here.
The Colour of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova Նռան գույնը)
The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe St, Vancouver BC
June 17, 19, and 22
Showtimes and tickets here
An influence to filmmakers like Federico Fellini, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and, most recently, Ari Aster, Sergei Parajanov’s The Colour of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova Նռան գույնը) has come to inextricably define international perceptions of Armenian “national” cinema. Commissioned by the state studio, Hayfilm, to make a biopic of the great 18th-century Armenian ashugh (troubadour) Sayat Nova, Parajanov turned the task on its head, reinventing the genre as a psychological dreamscape rendered through a surreal inversion of medieval Armenian art, architecture, and music. This non-linear and purely associative approach was an extreme example of 1960s Soviet “poetic cinema.” Screening as a part of the series, Moving Mountains: The Centenary of Armenian Cinema.
Soft
Cinecenta, 3800 Finnerty Road University of Victoria, Victoria BC
Wednesday June 21 and Thursday June 22, 5pm
Tickets at the door
Toronto-based director Joseph Amenta’s debut feature film premiered at last year’s TIFF and screened at VIFF—but if you didn’t catch it then, now’s your chance to see this lovingly-told story of queer childhood, brought to life by a talented group of young actors. Make it a double feature and catch the campy classic To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (dir. Beeban Kidron, 1995) following Soft at 7pm.
CU~
dreams comma delta, DM for address
June 25–July 16, by appointment
Opening: Sunday June 25, 3pm
Free
The final show at dreams comma delta will feature artworks by Mona Lisa Ali, Claire Geddes Bailey, Elisa Ferrari, Megan Hepburn, Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes, Tiziana La Melia, Juan Cisneros Neumann, Ellis Sam, Rachelle Sawatsky, and Douglas Watt. Read about the project space by Christian Vistan and Aubin Soonhwan Kwon in ReIssue here.
Speakeasy
Artspeak, 233 Carrall St, Vancouver BC
Tuesday June 27, 6–8pm
Free
A monthly after-hours event 😉
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World + A Conversation with Pura Fé
Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver BC
Tuesday June 27, 6:30pm
Tickets here
This revelatory documentary brings to light the profound and overlooked influence of Indigenous people on popular music in North America. Focusing on music icons like Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Taboo (The Black Eyed Peas), Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Jesse Ed Davis, Robbie Robertson, and Randy Castillo, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World shows how these pioneering Native American musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.
Copresented by VIFF, Coastal Jazz and Talking Stick, this screening will be followed by a conversation with Indigenous singer-songwriter, activist and storyteller Pura Fé, moderated by Doreen Manuel, and a celebratory reception with a performance by M’Girl singers.
Jobs / Calls
P/T Curator of Outdoor Art, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (Vancouver), apply by 07/05
P/T Arts and Culture Coordinator (Sechelt), apply by 06/19
F/T Gallery Technician, Nanaimo Art Gallery (Nanaimo), apply by 06/28