For five days in mid-July jennadawn and I participated as artists in Peristyle Nomade's la boite à médiation variable.  We participated as members of our artist collective, SCRATCH, but sadly our third member, Lauren Osmond, couldn't join us this time 'round.  In the past the three of us had planted a natural dye garden in Articule's garden and later gave a natural dyeing workshop there.  

For this event we proposed that people see our act of sharing knowledge (plant dyeing knowledge) as a performative art installation.  We spent five days in Parc Mederic Martin in Montreal, mostly staying close to our little dye hut (as seen above).  It was three days preparing natural dyes and fabric to be dyed and the last two dyeing cotton, linens and silks with marigold, onion skins, brazilwood, logwood, lavendar, pomegranate, tumeric and more.  Of course I had to have an indigo vat as well, especially since it was my only chance to have one this summer.  On day two we also held a fun natural dyeing and printing workshop.   As part of our mandate to share we offered a pamphlet with natural dyeing directions to anyone passing through and of course to anyone who inquired about the purpose of our being at the park.

There are some some pictures via the Peristyle Nomade facebook page.  Today we hosted dinner.  In the first picture below you can see me making crepes like a mad-woman :)

Below are more photos by LePetitRusse

Some summer installations/personal interventions.  WDYT?

Here's a peek of an new piece I installed for the first time today.  It's called "Michael is this a joke?" and is based on a nightmare I had.  I haven't had much time to step back and decide how I feel about the piece as a whole, so I'm only showing a snippet of the part I'm excited about so far.  Maybe more soon.  The speaker plays the sound of an idling diesel truck when the viewer is close enough to cast a shadow.

I'm pretty sure this winter in Montreal has been even milder than last year.  We only got a huge dump of snow for the first time yesterday, and it feels like its been no colder than  -10 for a while now.  Yes, its been snowy and slushy, but not how I remember it being last year around this time.  I haven't even seen the snow-plow parade yet.

Yesterday I was going to do a photo shoot of the Anchor/Cradle at school, but the the new snow fall was so ideal (this was the beginning of what was 3.5" by the end of the day).  So I carried it over to Parc Jarry in the morning before class and found the perfect tree in the perfect spot.  It was easier than I expected to get it tied up on that branch.

I would have really liked to leave it there for a day or so, but I was afraid it might get stolen or taken down by the city and I need it for an upcoming show, so..... it was a temporary installation; long enough to get some good (higher quality) shots with the new camera.

I haven't had time to take pictures of the show yet, but here's some pics that some friends took at the opening.  I also have a process video still to come.