SAW Video presents Don’t Believe the Hype! during Pride week 2019 in Ottawa

SAW Video and Knot Project Space are proud to present artist and activist Ryan Conrad’s Don’t Believe the Hype! during Pride week in Ottawa, as part of Knot Projections 2019: Imagining Publics – an extended public projection series taking place at multiple sites throughout Ottawa from July to October 2019. Conrad’s commissioned work will be projected nightly, from August 16th to 25th, on to the façade of 21 James St. in Ottawa’s gay village. Don’t Believe the Hype! is a silent looping video projection intended for screening on public surfaces in gay neighbourhoods across Canada. It beckons viewers with sensuous displays of queer public affection paired with scrolling text that both provokes and informs. This site-specific work claims public space for queer intimacy and political imagining at a time when Canadians are being encouraged by both the federal government and LGBTQ civil society organizations to celebrate the so-called 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality. In tandem with the projections, SAW Video’s Knot Project Space will be hosting a screening and panel discussion on the mythologies and realities of the 1969 Criminal Code reform and its impact on the lives of queers, sex workers, and those seeking abortions. Artist and activist Ryan Conrad will screen and talk about his commissioned video projection Don't Believe The Hype!, followed by a discussion with Tom Hooper (Historian; Faculty Member @ York University), Ummni Khan (Associate Professor, Law and Legal Studies @ Carleton University) and Darrah Teitel (Playwright; Campaign Officer, Action Canada). The screening and discussion will be held on Tuesday, August 20th at 6:30pm at Knot Project Space at Arts Court (2 Daly Avenue) in Ottawa. About Knot Projections 2019: Imagining Publics A series of public video projections that will occur at multiple sites in Ottawa this summer and fall represents the culmination of SAW Video Media Art Centre’s yearlong commissioning program Knot Projections. Funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the program was designed to build capacity for local media artists in Ottawa to realize moving image works that are intended for large-scale projection in public spaces. In total, five outdoor projections by local commissioned artists Hélène Lefebvre, Ryan Conrad, Pansee Atta, Maayke Schurer and Sasha Phipps are taking place July-October 2019. For more information about the series visit: knotsawvideo.com.