EXHIBITION:
2020 Virtual Exhibits, Campus Events
SEPTEMBER 2020 to DECEMBER 2020
WATER & ORIGIN:
Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller
September 11 to September 25, 2020
Images will be projected on the exterior of the Owen D. Young Library throughout the month of September 2020:
– Water, as the origin of all things, Friday, September 11 @ 7:00 p.m.
– Water, land and growth, Friday, September 18 @ 7:00 p.m.
– Protecting this sacred resource, Friday, September 25 @ 7:00 p.m.
Water flows in rivers and streams, in arteries and veins. It flows around us and through us. From raindrops to vast oceans, from the largest tree to the smallest pollinator, we are all part of its currents. Water moves through rivers, as ancient beings that guard the stories of the living organisms that inhabit their banks and waters. In the exhibition, Water and Origin: Protecting and Honoring the First Storyteller, artists from across Turtle Island/North America explore these vital narratives. Through photography, painting, textiles, and ceramics, artists share the cultural memories of their communities and the importance of protecting these waterways.
PROJECTIONS:
Hosted by the Richard F. Brush Gallery, the exhibition will take the form of a series of outdoor projections. In single-channel video projections, dance performances and artworks will flow together in one continuous stream. Water is the guiding force, a visual link that unites the different visions, artistic disciplines, and geographies.
Taking place as part of the North Country Art, Land, and Environment Summit, a St. Lawrence University Arts Collaborative Project, images will be projected on the exterior of the Owen D. Young Library throughout the month of September 2020.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo and Blake Lavia are founding members of the Talking Wings Collective, a group of environmental artists and filmmakers who are working on Burning or Breathing: A Series About Earth Guardians. The documentary and multimedia project follows earth guardians from across Turtle Island/North America as they create a sustainable and restorative future. The collective’s work has been previously exhibited in the MassArt Godine Family Gallery, the K&P Gallery New York, Goddard College, the Dorchester Art Project, and the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci.
In August 2020, Joe Murphy from Humanities NY interviewed Tzintzun Aguliar-Izzo and Blake Lavia about their work for The North Country Art, Land and Environment 2020 Summit. Read the interview.
The Moth Project | Art+Science: Mothology in the Age of Social Distancing
with guest artists Wendy DesChene + Jeff Schmuki from PlantBot Genetics
Week 1 (September 21-24)
–Artists’ Lecture, Monday, September 21, 2020 – 4:30 p.m.
– Mothing Nights, September 22-24, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. nightly
Week 2 (September 28-October 1)
– Artists’ Lecture Monday, September 28, 2020 -4:30 p.m.
– Mothing Nights,September 29-October 1, 7:30 to 10:30 nightly
Moths play a vital role in telling us more about the health of our environment. They are widespread, found in diverse habitats, and sensitive to ecological changes making them particularly useful as an indicator species of climate change. Monitoring their numbers and ranges provides vital clues to changes in the environment, such as the effects of new farming practices, pesticides, air pollution, and climate change. PlantBot Genetics (Wendy DesChene + Jeff Schmuki) presents The Moth Project, a live, community-based intervention focusing on the importance of insects in the environment through online engagement.
The artists have chosen to focus on moths because of the insects’ diversity and potential usefulness as pollinators. There is much concern over the dramatic rise in Honeybee Depopulation Syndrome (HBDS) or Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which colonies abruptly die or disappear. Many do not realize the vital role bees play in maintaining a balanced eco-system. Asking what would happen if bees completely disappeared has led to the study of nighttime insects or “second shift” pollinators, such as the misunderstood moth, for food crop pollination.
CHRONOLOGY:
Initially, community members will be encouraged to join one or both live, online Monday afternoon lectures and Q & A sessions geared either toward K-12 students (Week 1) or SLU students and adults (Week 2) to learn about the project. During the lectures, participants will learn how easy and affordable it is to moth in their own backyards.
After the initial lectures, community members can join the artists on six subsequent nights of mothing from their own backyard in Alabama through video links like Zoom and/or Chat. The artists’ lighting and mothing set-up there will be powered through recycled and repurposed solar arrays, further engaging issues on sustainability. Participants can talk to the artists directly, check in with others in their community, and see and learn about the moths the artists have collected. In addition, if they choose, participants can share photos or videos of the moths that have come to their own backyards set up through the video link.
Papermaking, the Art of Healing, A Virtual Exhibition
Thursday, November 5, 2020 to Thursday, December 31, 2020
North Country native Drew Matott is a master papermaker who conducts papermaking workshops around the world as a form of art therapy, community engagement, social activism, and creative expression. He has collaborated with others on a number of papermaking projects; most notably Combat Paper, Panty Pulping, andPeace Paper Project.
COMBAT PAPER (Karen Baldner, Drew Cameron, and formerly Drew Matott) “transforms military uniforms into handmade paper. We believe in this simple yet enduring premise that the plant fiber in rags can be transformed into paper. A uniform worn through military service carries with it stories and experiences that are deeply imbued in the woven threads. Creating paper and artwork from these fibers carries these same qualities. We have found that all of us are connected to the military in a myriad of ways. When these connections are discovered and shared it can open a deeper understanding between people and expand our collective beliefs about military service and war.”
PANTY PULPING (Margaret Mahan and Drew Matott) created its first portfolio unmentionables (aka mentionables) as a “dedicat[ion] to those braves souls who first exposed, snipped, pulped, and transformed their underwear during the first Panty Pulping workshop in August 2012. Their reasons for doing so were as unique as the individuals themselves, but were all creatively united with the intention of calling an end to violence against women.”
PEACE PAPER (Johnny LaFalce, Drew Matott, Gretchen Miller, and Jana Schumacher) uses papermaking as an intervention from trauma and loss.