Publications
Open Space prints a majority of its publications in-house. For information about ordering and purchasing any of the below publications, contact our Administrator. Shipping and handling apply.
Us Ones in Between, Marlaina Buch and Nicholas Robins, 2009. 60 pages, 32 illustrations ISBN 978-1-895532-24-1 $10.00
Curated by Nicholas Robins, Us Ones in Between featured the work of Victoria artists Ty Danylchuk, Caitlin Gallupe, Liam Hannah-Lloyd, Cody Haight, Cameron Kidd, Brooke Semple, Eden Veaudry and Erik Volet. Us Ones in Between — the publication — includes full-colour reproductions of the artists’ works and an introductory essay by Marlaina Buch that discusses the work of this group in terms of privacy and community, the role of drawing and the normalization of art in all aspects of the artists’ lives. Covers come in five different — very eye-catching — colours.
Bannockology, compiled and edited by Peter Morin, 2009. 82 pages, illustrated. ISBN 978-1-895532-23-4 $20.00
Bannockology is an anthology of anecdotes, recipes, poetry and insights about bannock, the ubiquitous bread that is a part of every First Nations social event, private or public. Compiled and edited by artist, writer and curator Peter Morin, Bannockology was initiated in Watson Lake, Yukon — where Peter worked with the local library and youth — and grew as Peter’s cultural adventures lead him to organize the World’s Largest Bannock event This book was shaped by a deep commitment to Morin’s Tahltan culture. An essay by acclaimed curator Candice Hopkins introduces Bannockology.
Revenues from sales will be directed to the Watson Lake Library and Surrounded by Cedar Child and Family Services.
Co-publishers: Camosun College, Western Front, Surrounded by Cedar Child and Family Services.
4x8_5x7, James Carl, 2008. 140 pages, all illustrated. ISBN 987-1-895532-21-0 $4.00
4x8_5x7 breaks a life-sized black and white digital drawing of a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood into 5 x 7 sections. Each page is a 5 x 7 section of the drawing.
workbench, essay by David Capell, 2009. 32 pages, 14 illustrations. $3.00
A colourful document of a 2007 curatorial project lead by Ross Angus Macaulay and Zoë Kreye, workbench assembled the live-work realities of six young artists: Marlene Bouchard, Charlotte Campbell, Emily Goodden, Rachel Evans, Jordan Beggs and Caleb Beyers. Essayist David Capell situates their practices within a relational and action-based present.
Unpacked and Reheated, Ted Hiebert, Helen Marzolf, Catlin Lewis, 2007. 45 pages, 26 illustrations. ISBN 978-1895532-15-9 $4.00
Unpacked and Reheated examined the interplay between the organic and the synthetic, the real and the illusory, and dared the viewer to determine what constitutes authenticity. These works by Steven Rayner and Brendan Fernandes questioned the relationships between nature, technology and society by juxtaposing the natural with the hyperreal.
Dowsing for Failure, Ted Hiebert and Doug Jarvis, 2007. 62 pages, 20 illustrations, ISBN 1-895532-18-3 $15.00
Curated by Doug Jarvis and Ted Hiebert, Dowsing for Failure featured works by Benjamin Bellas, Nate Larson, Gordon Lebredt, Mike Paget, June Pak, Daniel Olson and Anthony Schrag. Failure is re-positioned to reveal paradoxes hard-wired into the practices and attitudes of contemporary culture and life.
Vulnerable Light, Ted Hiebert, 2006. 28 pages, 8 illustrations, ISBN 1-895532-16-2 $10.00
Vulnerable Light invokes the vulnerability and ineffability of photographic representation in the works of two nationally recognized photo-based artists: Isabelle Hayeur (Montreal) and Jennifer Long (Toronto). This exhibit was curated by Tamsin Clark and Ted Hiebert, with writing from Michael Turner.
Domestic Bliss, Roy Green, 2006. 24 pages, 10 illustrations, ISBN 1-895532-14-0 $5.00
Domestic Bliss was curated by artist and poet Roy Green and featured recent work by Martin Golland (Guelph ON), Karina Kalvaitis (Victoria) and Robert Randall (Victoria). Spurred by the retreat into the privacy of the domestic space, this exhibition deliberated ideas of the home: as status symbol, architecture, shelter/security, exterior and interior decor, investment/commodity and as a site of personal expression and identity.
SuperModels, Ted Hiebert and Steve Rayner, 2006. 36 pages, 7 illustrations, ISBN 1-895532-12-4 $5.00
SuperModels is a sophisticated inquiry into the mechanics of representation, hinged upon the model building and mimicking preoccupations of four artists: Chris Gillespie, Toni Hafkenscheid, Duncan Mackenzie and Tim van Wijk. SuperModels was curated by Victoria artists Tamsin Clark and Ted Hiebert. The publication features an essay written by Steve Rayner (Victoria).
Book of Small, Sonja Ahlers, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, Sarah Cain and Carey Ann Schaefer, 2005. 48 pages, 33 illustrations IBSN 1-895532-13-2 $7.00
The exhibition Book of Small starred three artists who — using modest materials including paper, paint and fabric — further blurred the divisions between art and craft, art and community, and art and architecture. Sonja Ahlers (Vancouver) assembled free and donated scraps — tickets, comic strips, clothing tags, doodles, doilies — into collages that chronicled the objects, ideas and people that momentarily capture our attention. Ginger Brooks Takahashi (Brooklyn) presented quilts and drawings featuring rabbits and humans involved in sexual scenarios; these doubled as metaphors for the difficulties involved in reproduction, both biological and cultural, in the queer community. Sarah Cain (Oakland) created art installations that used space — walls, windows, corners, floorboards — merging art and architecture. This publication features a generous ten pages of each artist’s work (including two-page spreads) and a short essay on each by Carey Ann Schaefer.
Nominal Spaces: Stories for Photographs, Clint Hutzulak, Todd A. Davis, 2003. 34 pages, 3 illustrations. ISBN 1-895532-10-8 $5.00
Nominal Spaces: Stories for Photographs was published to coexist with a photographic exhibition presented at Open Space in 2003 called “…and uncertain light,” which featured the works of Brenda Francis Pelkey, Holly King and Tamsin Clark. Drawing inspiration from the narrative impulses implicit in the imagery of the three photographers, writer Clint Hutzulak created a trio of short fictions to accompany the photographs.
Plot, Todd A. Davis, Robin Peck, Christina Ritchie, Margrét H. Blöndal, 2003. 47 pages, illustrated. ISBN 0-920751-87-3 $7.00
Plot is a publication that accompanied James Carl’s 2003 large-scale installation and pieces — an exploration of materials and an analysis of consumer culture — that were presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, and Open Space. The publication includes an essay by Robin Peck, an “interview” of James Carl by curator Christina Ritchie (as pieced together by months of telephone and email conversations) and a poem by Margrét H. Blöndal.
Quartet for the Year 4698 or 5760: improvisation for four projectors, Adrienne Lai, Jessie Lacayo, Tamara Bernstein, Scott Watson, 2002. 35 pages, 25 black and white illustrations ISBN 1-895532-11-6 $4.00
Quartet for the Year 4698 or 5760 was a gallery installation by Laiwan in collaboration with Lori Freedman. It combined film projection, sound, live performance, sculptural space and digital technology to produce variously mediated experiences. Four film loops projected on a central cylinder showed four views of bass clarinetist Freedman, creating a “quartet” — though this impression was disrupted by the fact that the film loops were of different lengths and shot in different locations. Additionally, Freedman performed live with the installation during scheduled performances.
Essays by Adrienne Lai, Jessie Lacayo and Tamara Bernstein focus on technology and the body, technology and ideology and Freedman’s improvisational technique. An extensive chronology of Laiwan’s past work by Brice Canyon is included.
Dream Factory, curated by Milutin Gubash and Althea Thauberger. DVD, 2002 $3.00
Dream Factory is a DVD recording of a live performance of the same name that took place in a makeshift television studio at Open Space as part of the gallery’s collaboratory: CHARACTER series. The sixteen performers in this show were chosen from among those who responded to an open call for amateur and professional acts; their talents ranged from opera singing to juggling. Performers: 34U, Jacy Holland & Emily Lyall, Dianne Pancel, Graham Kelly, Michael Eckford, Ryan Mellors, David Burke, Mica Strong, Nicki Solis, Trinda Reed and Duotwang.
collaboratory: Character, Jessie Lacayo, 2002. Monograph $1.00
The collaboratory: CHARACTER series showed off the collaborative projects of a number of artists working in various media: video, live performance, collage and concert. This pamphlet includes a brief essay by Jessie Lacayo with artist statements and colour photographs of the works.
Mapping the Body, Jessie Lacayo, 2001. 12 pages, 16 illustrations $2.00
Mapping the Body brought together works by eight artists who in some way dealt with the human body. In this publication, Jessie Lacayo interviews artists Kelly Mark, Wendy Peart, Karen Ralph, Su Rynard, Barrie Jones, Har-Prakash Khalsa, Monique Mees and Ed Pien on the thematic concerns in their work, which include technology and detachment from the body, gender, gesture and what is monstrous or inhuman in representations of the body.
To Remain at a Distance 1998, Carol Williams. Monograph
To Remain at a Distance 2000, Grant Shilling. Monograph
To Remain at a Distance 2001, Jessie Lacayo. Monograph $1.00/set
These three monographs accompanied To Remain at a Distance 1998, 2000 and 2001, episodes in a series of large group shows of contemporary art from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. (The monograph for the 1999 exhibition is no longer available.) Carol Williams discusses the artistic history of Victoria in relation to the present; Grant Shilling, an artist from Galiano Island, writes about isolation both cultural and physical; Jessie Lacayo’s shorter essay links geography and identity.
The Sleepless Night, Diane Schoemperlen, Stuart Reid, 1999. 64 pages with CD ISBN 1-896380-01-x $6.00
This bilingual English/Spanish publication accompanied Derek Besant’s project on memory and forgetting. Twenty-six men and women were portrayed in the act of remembering or forgetting; their portraits were paired with representations of (lost) objects or (partial) maps. The CD includes photos and sound from the exhibition, while the book features a critical essay by Stuart Reid and a creative contribution by Diane Schoemperlen.
Two Constellations: On the Work of Shelley Ouellet and Lee Goreas, Jennifer McMakon, 1998. Monograph $1.00
Shelley Ouellet constructed a giant model insect by suspending thousands of small plastic toy insects from the ceiling. Lee Goreas used comics and toys to investigate philosophical questions, as in the punny Beeing, which depicted honey jar mascot Billy Bee engaged in conversation with a human skull. The monograph includes an essay by Jennifer McMakon and black and white photos of the art.
Between Landscapes, Karen Solie, 1998. Monograph $1.00
Karen Solie’s essay places Wayne Arsenault’s RE:Collect Slash/Smoulder and Nancy Duff’s The Lay of Your Land in the tradition of landscape painting, which has always had as much to do with history and cultural identity as with scenery. Black and white photos of the work are included.
Mowry Baden: A Choreography of the Ordinary, Recent Works 1988–1998, Robert Hullot-Kentor, 1998. 36 pages, 28 black and white illustrations ISBN 1-895532-09-4 $4.00
This publication came about as part of a celebration of the Victoria sculptor’s work that involved cultural institutions throughout the city; exhibitions, lectures and a symposium took place. Baden is best known for his public art and interactive sculptures. This catalogue features an essay by Robert Hullot-Kentor, centering on illusion in Baden’s work, along with short contributions by curators Brenda Petays and Lauren Schaffer.
Suburban Artwork: As the World Turns, Val Valgardson, 1998. 9 pages. $1.00
This publication includes a diagram of a self-pruning hedge with illustrated instructions for its assembly. Valgardson draws from the suburban landscape to create metaphors for human behaviour and how we live in the environments we create.
[ un ] natural histories: The Art of Gwen Curry and Lyndal Osborne, Robin Laurence, 1997. 31 pages, 12 illustrations. $5.00
[ un ] natural histories is a provocative pairing, a complex dialogue between the practices of Lyndal Osborne and Gwen Curry. Each artist’s practice is poised on the nature-culture cusp and both employ strategies of repetition. However, while one artist expresses a joyful affirmation of life into which is folded a sombre recognition of death, the other strikes a funeral chord of environmental warning into which are woven notes of pure delight in the close observation of the natural world.
Sculpture and Installations, Niki Lederer, 1997. Monograph $1.00
This fold-out pamphlet contains twenty-two colour photos of Niki Lederer’s works, along with a brief artist statement. Lederer presented the installation Garden Site at Open Space in 1997. The installation consisted of a wall-sized photo-mural and a chaise longue upholstered in synthetic grass; the dramatic scale of the work threatened to engulf the viewer.
Drawing +, Robin Laurence, 1994. 12 pages, 14 illustrations. ISBN 1-895532-06-X $4.00
The nine artists whose works were chosen for exhibition expand drawing practice into a wide range of ideas, materials and processes, including sculpture/installation, assemblage, painting, xerography, performance, text and printmaking. Drawing + featured work by Derek Besant, Blair Brennan, Briar Craig, Cathy Daley, Sophie Jodoin, David Liss, Gary Pearson, Douglas Scott and Barrie Szekely and was curated by Gwen Curry, Brigitte Potter-Mäl and Pamela Speight.
We Need a New History: Autobiography, Autobiology, Steve Noyes, Jack Butler, Sheila Butler, 1994. 8 pages, 14 black and white illustrations ISBN 1-895532-05-1 $2.00
We Need a New History was a collaborative installation by Sheila Butler and Jack Butler comprised of photographs, notes, drawings, an audiotape and an essay. In the performance documented here, the artists worked with paint directly on each other’s skin, recopying medical diagrams while representations of the male and female body in Western art stood behind them. In their work, the artists proposed a construction of sexual difference where the sexes are mutually transparent. An essay by Steve Noyes is included.
Redressing the Crone, Nancy Shaw, 1993. 8 pages, 9 illustrations. ISBN 1-895532-04-3 $3.00
Redressing the Crone was Cynthia Jennifer Smith’s empathetic photographic essay of women who opt for plastic surgery in order to avoid aging. The portraits in this series were dramatic and disquieting pictures that attempted to document the paradoxical promises of plastic surgery.
The October Project, Gail Tuttle, 1992. 46 pages, 39 illustrations. ISBN 1-895532-03-5 Not for sale.
This publication is no longer for sale, but photocopies can be sent.
Twenty years before The October Project, Open Space was incorporated as a society. This publication remembers the centre’s past with a group interview featuring Bill Bartlett, Suzanne Bessette, Sue Donaldson, Michael MacLennan, Gene Miller and Jeanne Shoemaker. The October Project was a collaboration of many artists for an exhibition, performances and a concert. An essay by Gail Tuttle makes the point that no exhibition can be reflective of twenty years of activity; as founder Gene Miller said, “variety makes this place healthy.” The October Project was instead a testament to Open Space’s contribution to its arts communities through the many outstanding artists the centre has worked with. A chronology delineates the past twenty years.
Standard Sheathing, Barrie Szekely, Philip Willey, 1992. 8 pages, 8 illustrations ISBN 1-895532-02-7 $2.00
Standard Sheathing was a 1992 exhibition of Barrie Szekely’s drawings, paintings and photographs depicting plant and animal life in suburban settings. Included are colour and black and white photographs and an essay by Philip Willey.
PostPOPforNowPeople, Jim Cummins, Kempton Dexter and Elizabeth Fischer. Cassette tape, 1989 $3.00
PostPOPforNowPeople showcases pop music by three artists. Like Pop art, the music “level[s] wit at a world of maniacally cheerful consumerism”. Liner notes by curator Todd Davis are included.
Track list:
SIDE 1
untitled by Jim Cummins
song of improving one’s lot by Kempton Dexter
long weekend by Kempton Dexter
Fraser River by Kempton Dexter
stomp your feet by Kempton Dexter
lesbian life by Kempton Dexter
class of ’89 by Kempton Dexter
SIDE 2
states of grace by Elizabeth Fischer
well oh well by Elizabeth Fischer
pair of dice by Elizabeth Fischer
real estates by Elizabeth Fischer