An intimate portrait of Norman exploring DIY Surveillance during our Storefront Residencies for Social Innovation.

We recently acquired a Graphtec CE5000-60 cutter and we’re already dreaming up a whole bunch of new projects to put it to use. It cuts up to 24″ vinyl rolls (though I’ve also seen it score and maybe even cut cardstock) and with the Illustrator plugin, its incredibly easy. Above, a test with some gold vinyl.

It took only about 15 minutes to get it setup and running — there were some adjustments that needed to be made to in the offset to get the test triangle / square with the appropriate straight lines, but once that was setup and after I found the solution to the  HP-GL error 1 (change the command from HP-GL to GP-GL), I was able to send files from Illustrator just the same as you would send a file to print.

In these early tests, I’m just using some masking tape to transfer the vinyl.

It comes off pretty well — I was impressed with the quality and speed of the cut even with a cursive font like this.

I think they sell larger/wider rolls of masking-tape like material, but for now this works.

The maiden transfer onto a wall.

Easy transfer, just a little trouble with the bottom loop of the f.

So, a successful first test! In the past, we’ve worked with Printhouse for a lot of our one-off vinyl cuts, so if you’re looking for someone local we can highly recommend them. The things we’re going to be doing are just going to require so much volume that it was worth investing in one ourselves to do our own cuts. No details just yet, but I’m really looking forward to playing with this some more and I can’t wait to launch these new projects soon!

Finally launched and available in the iOS App Store!

Drift helps you get lost in familiar places by guiding you on a walk using randomly assembled instructions. Each instruction will ask you to move in a specific direction and, using the compass, look for something normally hidden or unnoticed in our everyday experiences.

As you find these hidden or unnoticed things, you will be asked to document them with the camera, creating a photographic record of you walk. Drift also keeps track of where and when you took the photos and makes your documentation optionally available for others to view through the Drift website.

Drift was developed by Justin Langlois in collaboration with Broken City Lab.

This project was generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council Media Arts Grant for Emerging Artists.

Another installation of In Store by Daragh Sankey covering some of the incredible work that happened as part of our SRSI project a couple of summers ago.

Here’s the overview of this week’s segment on the Department of Unusual Certainties from Daragh:

I basically shared an area with these guys. Like Sara French and of course the Broken City Lab crew, we were all there over the whole month. (I wasn’t actually there the whole time, but came down for the first couple weekends.)

I had to decide in the editing how much of their footage to include – I had quite a lot, because of their long stay and also because of the sheer scale of their ambitions. I had a cut that only concentrated on the speed dating event, but I thought there was a lot of interest that got excluded so I made it what you see now, perhaps sacrificing cohesiveness for scope and … awesomeliness, hopefully.

Here’s a downloadable PDF of the Tip Sheet from the DoUC site.

Vacancy. It’s one of the big challenges for Windsor, as it is for any shrinking city. The downtown has been hit much harder – Windsor is a classic North American “donut city” where suburban expansion and downtown decline go hand in hand. (More on this in an upcoming film.) There are no easy responses, and I hope that my use of end titles will not seem like I’m trying to argue that the Department’s activities in Windsor led directly to a decrease in the vacancy rate. But their recognition that there was a lack of communication amongst store owners, and their tapping into some of the energy that resulted from opening the lines of communication, seemed to be heading in the right direction, at least.

Nothing’s set in stone, but I have probably three more films to go, maybe 4. There’s some really great stuff coming up, so stay tuned!

About the Hi, 5 Interview Series

Hi, 5 (5 Questions) is a web-only interview series which presents five questions to artists, activists, and creative thinkers alike.  The project acts as an educational device which allows us to gain insight into the narratives that define successful individuals.  We are interested in the motivations behind ambitious ideas and how these individuals chart personal change in relation to their surroundings.

About Luci Everett

Luci Everett is a graphic designer and illustrator living in Melbourne, Australia. She does a lot of paper cutting, painting and scanning.

Luci Everett - Alfalfabet (2012)

Luci Everett 

If you had to describe your current self to a 16-year-old you, what would you say?

Relationships and friendships are much easier now. It’s not going to be sudden, but gradually you’ve become much more confident and comfortable with yourself. You pursued graphic design and have a lot of fun. Every year gets better.

Could you describe an evolution in your work or way of thinking?

I think I’ve developed a more discerning eye over the last few years. I have a slightly more practical approach to creative ideas than I did when I was studying design at university – I guess that comes with working on real projects. That said, I’m driven inspiration-wise in pretty much the same way I always have been; I absorb a lot of visual information and that will always inform my work quite intuitively if I’m passionate about it.

Are there any people who have been instrumental in the development of your way of thinking and viewing the world?

No one in particular, although I think a couple of my high school art teachers and uni lecturers were pretty influential in nourishing my inclinations to approach or respond to the world creatively. Of course it’s unavoidable that my parents play a big part in how I view the world.

How do your political beliefs inform or fuel your work as an artist?

My political beliefs are quite separate from my artwork. My love and absorption in aesthetics comes from a different place to my connection and interaction with society. I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing, it’s just the way it feels.

What do you feel a city should be or do for its inhabitants?

It should be a place which nurtures community, with the collective wellbeing of people and environment (equally) is always considered.

Luci Everett

We’re thrilled to announce this, and very flattered to be in such great local company!!!

Honouring leaders in Windsor’s arts community, the Windsor Endowment for the Arts (WEA) will officially present the WEAs, winners of the WEA Arts Leadership Awards and WEA Arts Grants on Saturday, May 5 at Windsor Music Theatre.  Ten recipients will be honoured including the recipient of the first Elizabeth Havelock Grant in the Arts.

Windsor Endowment for the Arts offers four Emerging Artist Grants to support the professional and creative development of emerging artists. Grants are awarded every second year to successful applicants. Artists who meet the eligibility requirements are invited to apply.

Outstanding nominations, from the public and recognized leaders in the arts culture community identified the seven winners of the WEA Arts Grants. Three arts organizations and four emerging artists will be recognized.

Arts Infrastructure Grants

Community Arts Nancy Johns Gallery & Framing
Performing Arts Chris Rabideau
Visual Arts Media City Film Festival

Emerging Artists Grants

Community Arts Broken City Lab Artist Collective
Literary Arts Kate Hargreaves
Performing Arts Crissi Cochrane
Visual Arts Amy Friend

Elizabeth Havelock Grant in the Arts

Visual Artist Shirley Williams

Huge thanks to Windsor Endowment for the Arts, and to Jennifer Willet and Rod Strickland for the nomination. We’re looking forward to celebrating on Saturday! See you there!

This is going to be an incredibly fun project! Our friends at DodoLab finally return to Windsor, make sure you check it out!

A Project by Professor William Starling of DodoLab

May 5 – June 9, 2012

Opening Reception: Saturday May 5, 1-4pm
AGW Talk/Tour: Sunday May 6, begins at 1pm

DodoLab and SB Contemporary Art are pleased to announce the visit of the eminently knowledgeable Professor William Starling to the city of Windsor. Prof. Starling has been discretely visiting Windsor over the past two years to study and converse with the vast flock of his species mates that now roost in the understory of the Ambassador Bridge. While his kind is in shocking decline in his home range of Northern Europe and the United Kingdom, starlings remain ubiquitous across North America where the vast undulating clouds of birds (called murmurations) can be a common occurrence, particularly in the Windsor area.

While studying the starling community around Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge, the situation on the adjacent Indian Road with its long line of boarded up and empty houses came to his attention. Starlings frequent this neighborhood, and so the professor has been developing a rich inter-species narrative of adaptation to changing environments and the phenomenon of “invasive species” and habitat loss (his areas of expertise).

Professor William Starling’s activities are in conjunction with Windsor’s Mayworks 2012. His stay here includes this exhibition of creative research material from a recent visit to the UK as well as an exhibition tour/talk of Land Marks: Contemporary Photographs from the Art Gallery of Windsor’s collection. The professor can also be found on Sunday morning 11am to 1pm, strolling the Riverside between the Ambassador bridge and the AGW.

Please find below a letter from Professor William Starling to the Citizens of Windsor. We are looking forward to his visit here in Windsor and we hope that will be able to welcome the Professor this Saturday May 5 at SB Contemporary Art. Or, tour and visit with him at the Art Gallery of Windsor on Sunday May 6 afternoon as he discusses the Landmarks collection exhibition. This tour is free to the public and begins at 1pm.

An excerpt from the letter:

Dear Citizens of Windsor, It is with great pleasure that I, the eminently knowledgeable Professor William Starling, have the distinct opportunity of informing you of my recent visits of investigation to your fair city. I have been fortunate, on numerous occasions, to secure handsome lodgings in this city’s centre and it has been my intention to initiate and engage in various forms of inter-species dialogue, to share my extensive knowledge of (and ongoing research on) adaptation to changing environments, the phenomenon of “invasive species” and habitat loss. It is my hope that my presence is welcomed and that some of you will wish to be my guide as I explore the city and that you will even deem it proper to share with me your thoughts in response to the following query.

Dear Windsorians, your official city motto states “The River and the Land Sustain Us” yet I have been set to wonder if this statement still rings true to you or if you require something more? What would this new element of sustenance be? You may respond to my question in one of two ways, by sending me a message at professorstarling@gmail.com or by visiting SB Contemporary Art where the good people of DodoLab have kindly designed and provided for us some lovely black paper starling silhouettes. I would like to request that you take the opportunity to record on said silhouettes that which you feel truly sustains this city today and for the future. Your Starling will be added to a rather unique exposition that opens this coming May 5th and continues through June 9th.

This exhibition is in conjunction with Mayworks Windsor 2012. Please see website for listing of events http://www.artcite.ca/mayworks/

As the history of modernism has repeatedly demonstrated, the greatest potential for transforming and re-energizing artistic practice is often realized precisely at those points where it’s established identity is most seriously at risk.

-Grant Kester in The One and The Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context

We’re really exited to post this … just found out today! We made the 2012 Sobey Art Award Ontario Long List! It’s incredibly flattering to have made it to this stage of the competition, and we owe a huge thanks to Srimoyee Mitra for the nomination.

And, in case you didn’t know, we’re not the first Windsor-based artists to have been included — Zeke Moores made the short-list just last year!

Ok, more soon, but in the meantime, here’s the official news from the press release:

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Sobey Art Foundation are pleased to announce the long list for the 2012 Sobey Art Award, the pre-eminent award for contemporary Canadian Art. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Award. Following a three-month nomination process, the Curatorial Panel has announced the 25 artists vying for the 2012 Sobey.

The long-listed artists for the 2012 Sobey Art Award are:

West Coast and the Yukon
• Sonny Assu
• Julia Feyrer
• Gareth Moore
• Kevin Schmidt
• Corin Sworn

Prairies and the North
• Amalie Atkins
• Paul Butler
• Jason de Haan
• Robyn Moody
• Elaine Stocki

Ontario
• Broken City Lab 
• Aleesa Cohene
• Annie MacDonell
• Nicholas Pye & Sheila Pye
• Derek Sullivan

Quebec
• Olivia Boudreau
• Raphaëlle de Groot
• Julie Favreau
• Nadia Myre
• Ève K. Tremblay

Atlantic
• Mark Igloliorte
• Stephen Kelly
• Eleanor King
• Lisa Lipton
• Graeme Patterson

The 10th Anniversary shortlist of the Sobey Art Award will be announced in late June. An exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) in Toronto will feature select work by the shortlisted artists from October 24, 2012 to December 30, 2012. The 10th Anniversary Sobey Art Award winner’s announcement will take place at a Gala event at the MOCCA on November 16, 2012.

The 2012 Sobey Art Award Curatorial Panel consists of:

• David Diviney, Curator of Exhibitions, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia;
• Louise Déry, Directrice Galerie de l’UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal;
• David Liss, Artistic Director and Curator, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art;
• Ryan Doherty, Curator, Southern Alberta Art Gallery;
• Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator, Vancouver Art Gallery.

For more detailed biographical information on the 25 long listed artists and members of the Curatorial Panel please go to: www.sobeyartaward.ca

Just back from an incredible week installing at Eye Level Gallery for our show, Unrest Everywhere (tools for playing with Halifax), which runs until May 12, 2012. The show features a number of multiples and interactive works, all of which are yours for the taking and borrowing.

The premise for the show was to create a series of works that could directly or indirectly suggest access points for re-encountering the city and your role within it. We created works that aimed to be highly distributable, playful, and allowed a bit of critical commentary on the ways in which a sense of place comes to be planned, articulated, and established.

Below is a huge pile of documentation of the process — but first — we’d like to extend a huge thanks to all staff and volunteers at Eye Level, especially Michael and Matt, and to Emily and Kaley for the place to crash!

Hiba, Josh, and Justin left for Halifax late last week, having shipped some bits and pieces of works ahead of time, including a huge number of these paper fortune-tellers, with psychogeographic instructions written on them.

We had five days to get everything together in preparation for the opening on Thursday, April 12.

Though we had a number of plans ahead of time, lots of that changed as we arrived and got a feel for the gallery, the city, and the aesthetic cues around us.

One of the works we had planned and moved forward with was the Halifax Machine. A fax machine with programmed numbers to send faxes straight to the Mayor’s office and other bureaucracies.

Just about every day, we were at the gallery until late into the night.

One of the new works we put together was a series of books with tear-out pages to make little posters.

We also had planned on using some bicycles for a projection-based work, but we had to change plans when we realized there were few publicly accessible power outlets (there’s a lot here in Windsor).

Mock-ups for bunting.

Some test faxes.

Prepping.

Our shopping list.

Josh, math master.

Some textures of Halifax.

Mural of Halifax’s history.

Parking structure exterior.

Cracks traced. There were some interesting similarities between Windsor and Halifax, though the grandeur of the architecture wasn’t one of them.

The walls of City Hall.

Incredible old building — what was this?

More layout.

Planning.

Sketching.

Notes.

Perforated books …

… thanks to our new multi-cutter from Staples.

Perforated edge in all of its glory.

Detail of the Halifax Machine Forms.

Temporary bunting.

Josh constructing the signs and dolly. We hand cut all these framing boards, which was fun.

Paper table.

Construction in process.

Josh and Hiba plan build process.

Basics of the signs.

Some early mockups to wrap the booklets.

A work on city planning.

The days bled into each other as we seemed to return back to Emily and Kaley’s later and later each night.

The first sign completely built.

The books — we went with all yellow.

Hiba paints the signs.

We really like painting things black.

The temporary bunting is up!

Detail of the booklets.

Mid-week.

Along with the temporary bunting from the ceiling, we want people to be able to make their own as well, so we setup a bunch of pins with individual letters so anyone could make a custom message.

We also did some projections!

Getting closer to being done.

The vinyl!

Finishing touches.

Hanging photos.

Bunting alphabet installed.

The string.

Roll of paper to allow people to make their own message, borrow a sign and our dolly and do their own temporary install.

We also provided paint and brushes.

Justin paints.

Josh and level.

Test messages.

Test faxes.

Josh paints, Hiba vinyls.

Title wall.

The bunting alphabet.

An unofficial story about Halifax.

Detail, paper fortune tellers / psychogeography tools.

Halifax Machine and photos.

Title card for the signs.

Midway through the gallery , as we wrap up installation.

This huge display case was conveniently already at the gallery.

Everything wrapped up.

Then the opening…

Sign painting.

Writing a message for the Halifax Machine.

Forms from the Halifax Machine that were sent out!

Another sign mounted.

Improvised play with our bunting

One of the temporary sign relocation sites.

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the opening!

We’re so happy with this show and we hope visitors play. Remember, it’s up until May 12!!!!

We’ve been traveling a lot lately, and it’s been amazing to work in a number of other cities, but we’re also going to have some really big news for some new projects back in Windsor really soon. Stay close.