Escape
Curated by JJ Kegan McFadden
Distributed by VIDEO POOL MEDIA ARTS CENTRE [Winnipeg]
ESCAPE
There has always been more than one way to escape. The term itself carries with it several connotations: to flee, to transcend, to avoid. In our ever-evolving digital realm, to escape means something different altogether. When online, we escape through various quasi-anonymous discourses (blogs, games, chat rooms). The button located at the top left of the computer keyboard provides the user a means to get out of certain messy situations; to begin anew. Here, I am interested in an escape narrative, one informed by the medium, by the history of story telling, and the Hero’s Journey. This escape attempt is for us all.
Various metaphors for escape are alluded to in the fifteen videos collected here: disguise, travel, dance, sex, and meditation each become important elements on this ESCAPE route. Thus, the sequential ordering of the videos in ESCAPE is important. I have attempted not only to collect these titles within a specific trope, but also to shape them in order to tell a story. The plot, one might recognize, when discussing such a topic, is informed by archetypal stories.
J.J. Kegan McFadden, curator
ESCAPE features fifteen experimental videos by eighteen artists, and will be shown in approximately twelve cities throughout Canada and into the States.
Videos by the following artists are included in the Escape program:
Lori Weidenhammer + Donna Lewis, Sylvia Matas, Ho Tam, Hope Peterson, Tim Raffey, Leslie Supnet, Dominique Rey, Lisa Graves + Deborah Van Slet, Victoria Prince, Doug Melnyk, Anne Borden + Gail Mentlik, Jeremy Drummond, Divya Mehra, Collin Zipp, Ken Gregory.
The Escape route includes the following cities and presentation venues:
Toronto, ON - 25 February 2009
[University of Toronto, Advanced Video Class]
Victoria, BC - 18 March 2009
[University of Victoria, Department of Fine Arts]
Edmonton, AB - 28 March 2009
[Latitude 53]
Saskatoon, SK - 3 April 2009
[AKA Gallery / PAVED Arts]
Montreal, QC - 28 May 2009
[Groupe Intervention Video]
Vancouver, BC - 30 June 2009
[Helen Pitt Gallery Artist-Run Centre]
Portland, OR - 24 July 2009
[galleryHOMELAND]
St. John's, NL - 19 August 2009
[Eastern Edge Gallery]
Halifax, NS - 21 August 2009
[eyelevel gallery]
New York City, NY - 17 September 2009
[Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center]
Winnipeg, MB - 25 February 2010
[Video Pool Media Arts Centre]
For more information, visit curator JJ Kegan McFadden's Escape blog.
