Events
drift
Misc. Activities Collective: Tsēmā and Jonathan Igharas
July 20th - December 31st, 2023
Urban Screen, Wilson Arts Plaza
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
8am-9pm daily
The Libby Leshgold Gallery is pleased to announce the launch of Misc. Activities Collective’s drift, as part of the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program for Emily Carr University’s Urban Screen. The screening will run July 20th through December 31st, 2023.
drift observes the shifting nature of water using moments of sublime beauty. Using footage collected during the artists’ two years of travel across continents and waterways, the work combines and remixes the colours, forms and surfaces of water to create imagery that is both dazzling and meditative. Overlooking the pavings of the Wilson Arts Plaza, drift offers an optical reminder of the transformational powers of water and light; expertly filtered through layers of technology, the work is a visual experience tailored to the urban environment, even as it reminds us of its limitations.
When beginning to film, we systematically logged interesting clips into our database; then we began to drift, guided by the water to be more conscious, to look closer and appreciate the spiritual presence and healing qualities of water. drift is edited as a painting, matching colour, form and refraction to frame water dancing with light, from sunlight beaming through gentle ripples and sparkling swirls to the white mist of raging waterfalls. drift shows water’s power and serenity.
Misc. Activities Collective, Tsēmā and Jonathan Igharas are an art and design duo working in parallel since meeting at Emily Carr University in 2010. Tsēmā, an interdisciplinary artist from Tāłtān Matriarchy, makes performative sculpture installations connecting materials to mine-sites and bodies to the land. Jonathan is a Filipino-American Industrial and Environments designer exploring the intangible impact objects and spaces have on the human experience. Their practices align in their shared interest in decolonial design, issues relating to water and the creation of a sustainable social and ecological future for their daughter and generations to come.
The Urban Screen, located on the north-east wall of the Wilson Arts Plaza, is an initiative of the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program in conjunction with the Libby Leshgold Gallery at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. To date, the program has included the work of Barry Doupé, Dana Claxton, Marina Roy, Cole Pauls, Diyan Achjadi, Laiwan, Kandis Williams, Liz Knox, Frankie McDonald, and Shaheer Zazai. The screen operates daily from 8am-9pm.
