The BreakFest Blog

News about Ottawa Festivals and our Member festivals, special events and fairs.

DOMAINE PUBLIC – NOUVELLE FORMULE La projection post‐tremblement de terre

August 31, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

Domaine public/Public Domain
Un programme d’oeuvres de commande en arts médiatiques réalisées à partir d’archives de la collection de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
PROJECTION
Mercredi le 15 septembre 2010, 19 h
Auditorium, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
395, rue Wellington
Entrée libre / Free admission

OTTAWA – Août 2010 – Le tremblement de terre du 23 juin dernier à Val‐des‐Bois s’est produit quelques heures avant la première très attendue de Domaine public, un programme d’oeuvres de commande en arts médiatiques produit par SAWVideo. En raison du tremblement de terre, l’auditorium de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, où devait avoir lieu la projection, a été temporairement fermé. Grâce à Facebook et à d’autres réseaux sociaux, l’événement a pu être reprogrammé dès le lendemain, au Mayfair Theatre, à 17 h. SAW Video est heureux d’offrir à nouveau au public l’occasion de voir ces vidéos de facture extrêmement contemporaine lors d’une projection post‐tremblement de terre qui aura lieu le mercredi 15 septembre 2010, à l’Auditorium de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, au 395 rue Wellington, à 19 h.

Lancé en juin 2010, le projet Domaine public est la première entreprise de cette envergure produite par SAW Video. Grâce à une subvention du Programme de commandes d’oeuvres d’arts médiatiques du Conseil des arts du Canada, SAW Video a approché sept artistes médiatiques accomplis et basés au Canada pour qu’ils réalisent des oeuvres vidéo à partir de documents d’archives appartenant à la collection de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada. Il en résulte Domaine public, un programme de six vidéos inédites qui fournissent au public l’occasion unique et nécessaire de se pencher sur la question très actuelle des droits d’auteur dans le domaine des arts visuels. Comme le dit la directrice de SAW Video, Penny McCann : « En principe, les oeuvres tombées dans le domaine public sont libres de droits, mais les démarches pour obtenir la permission d’utiliser ces oeuvres « publiques » peuvent être très longues et très coûteuses. Avec Domaine public, nous voulions donner aux artistes médiatiques la possibilité et les moyens d’accéder aux trésors de notre collection d’archives nationales tout en essayant de comprendre pourquoi certaines images de notre passé collectif sont archivées et d’autres pas. »

Les sept artistes canadiens choisis pour ce projet offrent un large éventail d’approches et de techniques quant à la façon d’utiliser des documents d’archives. Steve Reinke (Chicago/Toronto), déjà connu pour l’intégration de documents d’archives dans ses essais vidéo, transgresse la nature des images archivées en les situant dans un contexte différent et en leur donnant un autre sens. Sara Angelucci (Toronto) établit un lien entre l’aspect fragile et évanescent des images concrètes et le caractère volatile de la mémoire et de l’identité. Maureen Bradley (Victoria) recourt à une approche féministe et politique dans une oeuvre en forme d’essai où la force des images documentaires se conjugue avec une incursion dans une histoire de famille. Gennaro de Pasquale (Montréal) recueille des images et des sons de sources diverses qu’il assemble ensuite selon leurs composantes sémantiques et formelles pour en faire des vidéo‐collages poétiques. Suzan Vachon (Montréal) fouille les collections d’archives en quête d’images oniriques et évocatrices qu’elle intègre ensuite dans ses essais de nature lyrique. Les artistes Véronique Couillard et Ryan Stec (Ottawa) s’intéressent à l’aspect graphique des images analogues, qu’ils manipulent par voie numérique en les retouchant et en les mixant de manière à en modifier la nature et le rythme.

Liste des oeuvres présentées :
Gennaro de Pasquale, Vortex, 12:08
Sara Angelucci, The Beauty Pageant News, 8:47
Suzan Vachon, chant [dans les muscules du chant], 23:32
Maureen Bradley, Beyond the Pale, 16:00
Véronique Couillard/Ryan Stec, Library and Archives Canada Public Domain Reels Documenting Spots of Beauty and Interest in Ontario and Quebec Sometime Ago Remixed Today (VCRS): 19752010, 3:00
Steve Reinke, Not Torn (Asunder from the Very Start), 9:57

Pour en savoir davantage sur Domaine public, visiter www.sawvideo.com/publicdomain.

SAW Video presents PUBLIC DOMAIN / REDUX The post‐earthquake screening

August 31, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

Public Domain / Domaine public
A media art commissioning project drawn from
Library and Archives Canada’s collection

SCREENING
Wednesday , 15 September 2010, 7pm
Library and Archives Canada Auditorium
395 Wellington St.
Free admission

OTTAWA – August 2010 – The June 23rd Val‐des‐Bois earthquake happened just hours before the premiere of SAW Video’s greatly anticipated national media art commissioning project, Public Domain. The tremors resulted in the temporary closure of the venue for SAW Video’s screening – the auditorium of the Library and Archives Canada. With the help of Facebook and other social media, the event was quickly rescheduled and took place the next day at 5pm at the Mayfair Theatre.

SAW Video is pleased to give the public another chance to view these groundbreaking contemporary video works with an encore, post‐earthquake screening taking place Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at the Library and Archives Canada auditorium, 395 Wellington St., at 7pm. Launched in June 2009, Public Domain is the first commissioning project of this scope undertaken by SAW Video. With the support of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Commissioning program, SAW Video commissioned seven accomplished media artists working in Canada to create new video works using public domain films and videos footage found in the Library and Archives Canada. The result is Public Domain, a programme of six new videos that present a unique and valuable opportunity to contribute to the ongoing discourse around copyrighted images. According to SAW Video director Penny McCann, “Works that are in the public domain are, theoretically, free from copyright restrictions, however the process for obtaining permission for these ‘public’ works can be expensive and time‐consuming. The purpose of Public Domain was to offer media artists the opportunity and the resources to crack open the treasure chest of our national archives collection while at the same engaging in questions of which images in our collective past get archived and which do not.”

The seven Canadian artists chosen for this commissioning project present a variety of approaches and techniques to the use of archival documents. Steve Reinke (Chicago/Toronto), already known for the use of archival documents in his video essays, transgresses the nature of the archival images he employs by giving them a new context and a new meaning. Sara Angelucci (Toronto) links the fragility and physical evanescence of the image with the volatility of memory and identity. Maureen Bradley (Victoria) employs a feminist and political approach in the form of an essay which joins the force of documentary images with an investigation of family history. Gennaro de Pasquale (Montreal) collects images and sounds from multiple sources, which he then assembles in poetic video collages according to their formal and semantic properties. Suzan Vachon (Montreal) gleans archival collections looking for images with oneiric and evocative possibilities which she incorporates into her lyrical essays. The artistic duo Véronique Couillard and Ryan Stec (Ottawa) are particularly interested in the graphic qualities of analogue images, which they manipulate digitally using a process of live retouching and mixing that imparts a new rhythm and a new nature to the images.

List of works being screened:
Gennaro de Pasquale, Vortex, 12:08
Sara Angelucci, The Beauty Pageant News, 8:47
Suzan Vachon, chant [dans les muscules du chant], 23 :32
Maureen Bradley, Beyond the Pale, 16:00
Véronique Couillard/Ryan Stec, Library and Archives Canada Public Domain Reels Documenting Spots of Beauty and Interest in Ontario and Quebec Sometime Ago Remixed Today (VCRS): 19752010, 3:00
Steve Reinke, Not Torn (Asunder from the Very Start), 9:57
For more on Public Domain, visit www.sawvideo.com/publicdomain.

Catch red- and-white fever for Canada Day

June 28, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Community, Festivals, Ottawa · Comment

The Ottawa Citizen

Gear up for our nation’s July 1 birthday bash a couple days early with trivia games, tunes by Canadian artists and hot-off-the-grill barbecue treats on Tuesday when the Old Navy Show Your Canada Love Bus pulls into Ottawa.

The affordable clothing chain is taking its summer fashions on the road to spread patriotic fever and help raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.

The bus will be at Marion Dewar Plaza at Ottawa City Hall (110 Laurier Ave. West) from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m..

Copyright changes a mixed bag for visual artists

June 8, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Community, Festivals, Industry · Comment

Ottawa, Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 – Visual artists are happy to see progress being made in the copyright bill tabled last week in parliament but have some concerns that the proposal to expand fair dealing to educational use in Bill C32 could be costly for visual artists. Bill C32 has also missed the opportunity to create a Resale Right as has been done in 56 other countries.

A handful of recommendations made by CARFAC, the national association of visual artists and their Quebec partner, RAAV, have been put forward in the bill including extending rights to photographers and portrait artists and the ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty.

CARFAC and RAAV are also happy to see that an exception has been added for parody and satire. The use of copyrighted work has long been an important part of the creative process for some artists and in certain cases the market has failed to meet their legitimate access needs.

Modifications à la Loi sur le droit d’auteur : du bon et du moins bon pour les artistes en arts visuels

June 8, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Community, Festivals, Industry · Comment

Ottawa, mardi, le 8 juin 2010 – Les artistes en arts visuels sont heureux des progrès constatés dans le projet de loi C-32 modifiant la Loi sur le droit d’auteur déposé hier devant le Parlement; ils craignent toutefois que la proposition d’élargir le traitement équitable à l’utilisation des œuvres à des fins éducatives ne leur coûte cher. Le législateur a également raté l’occasion de créer, dans le cadre de ce projet de loi, un droit de suite, comme l’ont déjà fait 56 autres pays.

Quelques recommandations de l’Association nationale des artistes en arts visuels (CARFAC) et de son partenaire québécois, le Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV), ont été intégrées dans le projet de loi, notamment en ce qui a trait aux droits des photographes et des portraitistes, et à la ratification du Traité de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle.

CARFAC et le RAAV sont également heureux de constater que la parodie et la satire ont été incluses parmi les exceptions. L’utilisation d’œuvres protégées par le droit d’auteur s’inscrit depuis longtemps dans le processus créatif de certains artistes; or, dans certaines situations, le marché n’a pas réussi à combler leurs besoins légitimes en matière d’accès.

Ottawa chosen to host next Unison Choral Festival

June 1, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

Ottawa to host national choral festival in 2014

Unison Festival to bring 500+ choristers from across the country to nation’s capital

Hundreds of singers from across Canada will converge on Ottawa on the 2014 for the Unison Festival, one of Canada’s largest choral festivals.

The decision to name Ottawa as host city was made during the 2010 Unison Festival in Winnipeg by voting representatives of participating choirs. The Unison Festival is a quadrennial festival for GLBTT choirs in Canada. The 2010 edition saw 500 singers from 15 choirs converge on Winnipeg for three days of singing, sharing and celebrating.

SAW Video presents world premiere of PUBLIC DOMAIN a national media art commissioning project

May 26, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

SAW Video presents world premiere of PUBLIC DOMAIN a national media art commissioning project

OTTAWA – April 2010 – The premiere screening of SAW Video’s national media art commissioning project, Public Domain, will take place Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at the Library and Archives Canada auditorium, 395 Wellington St., at 7pm. This ambitious commissioning project has brought seven artists from across Canada to Ottawa to create contemporary video works drawn from the traces of the past.

Launched in June 2009, Public Domain is the first commissioning project of this scope undertaken by SAW Video and the first of its kind in Canada.

With the support of a grant from the Canada Council Media Arts Commissioning program, SAW Video commissioned seven accomplished media artists working in Canada to create new video works using public domain films and videos footage in the Film/Video/Sound Collection of the Library and Archives Canada. The result is Public Domain, a programme of six new videos which, after its premiere in Ottawa on June 23rd, will tour across North America and Europe in 2011.

Public Domain: The launch of SAW Video’s national commissioning project

May 26, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

SAW Video is premiering their national commissioning project, Public Domain / Domaine public, Wednesday, June 23 at 7pm at Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.). Admission is free.

Public Domain is a programme of six new shorts by seven media artists working in Canada commissioned by SAW Video in June 2009 to delve deep into the LAC collection to find film and images that have been released of copyright, and therefore in the public domain. The artists have taken found footage that would have likely never been seen by Canadians and brought these fragments of our history back to life.

The ARTISTS :

Sara Angelucci (Toronto)

Maureen Bradley (Victoria)

Gennaro de Pasquale (Montreal)

Steve Reinke (Chicago/Toronto)

Ryan Stec/Véronique Couillard (Ottawa)

Suzan Vachon (Montreal)

It is the first commissioning project of this scope undertaken by SAW Video and the first of its kind in Canada. In 2011, the videos will be touring across North America and Europe, showcasing Canada’s talent and history while contributing to the current discourse around copyright and art that is taking place in this digital age.

I’ve attached the press release for more information. Please contact me for more information or to arrange interviews. I am in the office Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. If I am away, please ask for Penny McCann or Mireille Bourgeois.

6 local artists create 50 paintings in 7 days during Tulip Festival to sell for charity THIS SATURDAY

May 19, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

The Downtown Rideau Business Improvement Area (DRBIA) is pleased to announce that 6 local artists participating in the 1st annual PLEIN AIR Art Exhibit & Sale have created 50 original works of art while painting outdoors at various locations in Downtown Rideau during weekends of the Tulip Festival. They will be out again this Friday between 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which is their last day of painting before the Exhibit & Sale on Saturday.

The PLEIN AIR connects artists with new audiences by providing them access and approval to high pedestrian areas and landmark views to create works from sidewalk, boulevard and parkland spaces and promote them under Downtown Rideau’s “marketing umbrella”. In addition to connecting and promoting artists, the PLEIN AIR offers artists an opportunity to create, compete, exhibit and sell, while also raising funds for charity.

The artists are donating 15% from the sale of each of their works to the Ottawa Arts Court Foundation. The Foundation is a charity organization based out of Arts Court that manages, programs, and provides arts services to Ottawa’s local emerging and professional artists.

The public and Tulip Festival visitors can VIEW AND PURCHASE THE ARTWORK at a Meet the Artists Reception during the Exhibit & Sale this Saturday, May 22 from 12:00—5:00 p.m. at The Underpass, at the corner of Rideau Street and Colonel By Drive. Works range in sizes varying from 3”x5” to 20”x26” and prices from $30 to $650. They can be viewed on the BIA’s website and from a link off the homepage www.downtownrideau.com. The Brian Downey Jazz Quartet will be performing and refreshments will be available. Over $2,000 in prize money will be awarded during a COMPETITION before the works go on sale at noon. 1st Place ($1,000) and 2nd Place ($750) will be selected by jury, with 3rd Place ($300—the People’s Choice Award) chosen by public vote between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Public vote ballots will be drawn at noon for a chance to WIN a Downtown Rideau gift basket valued at over $400.

Participating artists include: Barbara Nathan Marcus, Brian Seed, Shirley Moulton, Johanne Jutras-Pendleton, John Alexander Day and Brenda Beattie. “This has been a wonderful experience”, says artist Barbara Nathan Marcus, who had people wanting to buy her works-in-progress. “People stopping to watch me paint wanted to buy, but I told them to come back on Saturday, May 22 when they would be for sale”. When Peggy DuCharme, the BIA’s Executive Director heard about the interest to buy works, she encouraged the artists to pursue commissioned works when people inquired about buying — “offer to make them another one”, DuCharme suggested. “We don’t want the artists to loose a sale. On the other hand, we want to ensure we have artwork to sell on the 22nd”.

Video: Ottawa Festivals launch

May 6, 2010 · Filed Under Blog, Festivals · Comment

(Video will play after brief ad from the site)

The Ottawa Citizen recorded video of Marc Charron performing his “Festival Song” during the Ottawa Festivals Launch of the Festival Season at Capital Music Hall.

Driect link to video page: Ottawa Festivals launch