A key focus of Kamloops based artist Donald Lawrence’s practice has been the merging of art, technology and science. Through pinhole camera and camera obscura projects, Lawrence’s work draws upon early optical and image-making devices, and centres on conventions of illusion that emerged through the use of these technologies in 19th century European culture (though their origins lay in previous times and in other cultures).
Lawrence’s cameras obscura have emerged as site-specific projects that revisit early photographic technology through experiences outside the gallery context. As part of his Kamloops Art Gallery exhibition Casting the Eye Adrift (on until December 31, 2020), Lawrence has created a new camera obscura tent structure that is installed on the canopy of the Paramount Theatre, called the Paramount Camera Obscura. This project is a partnership with the Kamloops Film Society. Reflecting Lawrence’s interest in the connection between urban and “wilderness” cultures, and our romantic relationship to nature, the structure looks like a rustic camping shelter.
The phrase, camera obscura, is Latin for “darkened chamber” or “dark room.” The camera obscura is a device that admits light through a small opening (often fitted with a glass lens) into a box or darkened space to project an upside down image of the outside world onto a surface inside the box or space.
With this work, visitors are invited to enter the tent structure and sit on vintage theatre seats to experience a new view of the intersection at Victoria and 5th Avenue as an upside down projected image.
Guided Tours for 2 people at a time (or family groups of 3) offered through September.
Please bring a mask
Social distancing and sanitizing protocols will be in place
Safety protocols and accessibility information is available HERE.
We have developed two themed weeks for your young artists that explore the ideas, techniques and materials used by the artists in our current exhibitions. Each week includes daily tours in our Gallery spaces and exploration in our studios as well as weekly outings to Riverside Park. We have also partnered with the BIG Little Science Centre (located beside us) and are excited to include a private field trip to the BLSC each week, where we will be the only guests during our visit!
PLEASE NOTE:
In response to Covid-19, we have adapted our summer art camp program to facilitate smaller groups and support a healthy, productive learning environment with an elimination of shared art supplies and increased cleaning procedures.
Each participant will have their own art station and will receive their own materials kit with everything they need. In order to maintain the recommended safe distance of two meters at all times, this year’s camp can only accommodate four participants each week. A floorplan of our studios is available to download HERE.
WEEK A: EXPERIMENTATION STATION // Donald Lawrence: Casting the Eye Adrift
July 27 – 31 // August 10 – 14
BIG Little Science Center Dates: July 30 // August 13
Join us for a week of exploration and experimentation as we learn about art and science through Donald Lawrence’s exhibition Casting the Eye Adrift. Young artists will create art works using tools and techniques used by the artist, including cyanotypes, pinhole cameras and cameras lucida, and will learn about the ideas behind these practices through daily tours in the Gallery. On Thursdays, participants will delve deeper into the science behind this exhibition with a private field trip to the BIG Little Science Center to explore light reflections and drawing with light.
WEEK B: THE MEMORY PALACE // Anyssa Fortie: Pleasant Field
August 4 – 7 // August 17 – 21
BIG Little Science Center Dates: August 4 // August 18
What are memories and how do they work? Over the course of this week, students will explore Anyssa Fortie’s exhibition Pleasant Field in The Cube and learn about how she uses her memories as her subject. Through daily tours in our galleries, young artists will develop their ability to talk about what they see, feel and think about art work, while in our studios they will learn about painting and sculpture techniques used by the artist. On Tuesdays, students will go on a private field trip to the BIG Little Science Centre to explore the science of building structures.
Students should come prepared each day with:
• a nut-free snack and lunch, and bottle of water
• a mask
• sunscreen, hat and rain jacket
• clothes they don’t mind getting messy and/or a smock
• closed-toe shoes (for studio safety and walking)
• please ensure everything is labelled
Extended care is available daily from 8:30 to 9:00 am and 3:00 to 3:30 pm
Online registration is now open!
Generously sponsored by Watson Engineering Ltd.
Camp-in-a-box: Cameras in Kamloops engages folks aged 14-17 with local art culture through a series of activities that encourage experimentation and exploration of both contemporary and historical optical technologies.
Using their smartphones and materials provided in a camp-in-a-box format, participants will explore exhibitions at the Kamloops Art Gallery and respond creatively through photography and filmmaking.
Though camp activities will be conducted remotely, this is not your typical Zoom workshop! Participants will explore Kamloops with activities like photo scavenger hunts and a pinhole camera workshop.
The box will include instructions for daily video-conferencing sessions, links to instructional videos and examples, and materials for thaumatrope and zoetrope animation projects.
Facilitators and guest speakers from The Cinematheque in Vancouver and the Kamloops Art Gallery will guide participants through the process of making a short experimental video project, from pre-production to shooting to editing.
Cameras in Kamloops will provide participants with the skills and materials required to execute projects using both digital and analog technologies, which they can continue to use after the program is completed.
PLEASE NOTE: Participants must supply their own smartphone.
This program is generously sponsored by Telus STORYHIVE.
REGISTER ONLINE
For those interested in a face-to-face experience, we have a limited number of seats available. Reserve yours by calling the Gallery at 250.377.2400.
Kevin Schmidt’s art practice engages in a critical re-staging of spectacle through the reproduction and displacement of cultural industry, and proposes a utopian assertion of the commons where both the land and culture are publicly available. Involving gruelling feats of production and “self-built” construction, Schmidt’s works are often produced in remote locations, where he stages events through the relocation of common features of the urban environment (billboard, block-buster film, rock-show lights) into seemingly untouched areas. Through this cross-over, he interrogates the intrinsic interconnection of “nature” and “culture,” and explores the congruence between contemporary art and do-it-yourself (DIY) practices in relation to the role of the museum and the notion of shared knowledge.
An exhibition of Schmidt's work entitled The Commons was at the Gallery October to January 2015.
The Kamloops Art Gallery and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC co-produced the 192-page monograph on Schmidt’s work, published by Black Dog, featuring texts by Charo Neville and Kathleen Ritter, as well as an interview between Schmidt and Nigel Prince. Signed copies will be available for purchase at the Gallery Store.
Image courtesy Jonathan Middleton, Art Metropole.
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