UNews - SAAG

Collaboration of sight and sound brings together fine arts faculty from different disciplines

trevor.kenney — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 17:18:40 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art faculty member Annie Martin found a renewed passion for history and music through a fortuitous collaboration with Dr. Janet Youngdahl of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Department of Music. The result of years of research and creative collaboration came together in adoration, open at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) until April 23.

Inspired by the Carnegie Library space at SAAG, Martin was developing a proposal for an installation exhibition when a chance conversation at a convocation tea brought together Martin and Youngdahl who realized their areas of research weren’t so different. Martin, whose creative practice has a focus on sound and installation work, was already envisioning a sound installation in the Carnegie Library when she ran into Youngdahl.

“Living in Lethbridge I’ve had the luxury of years to think about what was meaningful to me about that space,” says Martin. “I was inspired by the idea of the library, as a site of archive, and text, and reading. But I couldn’t find a vector in. I’d been working with sound for a number of years so I felt strongly that it needed to be a sound installation.”

Martin’s early ideas included an empty space painted with sound.

“I explored the idea of sound as colour, almost like a textile, woven strands of colour. I hoped to make this ethereal sound installation with tones. It had to be musical tones because they have a strong sense of colour.”

Starting as a very abstract idea, Martin knew intuitively that the sounds needed to be vocal in order to create an inhabitation of the space.

“Voice, even if it’s a recording suggests the presence of a subject, a being, a person,” continues Martin.

It was in searching for the right vocal tones that Martin and Youngdahl’s worlds collided. Martin mentioned her proposal, and Youngdahl, who studied the work of Saint Hildegard of Bingen and her compositions of sacred music, began enthusiastically asking questions. Martin had already explored the idea of vocal chants and deliberately randomized sounds as part of the SAAG exhibition so the ideas quickly meshed. Youngdahl went from being a passive participant by providing her voice, to an active partner in contributing to the overall project.

Martin and Youngdahl pared down the work of Hildegard of Bingen to one chant, “Ode to Divine Wisdom.” Youngdahl recorded the chant in the Faculty of Fine Arts’ Studio One recording facility in September 2016 as well as recording the most important notes and tones from the chant to create extended, single held notes for Martin to work with in her deconstructive compositional practice.

Distributed over four channels, the recordings provide the presence of four ‘voices’ coming from four corners of the room.

“Sound feels like it is coming from all over the space,” explains Martin. “The movement of tones and voices over the space create patterns in a non-musical way, asking questions about the relationship of tone and repetition. Voices going back and forth, a kind of call and response between the four channels.”

Although originally envisioned in an empty space, Martin soon realized the space wasn’t going to be empty – people will be there. She thought of painting high gloss colour panels that allow the viewer to see their own reflection.

“Like looking into a pool of water. You see yourself, not in a clear way, but enough to be aware of your own presence in the space.”

Eventually images were asking to be present as well.

“There has to be a visual presence which pairs with Hildegard’s message of imagery – but still abstract. Not in a representational or illustrative way.”

Martin wanted visitors to have something visual to reflect on while they listened to the sound installation. She created a series of 12 painted panels that reference diverse traditions of sacred art and link back to Hildegard’s life and music.

While the exhibition is open, the hour long recording repeats in a loop. In March 2017, the recordings were turned off for a special performance by Youngdahl and her vocal ensemble “Sweet Breath” at a lecture recital, “Singing in the Sacred Space.”

“A point that Janet and I really connected on was that vocalization can be a form of prayer in itself,” continues Martin. “I was interested in the idea of ‘opening.’ The idea that there is something kind of radical about opening, whether that’s opening the heart, opening your mouth, opening oneself, that is an invitation to experience something that is outside of the ordinary sense of functional purpose. This is where the spiritual experience resides. In this desire to open.”

Art and music connect people – through artistic collaborations such as this, and by connecting the artist or performer to the audience.

“I said to Janet that I am in such awe of this practice you have, and she said, ‘There’s no separation between the singer and the person who’s listening. By listening, you are participating in the singing.’ If one is singing, all are singing. There’s an interconnectedness of people through music.”

Martin speaks highly of her time working with Youngdahl, and the new inspiration it brought her.

“I’m hoping really sincerely that we can find a way to collaborate some more in the future. I feel like I’m just getting started.”

Don’t miss your chance to take in adoration at SAAG, open until Sunday April 23.

Campus Kudos

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:56:22 +0000

Mary Dyck (Kinesiology and Physical Education) and Ard Biesheuvel (BEd '90, MEd '98) authored a book, Coaching Volleyball Champions: Principles and Practices of Successful Coaches. Each chapter in the book includes a biography of one of North America's outstanding volleyball coaches, followed by an in-depth interview and the coach's five favorite drills. Dyck also co-authored, Everybody Move: A multimedia package for daily physical activity, published by Human Kinetics in November 2009.

Denton Fredrickson (Art) and Catherine Ross (Art Technician) have been awarded the Public Art commission for the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. Applications were received from around the world and the selection committee consisted of representatives from the Allied Arts Council and the SAAG, a community member, an artist and a technical expert. Ross and Fredrickson proposed to create a giant stringed instrument responsive to the day-to-day wind and light levels in Lethbridge. Visually, the installation reflects a flock of birds both at rest and in flight, appearing to move seamlessly from exterior to interior. The work should be installed by fall 2011.

Dr. Shelley Scott (Theatre & Dramatic Arts) has been elected by acclamation to a second two-year term as the president of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR).

Merle Fuller (MEd) has been accepted into the PhD in Management program at Sobey School of Business, St. Mary's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Halifax, N.S. Fuller's project, Living with a cop: A handbook for Police Officers and their Families (a training handbook for police officers addressing work/family issues) was a significant factor in his being accepted into the IO/Pscyh PhD stream of this excellent PhD program.

Dr. Ed Jurkowski (Music) was recently elected to a three-year term as English editor for the journal Intersections, the peer-review bilingual publication of the Canadian ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Music Society.

Bente Hansen (Music), Dale Ketcheson (Music), Nicole Higginson (BFA/BEd) and Jesse Plessis (music major) all performed at For the Love of Music: For the Love of Medicine concert to raise funds for a medical mission to El Salvador being undertaken by U of L pre-medical students.

Katherine Taylor (Psychology) is one of 12 winners of a 2010 NEADS Equity Through Education Student Award. Taylor was selected out of a field of 375 total applicants. Equity Through Education is a charitable initiative launched by BMO Capital Markets in 2005 to help people realize their educational ambitions by giving them the means to pursue those goals.

Ed Wasiak (Music Education) has been appointed to the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education (JHRME). Taking over the Canadian seat, Wasiak joins a body of 16 international scholars on the JHRME Committee.

Don Gill's (Art) exhibition Erratic Spaces/THE LAND is at THE LAND/Gallery in Albuquerque, N.M. from June 5 to 26. The exhibition is an installation based on Gill's February 2010 residency at THE LAND/an art site. www.landartsite.org/exhibitions/index.html

Nick Sullivan (Music) performed as a soloist with the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra during its season finale.

Catherine Ross (Art) has an exhibition of Stella Mere at the Glenbow Museum, Aug. 2. Stella Mere is a spectacular installation made up of 750 shimmering starfish, each individually cast in aluminum and mounted on thin threaded steel rods. Stella Mere took three years and the help of more than 20 people to complete.

UNews - SAAG

Collaboration of sight and sound brings together fine arts faculty from different disciplines

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