We concluded our Western Front residency by assembling a big maze of eye candy! Some of us changed up our methodology from our previous event. Others extended their concentrations to center the idea of the divine or the animated gag: false trap doors, humanoid cats, and frames referenced out of context. Immortal Coil really helped us realize and actualize our potential as collaborators and friends.

It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside Ben Wilson, Susan Gibb, and Kate Woolf. They were an amazing team of builders, coordinators and hospitality during our stay – we are so grateful for their love and support and we couldn’t have done it without them!

Into the Belly of the Beast stands as our first transformative, performative, and fully collaborative installation piece. We were all interested in creating a living haunted house, which in our case meant a space that reflected elements of body horror via animation and sound. We had our very talented friend Spencer play the live organ throughout our show for multiple hours on end.

After our event came to a close on November 1st, we were interviewed by Alysha Seriani from Reissue.pub in the Western Front kitchen. With snacks already laid out by Alysha, we were eased into our regular comfort zone. We answered Alysha’s questions to the best of our abilities feeling quite buzzed and beholden of ourselves. If you would like to read this interview, please do so here.

Alysha likewise took charge of the Into the Belly of the Beast’s video documentation.

From September to January 2022, we were invited to take part in Surrey Art Gallery’s UrbanScreen public projection space on the side of the Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre.

I Spy a City was made as a nod to the I Spy children’s book series as a way of highlighting Surrey. The composition was made of many looping gifs, composed into a longer piece that could be witnessed for up to an hour long. Each GIF was made as a micro-narrative to the many things that tie Surrey together: the food, the public activities, the transit, the wildlife bordering on the city’s outskirts, the mixed immigrant cultures, the construction zones and sites constantly gentrified. It was a huge challenge to capture all of Surrey into one piece and there’s no way we could have succeeded.

On September 18th, Alia, Lana, and Josh took part in another artist talk with Surrey Art Gallery where they spoke about their specific GIFs made for I Spy, showcased some of their personal work, and articulated why their choice of GIF was important to them.

In tandem with the I Spy a City exhibition, Julia, Josh, and Alia hosted workshops through Surrey Art Gallery as part of their Art Together: Art in Motion series. To watch these workshops, click here , here & here.

UrbanScreen curator: Rhys Edwards

I Spy a City UrbanScreen photo credits: Brian Giebelhaus

In October extending to December 2020, Flavourcel took part in a research project spurred by Alla Gaddasik, with the backbone of Vivo Media Arts as well as a SSHRC-PEG research grant.

For this venture, members of Flavourcel projected animations from the windows of our own homes — animations that reflected the heart of our neighbourhoods when movie theatres and many other forms of public entertainment were shut down. A realization cemented itself throughout: Since our collective work has always been made in relatively individual isolation, this could allow us to connect with our neighbours (safely) during a very shaken-up moment in time.

In pursuing this research project, we felt as through we had opened a much more flexible, accessible, and profoundly futuristic potential for decolonializing animation. We had lots of positive feedback, and it was a delight to see both friends and strangers stopping outside our homes in wonder.

If you’re curious in learning more about this project, please refer to this article written by Vivo Media Arts, or this article written by Perrin Grauer on behalf of Emily Carr University of Art + Design interviewing Alla Gaddasik.

Photo credits to Alla as well :)

Stale Buns brought together a group of publishers, artists and collectives to showcase a variety of artist’s books, multiples, video, animation and editions. The event coincided with Vancouver Art Book Fair’s Art Book Week. Hot dogs and refreshments partnered pieces to the book ephemera.