Provocative Injury: Rebecca Belmore at the Vancouver Art Gallery

By Megan Finnerty

Art expresses concepts and ideas that can challenge us, that can move us to look at things from a whole new perspective, and trigger emotions. I must admit that I hold a special place for art that takes risks, and more importantly, provokes. Before entering the Vancouver Art Gallery this September, the works of Rebecca Belmore were unknown to me. I noticed immediately conflict reflected in her work.

Zhang Huan’s Journey

By Stephen Cross

Born in 1965 in He Nan China, Zhang Huan’s journey from rags to riches commenced with his New York debut in 1998. He lived a rough life with next to nothing and strived just to put food on the table for his family. He received his MA at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and his BA at He Nan in Kai Feng. His methods of expressing his views to the community was truly unique and changed drastically as he was introduced to a new way of life.

The Week Ahead

As the Spring term careens towards the Reading Break and the halfway mark, we’ve got a few different projects and excursions on deck:

• Friday, February 15th: Kutlag Ataman exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Biography: Kutlug Ataman was born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1961. He studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating with a BA in 1985 and an MFA in 1988. In 2004 Ataman was shortlisted for the Turner Prize at the Tate Britain in London, and he participated in the Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where he was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Prize for his video installation Küba. The VAG show: Küba will be paired with Paradise – his newly commissioned video installation exploring twenty-four Californians encounters with “paradise”.
• Friday, February 15th: The Glossary Project – Phase 1, the CultureNet students will be posting their first set of entries to this term’s Culture + Technology Glossary. Using the database tool on MOODLE, we are collecting an expanding set of definitions for terms, concepts, acronyms, organizations, etc. linked to the study of techno-society. So if you – like most of us (until recently) – think that a “gnu” is just a wildebeest, then this project will be of interest. In the spirit of collaboration, sharing and soliciting feedback, the entries will be posted here throughout the Spring term.
• Prizes, prizes, prizes: we are also in the process of dreaming up a CultureNet contest to celebrate our first year in action. We are simply undecided as to what form it should take: photos, blogs, video, playlists, essays? And likewise whatever to award to the winner: cash, book tokens, tuition waivers? Got an opinion? Share away.

And with that, on with the week ahead with a pit stop tomorrow afternoon at this week’s OpenText reading featuring Claire Huot and Robert Majzels at 3:30pm in Library 321, Capilano College (North Vancouver BC). Huot and Majzels will present a collaborative, multi-media talk that addresses the reception of classical Chinese poetry in English.