In celebration of the finest and spookiest time of year, I submit a few animations from my old Instagram grid.
Sad/Rotten Pumpkin, GIF Animation 2023
Hand Flame, GIF Animation, 2019
Pink pumpkin/Jack-O-Lantern, GIF Animation, 2020
Yellow Conjuring Hand, GIF Animation 2020
Pink Skull, GIF Animation, 2020
Curator Jimmy Cahill has reminded us this week that it’s been 10 whole years since we put on a Simpsons-inspired show in Toronto.
It took place in a wee, run down, and lovely space (Videofag) in Kensington Market. We were happy to be there, even in its imperfect state. Spaces like that used to be in abundance in Toronto, and were fantastic venues in which to host shows in a meaningful but accessible way.
For my part, I created a number of food-based screensaver-style GIFs set to loop for the duration of the exhibition. These included conveyor belt-style animations beer, donuts, puffer fish, the “sacrilicious” waffle, and more.
My own documentation was questionable. My memory? Spotty. Though I do remember the pink frosted vegan donuts being incredible.
Please comment or message me where I have missed the artist credits, as each piece was a great contribution to a memorable show.
Interior view of “Homer’s Odyssey” in Kensington Market, 2014
Opening at night in Kensington - exterior view on my terrible camera, 2014
Discarded hotdog and “You Better Run, Egg!”, looping GIFs, 2014
A chance to show off my new Bart shirt <3 (far right), 2014
Animate Simpsons GIFs by me (1st and 2nd screens), Gay for Moleman by Adrienne Crossman (lower right), 2014
Donuts and beer - a perfect combo - looping GIFs for Homer’s Odyssey, 2014
In conclusion, we were right to do it. No question.
A quick post to say that Adobe’s new Project Neo (now in Beta) is a great tool for anyone wanting to get into 3D/stylized 3D modelling in a way that’s fun, accessible and creative.
I of course had to try illustrating a little ghost to see how the modelling tools could make a quick idea come to life.
Here’s an experiment I’ve titled “Garden Party” using their blend tools and mp4 lighting export.
I’m not certain what is more heartbreaking. The obvious neglect of a public thing or losing that public thing. Probably both.
Two contentious properties in the City of Toronto have been part of ongoing dispute about their futures. This is a blog post about architecture? Sort of. But it’s also a blog post about political dipshittery and dire necessity of the rapidly diminishing Third Place.
Image from the Ontario Archives, Science Centre, 1969
Old Science Centre button courtesy of Retro Ontario
Allow me to explain…
We need to back up to 2022 (mostly, 2023) when the first murmurs about the construction of a spa started to emerge on Toronto’s waterfront. Normally that wouldn’t really matter, except that the proposed site was on the grounds of the beloved Ontario Place.
Ontario place opening day, Image courtesy of the Toronto Guardian
If you’re not familiar, Ontario Place is an old theme park built in the early 70s that’s been converted into public and event space. The main attractions were built on what’s referred to as the West Island.
Even after its official closure, always a welcome respite from the city heat on summer days. In the winter, there were often outdoor exhibitions to tour. It’s beautiful, quiet and serene. It’s also a migratory bird route with roughly 800+ mature trees on that section alone.
Ontario Place, like many properties, is under the purview of the province of Ontario. Essentially, that means the City of Toronto never truly had any say in its operations, including any budgetary responsibility.
Shuttered by a past Ontario government in 2012, citing that it was too expensive to run, that part of the park remained silent for some time, with occasional events happening on the grounds via private rentals.
As a design practice in the public space, architecture is definitely political, and the grounds on which it sits? Even more so.
You may ask: Was Ontario Place any good?
Ontario Place log ride courtesy of the Toronto Guardian
Good Lord yes. Anyone over the age of 35 who grew up in the province here has deeply fond memories of the space. It was always met with a “yes” when parents wondered if braving traffic down the Gardiner was worth the time and effort. My mom happily snapped pictures of me on various rides and features I thought were futuristic and breathtaking, including the Nintendo Power Pod (pictures are hard to find of that one) housed in one of the connected structures hovering over Toronto Harbour.
When we heard that the cinema was reopening after Art Spin’s multi-day art installation reignited interest in the space in 2016, many Torontonians were thrilled. Still living downtown, we frequently made the trip to see movies in the Cinesphere, where IMAX films. The Cinesphere is now closed for renovations as the West Island is being redeveloped.
But this was supposed to be a post about the Science Centre.
And it certainly is. And here’s where it gets strange…
The current provincial government is no stranger to controversy, and Premier Ford is not shy about his open resentment towards the people of Toronto. Having lost the mayoral race twice, I suppose we should have seen that coming.
This is supposed to be an art and design blog, though I’ll argue that quite often, art and design are political.
As a design practice in the public space, architecture is definitely political, and the grounds on which it sits? Even more so.
How does the current government come into the Ontario Place chatter? Well, even as city Councillor and mayoral candidate, Doug Ford had his sights on waterfront property. The grounds upon which Ontario Place are some of the best pieces of real estate in the city, and the only ones under provincial control.
On principle, many have correctly argued that it should remain open to the public to enjoy. Quite suddenly and without explanation, the news was released that Therme, a spa company from Poland, was granted a 95 year lease on the provincially owned space.
Diamond Schmitt architects would be designing a park and massive glass structures to accommodate this new private spa. This would facilitate removing many existing mature trees, and the construction of a 650 million+ parking garage paid for by the Ontario taxpayer.
The multi million dollar parking garage is of course infuriating, but it’s also where this takes a stranger turn.
These announcements were followed by a bizarre press conference held about the plans for Ontario Place.
The talking points were odd that day my friends, but the most quizzical came from one speaker who basically said the quiet part loud: That Ontario Place wasn’t going to be ruined and the parking garage was needed because the Science Centre was going to be reduced in size and moved there, too.
So you see, they said, it’s okay that we’re paying for it, because it’s for the new Science Centre as well.
Folks watching, including myself, took a moment to think. And if you know about the current buzz of construction in East York, you’ll know that there sits one major stop of the hotly anticipated Eglinton crosstown transit system.
An old postcard of the Science Centre, late 1960’s
The Science Centre Station on this line has neared completion, meaning that the extremely beloved and once prized cultural and educational hub is now sitting on transit accessible prime real estate.
The Ontario Place and the Science Centre seem inextricably linked in our hearts and minds. To love one is to love the other, to remember one is to remember the other.
Not to mention, Metrolinx is also building the downtown line to meet it from the south, ripping up parts of beloved ET Seton Park’s disc golf course in the process.
The new Science Centre station, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Many deduced, and I think correctly, that the original Science Centre grounds would soon be condo fodder.
Then came the news this past weekend, to the shock, but perhaps not the surprise of many: The Science Centre had massive structural inadequacies and had to be immediately and permanently closed as of Friday, June 21st, 2024.
The fences were being put up that afternoon, even as staff were still inside.
Many residents and organizations were deeply skeptical about this decision. Some postulated that the building was purposefully neglected so as to force its closure, or even that a structural engineer had been paid off to state its lack of safety.
The former is more likely, but the fact that the latter was an immediate and popular theory shows how underhanded this entire process felt.
The more accurate take is that the engineer’s report did cite structural concerns, but that closing the facility wasn’t actually necessary. Meaning that the province use the report as an excuse, not an explanation.
And so - Ontario and Toronto suddenly and sadly have to say goodbye to another old friend when we were just figuring out how to say goodbye the first.
The Ontario Place and the Science Centre seem inextricably linked in our hearts and minds. To love one is to love the other, to remember one is to remember the other.
I often think that what we look like, as in, the physical appearance of cities and towns, reflects what we have decided to value. Or perhaps more accurately, what we think we should value.
(At the Science Centre) I would often walk past on good weather days and see parents and their children taking their bows and quivers into the trees on the Science Centre grounds. Those sorts of unique experiences help relationships grow, and help the city have uniqueness and intrigue.
Many condos sit empty downtown, their towers blocking out both rain, sun and common sense, but nothing stings more I think than the lack of cultural entities within the city’s limits. In my mind, condos are only desirable if there are interesting places are proximal.
What does this have to do with the Third Place?
The Third Place, that spot that isn’t work or home, where the average person can converse and exist without the necessity of purchase, is essential to everyone’s daily lives. The Third Place, needs to exist because we’re more than our families and jobs, existing only to work, sleep and buy stuff online. The third place exists in the library, the public park, the garden, the grounds, the waterfront.
The Third Place is often a space where we meet strangers, socialize, and just remember how to be human.
The loss of the Third Place, at least across major English speaking nations, is assumed to be incidental, but in some cases many believe it to be purposeful. A reduction in public space so that people do not gather, converse, or think about their existence past work, school, sleep, and consumption. Venues that closed over the pandemic exacerbated this trend.
The Third Place is often a space where we meet strangers, socialize, and just remember how to be human.
While the Science Centre and Ontario Place, of course, had admission prices, both properties were always public access, their grounds managed for the explicit intention of free enjoyment. There is (was?) also one of the only open air archery clubs in Canada joining grounds of the Science Centre. Considering the closure of not only the buildings, but the grounds themselves, I’m certain the future of their operations is also in question.
I would often walk past on good weather days and see parents and their children taking their bows and quivers into the trees on the Science Centre grounds. Those sorts of unique experiences help relationships grow, and help the city have uniqueness and intrigue.
The Third Place is about possibility, and not for the sole purpose of making money. This too seems like a quaint idea these days, and yes, I know a public park would cost money.
I suppose the broader question we should be asking is: What is the cost of not investing in ourselves?
Removing work from the social mediascape has inspired me to revisit some pieces. Some recently done, some further into the past.
This blog sub-series will be called “Was I Right? Was I Wrong?” or perhaps a better title is New Thoughts, Past Work.
Marge, Lisa, and words to live by.
Today, I’m inspired in part by today’s announcement of the Dragon Quest 3 remake, which has cause me to think once more about my deep fondness of the lowest form of creature from the famed series: The Slime.
DQ1, Slime battle, Nintendo/SNES
Akin to Kirby in that it looks like an afterthought with eyeballs, this creature has been a constant in the Dragon Quest series (formerly, Dragon Warrior on some original releases).
The blue slime is the lowest form of creature, yielding the least gold/most easily battle.
The design is so simple it’s hard to imagine it was anything but an afterthought, though according to the DQ creator Yuji Horii, the inspiration for the Slimes came from an earlier RPG titled Wizardry (c. 1979).
It's counterpart, the metal slime, is its polar opposite. Elusive, evasive, and the most-satisfying-but-difficult kill, these will likely run away before you get your turn to attack.
DQ Metal Slime
I’m not sure why I like it so much, sufficed to say that perhaps it’s a childhood layover in my brain that refuses to depart. Maybe because its ridiculous look is oddly eternal. Many have suggested it looks like a blue poo emoji instead of a drop of water.
The design is so simple it’s hard to imagine it was anything but an afterthought, though according to the DQ creator Yuji Horii, the inspiration for the Slimes came from an earlier RPG titled Wizardry (c. 1979).
According to Wikipedia, Horii said that when it was originally conceived, the Slime was "a pile of goo", but Akira Toriyama's design came back as a tear-drop shape which they considered to be "perfect".
I must say that for my own inspiration - I have to agree. Designing a limited series of merch was mostly for my own personal enjoyment, but also to share my love of this ridiculous creature online.
In conclusion: I was right to do it. 10/10 no regrets.
I disabled this blog almost exactly 5 years ago.
I’m not precisely sure why, though I’m certain that from the date and time of my last post, a busy schedule dove-tailed into the pandemic and then the pandemic had its own challenges. Writing and sharing just seemed like another chore.
Having not written formally in a long time this will probably be riddled with errors and grammatical abominations. However, I’ll make the argument though that these days, I think that’s okay.
In a fashion, at least it shows I’m human. Allow me to explain…
Meta (via Facebook, Instagram) has decided that as of June 26th (and let’s be honest, they’re probably already doing it) they will start harvesting user imagery, specifically with AI training in mind. What will the AI do? Hard to say. But we’ve got image data. They want image data. They would very much like to get their hands on/use our image data. At least, before they’re told not to.
Europeans and residents of the UK have an opt out form in their Privacy Settings (legislation can work reasonably well if enacted). North Americans, it seems, do not.
I may get some things incorrect about the exact nature of what occurs within the process of training and image recognition. However, what I’ve been reading inspired me to delete all posts from my grid and get rid of affiliate accounts. This oddly excluded ads which Meta seems reticent to let go... But I digress. Many digital creatives are currently following suit, though many have already ditched the platform, generally fed up with Meta’s operations failing to serve their interests.
I know I’m not the first to say this, but it’s clear enough that AI is here to stay in most creative processes. Having acknowledged that reality, do we really need to make it so easy to learn how to do what makes us uniquely human?
This comes on the coat-tails of Adobe announcing that, under its new terms, it has been accessing existing work to train its own Ai via individual user accounts. That situation is still evolving story, and I’ll definitely be writing about the blowback and subsequent Adobe apologies/rewrites in future posts.
Screen shots of my last posts - 1304 was a lot to delete. Images from the Big Black Clouds music video, Slime Merch and Wind & Waterfalls.
But what does this Meta image harvesting mean for digital artists and designers? Well it means that if you keep your posts on any of their sites, they reserve the right to use that work to train their algorithms to, well, make more work that looks like yours.
I’m a “slashy” meaning I make a lot of different kinds of work. Some art. Some design. Some motion design. I think for now - motion is the most difficult to scrape but you know, give it time.
For many, this means a few things…
1) If you’ve posted client work, that could now be tricky grounds. You should check with your past clients if possible to ensure that they’re still okay with your posts. This is especially true if i) they did not know you typically post work or ii) they do not have a public presence/are only B2B/etc.
2) If you’ve posted your own work, I suggest a few things (my first post likely brought you here) to help make it at least harder for Meta bots to do what they’re going to do.
I am literally asking myself: “How Do I Work This?”
This could include:
a) Severely cropping your digital work, giving a teaser and encouraging your community to head to your website for full imagery. Yes, I appreciate that work can be scraped from websites, though keeping work away from Meta platforms is a good first step.
b) Use heavily textured overlays. Covering your work with fonts will also make full/complete images more difficult to harvest.
c) Place a watermark over your entire work - Admittedly, this is less appealing, but could be a good call if you want to ensure that the whole image is seen.
d) Check out alternative apps. Many have fewer features, lower traffic, or are still in their infancy. Interesting alteratives like Cara may be an option in the future.
My love for grid remains - From the Tea With Me poster concept (with Ghibli Inspiration).
I’ve had the song “Once in a Lifetime” playing on repeating in my head for the past few days. There are multiple interpretations of the song though at its core, it’s essentially a song about uncertainty.
This isn’t a post against AI - it’s a post against unfair use. It’s also a post about companies with large wallets and larger legal teams Red Rovering creatives out of the conversation about what can and cannot happen with our own pieces.
And now I am literally asking myself: “How Do I Work This?”
In the age of AI, neat little ideas like creative consent or even the joys that come with being creative seem quaint. It’s true that if you’re a creative person, perhaps you’ve simply come to expect that your work will be harvested.
This isn’t a blog post about against AI - it’s a blog post against unfair use. It’s also a post about companies with large wallets and larger legal teams Red Rovering creatives out of the conversation about what can and cannot happen with our own pieces.
I’ve often heard… an expression repeated over the last few weeks, “I want my AI to do my laundry and chores so I’ll have more time for my art… Not AI to do my art so I’ll have more time for laundry and chores.” Honestly, I couldn’t agree more.
It’s okay to not be okay with what these companies are doing. It’s okay to make it at least a bit more difficult to discern what an algorithm can learn or not learn about our hard earned methods.
I’ve often heard different iterations of an expression repeated over the last few weeks, “I want my AI to do my laundry and chores so I’ll have more time for my art… Not AI to do my art so I’ll have more time for laundry and chores.” Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. Coming for creatives is easy, and the small victories folks have accomplished so far have been hard fought.
I know I’m not the first to say this, but it’s clear enough that AI is here to stay in most creative processes. Having acknowledged that reality, do we really need to make it so easy to learn how to do what makes us uniquely human?
Until there is meaningful and consistent legislation about fair use of imagery, authorship claims are tricky, especially when we’re posting on a social media site and are technically consenting to their terms and conditions.
And so, my own “caro_tripp” account that I’ve had for a little over a decade will start from scratch. I hope you’ll be inspired to do something similar to help keep your work just that - yours.
This past weekend, our work with the Canadian Men’s Chorus wrapped with a performance at Trinity United in Gravenhurst to close their performance season. This was an art child so special, I have come out of my blog slumber to try and process what happened over the last couple of months.
I came to understand over the course of working on this project that the song curation was a strange and beautiful creature. It drifted into the room, gently tapped on our shoulders, and politely asked if it could break our hearts. The set was equal portions sweet, haunting, uplifting and joyful. Artistic Director Greg Rainville gave us what we didn’t know we needed: To propel ourselves into Shadowland.
“Shining five and six in a row on a wooden fence, Why do you keep wishes on your face all day long…” —North Wind (Nicholas Kelly, original poem by Carl Sandburg)
I hope I’ll be forgiven for calling this kind of performance the best kind of antidote to what ails us. What is music but one of the most effective tinctures to an exhausted soul? It’s still a sequence of sounds, but with none of the delight that has the capacity to shift us to another plane of existence.
To rewind: I had no idea about the beautiful one-two punch I was about to be delivered when I sat down with my artistic co-conspirator (also former professor) Jay Wilson in January. After some catching up/pleasantries, he pulled out a piece of paper and said “If you’re interested…” The piece of paper had scribbles of song names and stage designs. He had it in his head that we were to do something about it, insisting that each song was more beautiful than the last.
Now… It’s not that I didn’t believe him (he taught me to pay attention to beauty years ago) but the belief that a choral performance is so engaging that it’s practically begging for artistic intervention made me wonder: How moving could these pieces possibly be?
In February, the three of us (Greg, Jay and I) met to see what could be done and how. There were changes, but we basically hashed out the visuals within two, maybe three hours. I’m not sure if that happens with most meetings, but in my own experience - that’s rare. And in terms of moving, I guess I had my answer. Somehow we maintained a bizarre mix of trust and what can I only assume was enchantment over the course of the three months that followed.
Along the way we brought Mira Szuberwood, Thang Vu, Sonia Pajakowski, and Audrey Yip to produce visuals and add performative elements to the stage production. We had a mixture of digital and analog elements, everything was timed, re-considered and timed again…
…Fast forward to May when our team was intact, all of the videos were edited, rendered, recodec’d, and we were putting up screens to have our first rehearsal at the Church of the Redeemer. I won’t go into too much detail about how terrified I felt, but sufficed to say at that point, it wasn’t just another gig for me. The work felt too personal to fail.
Our recording from our first show is forthcoming, but releasing that work will be bittersweet for the team. While we haven’t seen the last of each other, I think each of us understands that the deep magic we all felt can’t be conjured up exactly the same way again.
I’ve hopefully expressed my gratitude enough for the team to get the picture, but just in case: Greg, Jay, Thang, Mira, Sonia, Audrey, Gary on the piano, our vocalists Gareth, Rick, Carl, Johnny, Tyler, Diego, Dan, Stephen, Kamryn who recorded our work, the whole CMC Team who did all of the things, and our surprisingly effective Ian. Who are you all even? I’m certain we’ll be indebted to one another for some time.
Also special thanks to the Toronto Arts Council and my alma mater Sheridan for sponsoring our work.
“Is there something finished? And some new beginning on the way?”
Happy New Year! This month, I was asked to re-interpret the CBC logo for their arts website. You can read a bit more about the process/myself/what keeps me occupied here:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artists-are-giving-our-logo-a-makeover-each-month-and-january-s-is-cool-as-ice-1.4477438
CBC Arts, Logo re-interpretation, 2018
Video Still, Secret Ghosts Pt 1, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ghost House A Special Pop-Up Exhibition & Screening
Featuring new work by Carolyn Tripp
159 Manning Ave, August 20th & 21st, 2017
Exhibition Times
2pm – 10pm August 20th & 4pm – 7pm August 21st
Screening
“Secret Ghosts Pt 1.” 9pm (after dark) August 20th in the backyard
Tim McCready’s 159 space will host a very special pop-up exhibition and screening. The exhibition Ghost House will be a mixture of sights and sounds. A spooky slow jam for summer.
Launching a new series of work only seen on social media, Secret Ghosts is a multi-part project in which specters and characters wonder about their own "post-body" existence within a contemporary, consumerist framework. The backyard screening will feature a 7-minute animation Secret Ghosts Pt. 1 that will be screened for the first time in Toronto on Sunday, August 20th at 9pm.
Tim McCready has graciously granted the use of 159 rooms for a special pop-up exhibition that will compliment the screening. Ghost House will occupy the first two rooms of the legendary space and will be open for visitors to explore new media, drawings, and site-specific work.
Visitors are invited to move slowly in the warmth of the house and join us outside after dark for more hauntings. Bring your own blanket. Refreshments will be available to beat the heat. The exhibition and screening are open to all and 100% free!
This exhibition is hosted by Tim McCready and 159 Manning with additional support by Curatorial Supervisor Rachel Fender, Technical Supervisor Brady Bothwell, with special thanks to Ed Video and Scott McGovern.
Ghost House is generously supported via the Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance program.
Image for essay: Cuteness is Suspect, originally published in the 1st edition of Ephemera by Kastor and Pollux (edited by Maegan Fidelino)
Cuteness is Suspect
Brief Observations on the Legitimacy of “Cute Space”
Carolyn Tripp
edited by Maegan Fidelino
Kastor & Pollux, 2016
I’m not certain how many times I’ve read that my female and femme-identified colleagues have been questioned as to the veracity of their creations. This is increasingly true in areas of cultural output that involve technical knowledge and execution. Quite naively I have often assumed that it’s an issue with local artistic culture. In the past, my assumptions have been based around my lack of knowledge of the inner workings of other communities worldwide. Perhaps, I thought, attitudes are different towards femme creators in other countries.
But even a perfunctory examination of communities worldwide yields some troubling results. The attitude that a female-identified individual didn’t “actually do that” seems prevalent across anything creative genre that involves tech, and seems profoundly felt with artists at any stage in their career.[1] Artists that possess “cute” qualities can have their work dismissed as silly or lacking in serious artistic vision. My observations are admittedly loose, collected over a period of my own art-making that has hovered in several different genres in the past decade. And while my evidence is anecdotal, it seems prudent that I wonder how other women and femme creators assert their own authorship when confronted with questions of technical knowledge and authenticity.
One particularly egregious example that comes to mind is from Björk. Over her lengthy career as an artist, musician, collaborator, and electronic pioneer, she felt the need to pen a response to the seemingly automatic credit given to a male producer with whom she had worked. Several examples of her reassertions have cropped over the years, and this text is from 2008 in response to Pitchfork repeatedly crediting her male collaborators with regard to production. “i have had this experience many many times that the work i do on the computer gets credited to whatever male was in 10 meter radius during the job.”[2] She went on to concede that, while there may be other reasons for this misunderstanding, there are countless instances in which her technical knowledge or authorship has been underestimated, denied, or otherwise ignored. She went on to write, “people seem to accept that women can sing and play whatever instrument they are seen playing. but they cannot program, arrange, produce, edit or write electronic music.”
This is a troubling assertion that softness, warmth, cuteness, or any other “feminine” traits cannot enter the realm of technical knowledge without disrupting its space.
Introducing an esthetic that acknowledges femme space is essential to achieving balance in an admittedly amorphous sector. Tech itself is difficult to define. What is it that we’re actually talking about? Is it music? AV? Dev? IoT? Gaming? Regardless, these have been traditionally male-occupied spaces. But with the exception of prostitution, midwifery, quilt-making and nursing, almost all professions and practices fall into that category by default. As women continue to create technically complex arrangements and artwork, cute ephemera that often accompanies these projects is at times seen as frivolous and not worthy of being ear-marked as high concept. In an era where women occupy a proportional amount of the workforce, they will subsequently create spaces that assert their own aesthetic principles. While femme creators certainly don’t always bring “cuteness” to their work, I hope that those who do may continue to create according to their own aesthetic principles.
When I include hands in my own work, they are attached to a body that’s attached to a mind that drives them. They are no more or less than any other creator that occupies a similar space. They won’t be diminished for their decoration.
[1] Grimes Talks the Many Faces of the Music Industry’s Sexism in a New Interview, Mic.com https://mic.com/articles/123071/grimes-talks-the-many-faces-of-the-music-industry-s-sexism-in-a-new-interview#.CuMhrEjm6
[2] Original blog post written by Björk or her own site, which has now been altered to reflect her new work. Link to the text can be found on numerous sites including http://feministing.com/2008/08/25/credit_where_credit_is_due_fem
Toronto Cinema will be part of the Friday evening "Collective Arts Brewing" craft beer tour and aMAZEment experience on Friday February 24th at 8pm. Click here to get your tickets!
Ticket purchase link for Friday evening - chose the 7pm entry time
I'm excited to post that I'll be curating a short screening inside Honest Ed's for the "Toronto for Everyone" art experience happening in the last weekend of February.
I've named this experience "Toronto Cinema" I've selected local artist's work to feature as part of a pop-up cinema experience that will be housed within the walls of Honest Ed's one last time.
Toronto Cinema is a pop-up theatre space celebrating local film makers and video artists that have radically different approaches to examining and interacting with urban spaces. Five short films and videos have been chosen to represent reactions, examinations, and sentiments towards space, community, and the illusion of permanence. Toronto Cinema will feature the work of Marcos Arriaga, Stephen Broomer, Jesse Thistle & Martha Stiegman, Jennifer Linton and Zeesy Powers. This portion of aMAZEment is generously supported by Trinity Square Video (www.trinitysquarevideo.com).
The Toronto Cinema is part of the Collective Arts beer sample evening on Friday February 24th at 8pm! The entire art maze will be open for the night so guests can explore Honest Ed's and share their memories.
http://torontoforeveryone.com/meet-the-artists
Image credit: Zeesy Powers "Condos" Animation Still, 2015
Art-Athina 2016 takes place in Athens, Greece every spring. This time, it was in the underused and strangely compelling Taekwondo studio from the 2004 Olympics. This standalone building (the rest of the grounds are farther west, and away from the usual tourist eye) housed the usual paintings-and-occasional-sculpture that most art fairs do. The observation decks overlooking the centre stadium were host to contemporary design, performance, and media art.
The Ed Video booth, curated by Scott McGovern, included three media art works, including Cybertwee: Mouse (GIF), Andromeda Nebula M13 (video), and Constant Salon: Be a better tutorial (in GIF form).
I instagram'd my way through the Art-Athina, and of course the city proper during my stay (which you can also view by scrolling through my account). Athens is an essential stop for ruin porn and excellent food. Both of which I consumed in abundance.
CBC The Exhibitionists w/ Christian Bok (new animation project)
I had the pleasure of animating a special CBC sequences to bring to life the intense, intelligent and strange work of Christian Bok. In his latest work "The Xenotext," he has manipulated the genetic sequence of bacteria to do his poetic bidding.
Hear him speak about it here:
Hello all! There are more details forthcoming but I'm happy/excited/generally elated to announce that my work has been selected to be exhibited at this year's Art-Athina art fair in Athens, Greece in May.
The exhibition booth will be curated by Ed Video's Scott McGovern. For more details, be sure to visit Ed Video's site.
We got to art and party in one of our favourite Old Toronto holdouts this past weekend. The Galleria Mall's future is uncertain, but whatever developers make of it, at least we'll be able to say we threw a fantastic Long Winter in its corridors. My installation/performance, "RGB Nails," was delightful to execute in such a unique space.
This process was inspired by my fascination with different way-finding techniques used on elements of mid-twentieth century pop psychology (including the Ouija board). The idea that we can ascribe meaning to something as simple as a nail colour says more about our own psychology and self awareness that, say, believing an "external presence" is guiding our actions.
he group effort involved in selecting colours was oddly meditative. Mostly I was fascinated by how many Long Winter patrons were physically unable to relax - especially in a party environment. Their hands and wrists were tense as they touched the view-finder with me. As curious as I find it, this is something to which I can relate a great deal (especially in my formative years of not really getting what art parties were for or why we should have them).
Oddly, many thought I was a colour expert or psychic of some kind... As if using such a familiar mechanism gives one automatic credentials for such a thing. I assured everyone that I was neither an esthetician or a clairvoyant, but many still took the process of flashing lights and colour-finding very seriously. The LED lighting, installed to hover above the structure, was successful in throwing visitors off until I switched them to "white" when their session was completed. Many didn't know what their colours were supposed to be until the proper light balance was achieved.
I'm grateful to the Long Winter crew for making this project happen... And of course to everyone who stood in a long line to chill with me and select some colours with a party raging down the hall.
http://www.citynews.ca/2016/01/30/video-goodbye-to-the-galleria-mall/?show_id=0
https://www.facebook.com/torontolongwinter/videos/710915042378053/
I'm honoured to have my Tv Dinner: Snack Edition make GIF of The Day over at http://artfcity.com/2016/02/05/gif-of-the-day-carolyn-tripp/
Thanks again for attending session 3 of our 3 part series devoted to emerging artist practice!
And special thanks to Freshbooks for a wonderfully detailed presentation on cloud accounting and the benefits of using external software if you're not an accountant yourself.
As always, be sure to follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter for my latest lectures, exhibitions and updates.
Here are some great resources to help you better understand what your responsibilities are during tax time (and year round!)
Learning About Taxes - This will give you an overview of what you can expect and what is expected of you.
CRA General Services and Their New App
How long should you keep your tax records?
Information for Employed Artists
Charitable Donations and Gifts
Want to chat about something I missed or want to expand on something during the presentation? Be sure to leave a comment! Happy accounting.
Thanks again everyone for a great evening! You all had excellent questions with regard to our presentation.
Thanks also to Darryl Bank for taking time out of his busy schedule to come and join us this evening. It's always great to hear an alternate perspective from a great seasoned professional working in the business.
If you'd like to discuss anything additionally - be sure to leave a comment below. All questions, even if they're repeats, are welcome.
Be sure to follow the rest of my goings-on on my Instagram account here. If you have any images from any of these lectures, be sure to use the hashtag #NuvangoArtBiz #CaroTripp and of course #Nuvango!
CARFAC links (Canadian Artist Representation/Les front des arts Canada)
Ontario Chapter Membership: www.carfacontario.ca/Join-or-Renew
General website: http://www.carfac.ca
More information on Artist Fees: http://www.carfac.ca/tools/fees
GRANTS
Who gives them out?
Toronto Arts Council: http://www.torontoartscouncil.org
Ontario Arts Council: http://www.arts.on.ca
Canada Council for the Arts: http://canadacouncil.ca
Canadian Copyright:
http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipoInternet-Internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr02281.html
If you want to flip through Tuesday, January 19th's presentation, you can flip through the slideshow here:
The latest edition of The Exhibitionists is up on CBC.ca! Check out my animations and other fantastic work here.
