SPIKED Festival of Performance Art

Reona Brass
Irene Loughlin
John Noestheden
Robin Poitras
Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa
Andre Stitt
June 7 – 10, 2006

Reona Brass: “100 Years Apart”

Wednesday, June 7, 3:00 pm

Irene Loughlin: “Hitting the Wall”

Thursday, June 8, 3:00 pm

Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa: “Written Sorrows”

Friday, June 9, 3:00 pm

Robin Poitras and John Noestheden: 

“on oval yellow”

Friday, June 9, 5:30 pm

Andre Stitt: “Days of Resistance”

Saturday, June 10, 8:00 pm

Panel discussion: 

Thursday, June 8, 7:00 pm

Friday, June 30 – CONCERT

Guy van Belle (Amsterdam and Bratislava): “slashtops”

8:00 pm, at Neutral Ground’slashtops’

a series of live audiovisual miniatures, performed by mxhz / society of algorithm

The will to connect

At some point it will become necessary to formulate a poetics of how a new connected art can be realized. Also, needed is to be able to describe along which lines it can evolve. So here we begin: for uncertainty and vagueness to allow multiplicity and openness. Against the narrative figurative and for the experimental abstract. Not for an audience but for the involved participants in the aesthetical action. From the simplicity of one algorithm put into a network topology, to the complexity that develops over time again into simplicity. Back and forth and back again. With the technical as its sole subject against the forced representation within a familiar theme or a consistent content. Away with the format and do concentrate more on the relation between objects. No random no sequencing no sampling no noise.

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June 30 – July 29, 2006

Peter Courtemanche (Vancouver): “Preying Insect Robots”

Opening reception Friday, June 30 following concert at Neutral Ground

Work created for the commission series, “Living with artificial beings”, Preying Insect Robots c. 2006 by Absolute Value of Noise

Preying Insect Robots is a set of autonomous creatures that move about and communicate using a wireless Internet connection. These robots are modeled after an imaginary jade-green preying mantis – a mechanical creature that is described in the “Martian Chronicles” (by Ray Bradbury). The robots are adaptable to both indoor and outdoor environments – galleries, sidewalks, parks, and performance spaces. They engage in solo and choreographed group activities. The sound of their motors, motion and engagement creates an eerie soundtrack. The piece has a number of manifestations: as an installation, a public intervention (performance), a web-presence, and an audio CD based on the sounds of the robots. As the robots wander, they transmit poetry to the Internet – creating montages of found text from a number of science fiction stories, including Feersum Endjinn (1994) and Excession (1996) by Iain M. Banks; The Martian Chronicles (1946 – 1958) by Ray Bradbury; Autofac (1955), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968), and The Electric Ant by Philip K. Dick; Mortal Engines (1972 – 1976) by Stanislaw Lem; and For a Breath I Tarry (1966) by Roger Zelazny.

For its inaugaral project with the Cathedral Village Arts Festival, Neutral Ground is pleased to present the work of Montral artist Shelly Miller. Miller is a multi-disciplinary artist whose projects range from cake sculptures and icing graffiti, to sand sculptures of designer handbags. Miller completed her undergraduate degree at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary before relocating to Montreal. Here she received her MFA from Concordia University in 2001. Miller has received numerous grants and fellowships including the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award (2001) for research and exhibition purposes in India and the Sacatar Fellowship (2004) to attend the Sacatar Residency in Brazil. Miller’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries across Canada and abroad. In 2005 her Sumptuous Still Life Series was presented at Access Gallery in Vancouver, TRUCK gallery in Calgary, and the Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton. Miller currently lives and works in Montreal.