Act II: Whose Space?
'Hot Document', 2021
Anna Be
performance on video with sound, 1 min 27 sec.
Words from the artist:
John Pellizzon has typed out a 12 page report that argues for the conversion of the Student Union Art Gallery to be converted into a “very nice” lounge, that includes bar equipment, and would be permitted in the drinking of liquor. This is due to Pellizzon believing the gallery is not being used to its greatest extent, and a lack of lounge areas for students where you are able to drink hard liquor. The general student body surveyed was for the conversion of the art gallery into the lounge, but many arts students were against this ordeal.
One of whom, this anonymous writer, supposedly a faculty member situated within the visual arts community at UBC, has taken this typed proposal of Pellizzon and had hand written their thoughts on the matter. In opposition to the cold, typed, formal text, the writer scribbles, marks off, and underlines points in the proposal - rebutting them with truths and their own comments. The anonymous author takes on a fairly casual and at times sassy tone, seemingly sick of Pellizzon’s idea of profiting off the collapse of a student run gallery. Through the pen strokes and way of writing, we can see a sense of sporadic rage and frustration towards the proposal. All these ideas have made me interested in the work - to see two sides collide - and to see how a different future may have occurred in which we would instead have a drinking lounge instead of an art gallery.
'The Purchase of a Rubber Stamp', 2021
Roselynn Sadaghiani
custom made rubber stamp, performance on video with sound, 3 min 35 sec.
Words from the artist:
Reading through correspondents within the archival documents, I became interested in the professionalism and unprofessionalism of the past; the tidy exterior of the gallery and the chaos, gossip, and sarcastic remarks behind the scenes. Through this performance I enact a letter sent from the Chair of the S.A.C. to the A.M.S Art Gallery Committee Chairperson inquiring about a rubber stamp. In response, I had a rubber stamp professionally made of this unprofessional letter. By having this nonsensical stamp made for the Hatch Gallery, I wanted to embody the ridiculous nature of this particularly ridiculous history.
Students Sleepover at the Gallery, 2021
Miya Kosowick
acrylic on gessoed canvas.
Words from the artist:
In this painting, I contribute to the ongoing dialogue between the collection and the students who have historically interacted with it. Analyzing the digital archives of documentation of events and works from the past, every move we make now will fall into a historical trajectory that inevitably continues to form.
The reenactment of the recorded histories of students living in the gallery folds the past into the present. The reenactment continues the lineage of the transient nature of this collection. As we highlight specific moments in the history of the collection, the fictionalized reenactment brings to light the subjectivity of all the individuals who have helped create this history.
Similar to the collaborative In My Room series (in Act III), what does it mean to own the student collection transiently? In the foreground of my painting, the students exercise their ownership over the gallery, in the background is part of the collection, the works that the student body technically owns:
-
Herbert W. Gilbert - A Recollection of Perfume, 1960
-
Roy Arden - Development #1, 1993
-
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun - Untitled, 2003
-
Leonard Brett - Block Busters, 1967-1968
-
E.J. Hughes - Abandoned Village, River's Inlet B.C., 1947 (most expensive work in the collection & the first work acquired.)
The painting depicts an ephemeral atmosphere, one that blends dreams with reality. The document that inspired this work reads that "there are stories of people living in the gallery, hardly any shows, etc. during this phase of the gallery." In this reimagined storyline, I paint a sleepover's narrative in the gallery similar to the digitized distanced slumber party we find ourselves in currently. In continuation of the gallery space's alternative use, I had the director and assistant director of the hatch reenact a reimagined scene: students sleeping in the gallery. I share the story of an alternative timeline of events where the boundaries of existence, history and imagination interrogate the reliability of documentation.
