The NATURAL & The MANUFACTURED
August 11 – September 18, 2005
A thematic residency and exhibition project organized by the Odd Gallery and KIAC’s Artist in Residence program, The Natural & The Manufactured presents site-specific exhibitions by internationally recognized artists Peter von Tiesenhausen and Shirley Wiebe, and a lecture and essay by art historian Dr. Gerard Curtis. In response to local environments, histories and cultures, Peter von Tiesenhausen has produced a gallery-specific installation utilizing locally available natural and found materials – the installation being constructed on-site over the course of ten days. And in counterpoint, during a four-week residency, Shirley Wiebe has produced an outdoor site-specific installation using locally sourced manufactured products. Through the exhibitions, artist’s talks and additional outreach programming, The Natural & The Manufactured presents contemporary site-specific and land based art practices to Yukon and visiting audiences. In conjunction with the exhibition openings, visiting art historian Dr. Gerard Curtis will provide a free lecture that will further explore issues related to site-specific, land based and environmental art practices, and address the work of von Tiesenhausen and Wiebe within this context. The project as a whole will provide a reinterpretation of regional geography and the relationship between various cultural and economic uses of land and resources and will explore new political, social, economic and aesthetic agendas and their impact on the landscape and social infrastructure.
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Peter von Tiesenhausen
Peter von Tiesenhausen has experienced the land around his home for 40 of his 46 years, which constitutes his primary and ongoing artwork and in 1995 he claimed copyright over that land. He has exhibited and lectured widely across Canada as well as in Europe and the United States with his work being presented in over 35 solo and many group exhibitions over the last 15 years.
Shirley Wiebe
Shirley Wiebe is a Vancouver based sculptor and installation artist whose recent work concentrates both on the land and the interaction of a community with its environment. She uses common everyday materials and objects as source material, with an ongoing concern for both the sculptural and architectural effects of form and the attendant cultural, spiritual and historical connotations. Shirley has created temporary outdoor site-specific installations in landscapes and communities within British Columbia and Washington State.
Gerard Curtis
Dr. Gerard Curtis is Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Visual Arts at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University, Newfoundland. After initially training as a studio artist he completed his doctorate in Art History and Theory at the University of Essex (England) in 1995. He has published numerous articles and book reviews, and his first book Visual Words: Art and the Material Book in Victorian England was published in April of 2002.