STOP/MOTION Time

Exhibit at the VAV Explores Life Through Motion

Fringe ArtsAlex Mcgill — Published September 13, 2011

STOP/MOTION, an exhibit opening Sept. 13 at Concordia’s VAV Gallery, approaches movement as both an active motion and an implied one.

Exploring mediums that include stop-motion animation, traditional and experimental drawing, documentary, projection, video, sculpture, performance and installation, the exhibit hopes to convey a wide range of movement.

What differentiates this exhibit from others is that one piece of artwork involved cannot be seen in its entirety until the end of its run. Throughout the exhibition, artists Kerri Flannigan and Kandis Friesen will be working on a 35-foot, in situ drawing on the gallery’s main wall. The artists will reference and attempt to replicate each other’s images using a variety of media.

“Kerri and I have been exchanging our developed visual language we use in our respective practices, [and] basically drawing each other’s imagery,” said Friesen. “Our styles are quite different, with Kerri’s lines loose and sketchy, and my line tight and controlled. The drawing speaks to movement and the idea of motion and animation, on a static surface.”

Friesen is an emerging interdisciplinary artist, originally from Winnipeg. “I consider my practice to be drawing-based across media, and much of my work is experimental and abstract documentary.”
Flannigan is a Montreal-based artist, originally from Deep River, ON. “I explore methods of experimental narrative and documentary. Often through personal connections, I examine history, health, memory, monuments, homelands and identity,” said Flannigan of her practice. “I primarily work from a drawing-based position emphasizing a handmade quality and a sense of intimacy. My work extends into stop motion, projection, book-based work, sculpture, video art, installation and fiber based works.”

The vernissage offers an interactive portion, with set-up projectors and markers for anyone to draw on for the night.

“In terms of the show, I always work with little scraps of paper during animations, and similarly have always wanted to do something with all the accumulation of detritus that builds up,” said Flannigan. “I’ve always thought the aftermath of animating was interesting, but could never think of a way to show it in a gallery setting in a way that was interesting.”

“The way we have the show set up, there are five monitors with loops of stop motion animations on them, and then the surrounding areas me and Kandis set up all of our scraps from the animations, so you can really see a lot of our process. Throughout the show, the wall drawings, projections, installations, animations, there’s a lot of overlap, a lot of repeating imagery.”

Antoine Corbeil is the third artist featured in the exhibit. The works will explore ideas of “borders and nation states, migration, loss, communication, family, childhood, nostalgia, and feminist theories,” he explained.

The exhibit will end with a “finissage” on Sept. 22 at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate the completion of the wall drawing, and will feature animated video shorts, live soundtracks, live projections/animations and slideshow lectures. Other contributing artists include Jeffrey Torgerson, Sarah Pupo, Jess MacCormack, Kristin Li, and more.

STOP/MOTION / Vernissage Sept. 13 / 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. / VAV Gallery / 1395 René Lévesque Blvd. W.

This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 03, published September 13, 2011.