Production Studio Exhibition Series

Production Studio Exhibitions is a four part series showcasing the work of nine artists from the University of Victoria's MFA program. The exhibitions take place within large industrial space in Vancouver's east end.

This series has been made possible through the assistance of Lucy Pullen, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria, Visual Art Department, and through the generous support of the University of Victoria's Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Student Society. Also a special thanks to Brad Gough at Production Studios, for his support and beautiful space.

PART 1
Kelly Jazvac and Patrick Howlett

April 8 - 10, 2005

Watercolor Revolution

So, you want to think freely!1 So do I. Let's begin with a discussion of the revolutionary potential of negative aesthetics, say, and the role of matter therein. Now, both the picture plane and the ruling class propose an absolute. In each arena, representations of absolute authority inform our every thought, word and deed. We are surrounded and have but one option.

Matter is material. Material decisions no longer serve the absolute values of either picture plane or ruling class. Egg tempera is used against itself: translucent pigment rendered opaque obfuscates the picture plane. The thwarted DeLorean (itself an example of matter countering a set of absolute values: a stainless steel automobile) is re-imagined twice, in paper: bound and unbound.

Error plays a role in the production of meaning. When materials fail and methods fall short (of what? Absolutes… of course!), only then do you need to think. Being wrong requires thinking. And you have always been wrong. You have always rejected absolute authority; thinking independently as you do.

The free-thinking garbage man achieves his revolution by negation. In so doing, he takes possession of the value set within which he works and lives. Awaking from his torpor, he thinks through error. Beyond the examples presented here I cannot tell you what to do. Everyone gets to make their own mistakes.

Lucy Pullen

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1 Tu t'es toujour trompé, René Dumal, 1928 translated by Thomas Vosteen, You've Always Been Wrong, 1995, University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London, p.67

Lucy Pullen is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, where she researches the practical and philosophical implications of conceptual art and sculpture.

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PART 1: View from the balcony

PART 1: Opening

Installation of the lighting system