Eunice Luk | Bodies of Water

Eunice Luk

Bodies of Water

Toronto, Canada: Slow Editions, 2024

20 pp., 6.5 x 4.6 x 1.9 cm., boxed

Second edition of 50

This rubber stamped and risograph printed accordion fold publication housed between glazed stoneware was inspired by the "delicate and timeless relationship between freshwater mussels and the health of our waterways. Often referred to as ‘living rocks,’ freshwater mussels play an essential role in quietly filtering our rivers. Today, nearly half of the world’s freshwater mussels are listed as imperilled. This rapid population decline reflects habitat alteration, pollution and the loss of fish hosts. The book, a small object with ceramic shell-like covers, is held together by intricate butterfly-shaped accordion folds. Within these pages, plankton, algae, and detritus flow against the backdrop of moving waters, around and through the bivalve. Through its nonlinear form, the accordion bookwork illustrates all bodies of water as a connected entity. It emphasizes the impact of water health on the ecology that freshwater mussels depend on to survive."

Bodies of Water is available from Slow Editions, for $58.00, here. 

Luk’s project for Ontario Culture Days, Small Things (That Run The World) continues at the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre (247 Ricardo Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake) until November 2nd. Visit the Ontario Culture Days website for details. 

Alison Knowles

 

Alison Knowles Weisbaden

Eunice Luk, who I’m working with on a project for Ontario Culture Days in the fall, visited Wiesbaden, Germany earlier in the year. She brought me back these four cards from an exhibition celebrating the work of Alison Knowles, who turned 92 a month ago today. 

Van Maltese | Pencil For Your Non-Dominant Hand

Van Maltese

Pencil For Your Non-Dominant Hand

Toronto, Canada: Slow Editions, 2024

20.5 x 4.5 cm.

Edition of 500

Produced by Eunice Luk’s Slow Editions as a free give-away, Pencil For Your Non-Dominant Hand invites artists to participate by submitting a drawing made using their non-dominant hand. 

Send a 300 dpi image of your drawing and your name to pencilforyournondominanthand@gmail.com. The drawings will be posted at https://pencil-for-your-non-dominant-hand.blogspot.com and eventually collected for a future publication. 

"For some time now, I have been experimenting with drawing using my left, non-dominant hand. This interest began as an exercise to develop muscle memory and potentially enhance cognitive functioning. However, I have since learned that the idea of practicing ambidexterity to improve brain function is widely debated—some argue that the brain’s efficiency benefits from having distinct hemispheric tasks. The idea of using ambidexterity to strengthen cognitive functioning is perhaps just another fact I thought I knew.

Alongside trying to get better at what I do, I am also very curious about getting worse at it. Drawing with my non-dominant hand has evolved into something more profound: a way of exploring failure, and relinquishing some sort of control. It’s a counterpoint to the idea that an artist’s legitimacy lies in some kind of consistency. Instead, I’m curious about how it feels to unlearn, or re-learn.”

- Van Maltese

Multiples Multiples Multiples opened minutes ago

The 2nd annual Multiples Multiples Multiples event is taking place today at Art Metropole in Toronto, from noon to five pm.

Multiples Multiples Multiples

This time last year a group of artists and publishers arranged a pop-up shop at the Toronto gallery MKG127, with the idea that the worst case scenario would be an afternoon spent with friends. It turned out to be a huge success, packed with visitors all day, and with little time to socialize. 

The 2nd annual event is taking place tomorrow at Art Metropole. We won’t be there with the Nothing Else Press, but all of the others will be present, many with new projects to launch. 

Drop by between noon and five pm tomorrow at Art Met to finish up your holiday shopping. 

Glenfiddich announces 2024 Canadian Artist in Residence: Julie Forgues

Slightly off-topic (though see related editions here, here and here), but earlier this week I was back in Toronto for the announcement of the Glenfiddich Artist In Residency Prize. I was the Artist-in-Residence at the Dufftown, Scotland, distillery in 2008 and I have subsequently served as a ‘consultant’ on the program, mainly helping to administer the jury process. 

The event on Tuesday was held to celebrate the work of Derek Liddington (2023) and to announce Julie Forgues, from Moncton, as the artist who will represent Canada at the international residency this summer, where she will be joined by six other artists from around the globe. 

Forgues has previously participated in residencies for Swatch (in Shanghai) and aboard a boat at the Arctic Circle. 

From the press release: 

GLENFIDDICH, THE WORLD’S MOST AWARDED SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY ANNOUNCES THE 2024 CANADIAN RECIPIENT OF THE PRESTIGIOUS ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM VALUED AT OVER $25,000

 

The 19th annual Glenfiddich Artists in Residence program in Canada awards one Canadian artist an all-inclusive residency in Dufftown, Scotland.

TORONTO, ON: Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt scotch whisky, proudly names Julie Forgues of Moncton, New Brunswick as the 2024 recipient of the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program. The prestigious residency consists of a three-month all-expenses paid residency at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. Forgues is the 19th Canadian recipient of the annual Glenfiddich Artists in Residence program.

 

Julie Forgues obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, in 1995, followed by her MFA in Studio Arts – Photography at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She joined the faculty of Université de Moncton in 2000 as Professor of Photography in the Department of Visual Arts and took position as Head of the department in 2016. She has participated in several artist residency programs internationally, including in China, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, and the Arctic Circle. She considers her photographic research as an intermediate between a space and a place.

 

“In the past few years, I have been working on photographic research about how a space can be transformed into a place but can also fluctuate between both states,” articulates Forgues in her proposal. “These in-betweens in landscapes are fluctuating states that I then render into photographic images. At every site I have photographed, I think of what was there, what is there now and what will be there in the future: spaces that are now places, but mostly places-spaces that are in limbo-ing states. My work therefore makes this process of fluctuation visible.”

 

During her residency at the Glenfiddich distillery, Julie plans to explore spaces and places created by the Glenfiddich craftsmen in and around the historic distillery landscape with photographic image. The project will reflect and pay homage to the people and community of the distillery incorporating the use of cast-off liquids, malt, and other natural elements found at the distillery.

 

“Julie’s focus on space and place is wholly pertinent to the Glenfiddich Residency, which is itself all about a particular place, the Valley of the Deer. A space made into a place by the founder William Grant in 1887,” comments Andy Fairgrieve, Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program Co-ordinator. “I am sure the residency will be a rewarding experience for Julie and I am looking forward to seeing how she engages with the locality this summer.”

 

The Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program is recognized and celebrated in global art communities as one of the world’s most prestigious of artist residencies, receiving hundreds of applications annually. The program transports winning artists from across the globe to the historic Dufftown setting, deep in the Scottish Highlands, to foster the creation of original work directly influenced by the Glenfiddich Distillery grounds, its processes, and its rich environment. Year after year, the artist pieces created during the residency are of unique tone, ambience and medium, and are displayed at the distillery for ongoing years.

 

"The Glenfiddich Artist in Residency program continues to capture the imagination of artists across the country,” comments Dave Dyment, Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Consultant & artist. “This year we had a record number of high-quality applications, and anyone from the shortlist would’ve made a great selection. Julie’s proposal to examine how culture shapes geography will resonate nicely with the opportunities at the residency. It reminds me of a quote from Scottish writer Alasdair Gray: ‘If a city hasn't been used by an artist, not even the inhabitants live there imaginatively’.” 

 

The 2024 residency marks the 23rd anniversary of the global Glenfiddich Artist in Residence program and the 19th anniversary of the program in Canada.

 

“Glenfiddich in Canada is honoured to support the Canadian arts community through the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program,” adds Claire May, Senior Brand Manager, Glenfiddich in Canada. “We are excited to award Julie this year’s residency and look forward to viewing the body of work she creates.”

 

Applications for the 2025 Artists in Residency program are scheduled to open in December 2024.

 

 

David Bellingham | Hour Hand/Minute Hand

David Bellingham

Hour Hand/Minute Hand

Glasgow, Scotland: Wax366, 2019

5.2 x 4.5 x 3.5 cm.

Edition of 100 numbered copies

The latest addition to our modest Time Piece collection is this David Bellingham work from 2019. Seven of the below nine works are functional, and this is also, in that the piece is wearable. It consists of an hour and minute hand repurposed from watch hands, set in stirling silver stud earrings. 

It’s a nice accidental sister work to Colleen Savage’s Horological Ornithology, which frees non-cuckoo birds from cuckoo clocks (see post here). 

Hour Hand/Minute Hand is available from the publisher, here, for £100.00.

Multiples Pop-Up Shop

 

In Toronto there’s a tight-knit community of publishers interested in editions. Today, several of us are presenting a pop-up shop at MKG127, from noon to six. Participants include Paul+Wendy Projects, Slow Editions, GuyGuyGuy, Alicia’s Klassic Kool Shoppe, Jimmy Limit & Maggie Groat and our own Nothing Else Press. 

For several years the Toronto Art Fair accommodated publishers of artists’ books and multiples but this stopped during Covid, and hasn’t returned. So this event harkens back to something four of us (along with Bywater Brothers) hosted years ago at G Gallery. 

Whether you’re doing some last minute Christmas shopping (or Christmas shopping), or nearby enough to stop in and say hello, please drop by. There will be things available for every price range, including risographed zines, rubber stamps, t-shirts,  tote-bags, hats, scarves, postcards, prints, pins, clocks, sculpture, stickers, ceramics, cards, etc. etc. 

Hope to see you there. 

Thanks to Masanao Hirayama [Himaa] for the graphics, Michael Klein for the space, Panya Clark Espinal for altering her beautiful exhibition today to accommodate us, Mercer Union for the tables and Micah Lexier for handling most of the organization, despite only participating in an unofficial capacity.