Accretion by Holly Schmidt
Through a residency that traverses sites and situations, Holly Schmidt examines the contemporary condition of precarity through a particular granite used in the construction of civic buildings at the turn of the last century and in recent developments along False Creek. Schmidt will document through video, photo and writing the extraction of a stone from the Hardy Island Quarry, it’s transportation by barge to the Mainland, and its transformation into building material. Accretion acts as a reflection on the confluence of geological and historical time as humans act as geomorphic agents modifying land forms, alongside natural forces such as wind, water, and the shifting of tectonic plates.
Holly Schmidt is a Vancouver artist with a research-based practice that engages processes of collaboration and informal pedagogy. Moving across disciplinary boundaries, she explores the relationships between practices of making, knowledge creation and the formation of temporary communities. Her exhibition, public art and residency projects include Pollen Index (2016) Charles H. Scott Gallery, Till (2014/15) with the Santa Fe Art Institute Food Justice Residency, Mess Hall (2013) Banff Centre Residency, Moveable Feast (2012) Burnaby Art Gallery, Grow (2011) Other Sights for Artists’ Projects. Upcoming projects are Midnight Picnic (2018) Boca Del Lupo, and Locals Only (2018) AKA Gallery.
Ten Different Things engages ten critically-engaged artists to investigate the role of culture as a critical ingredient in the construct and vitality of the contemporary city. What propositions, provocations, concepts or visions do artists have for creating a public sphere that promotes cultural life? How can we create structures, processes or dynamics to produce new ways of living, working, interacting, or occupying the city? Where are the intersections in public life where artists can produce alternate outcomes?
Ten Different Things is a collaboration between CityStudio Vancouver and Living Labs at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, curated by Kate Armstrong and supported by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program. Janet Moore and Duane Elverum are co-founders of CityStudio Vancouver.
