We are looking for Creative Collaborators to unearth and transpose 200 civilian stories from the War of 1812 into a massive collective expression of art and history that will open June 8, 2012 and be presented everyday until June 24, 2012 as part of the Luminato Festival and the launch of the The War of 1812 Bicentennial.
We are also looking for Production Collaborators who are interested in helping with the production aspects involved with the Installation Creation Process, the set-up, presentation and strike of the artwork.
HOW do I apply?*
In your SUBJECT line please type:
Creative Collaborator Application or Production Collaborator Application
In the BODY of your email please include the required information below and send to collaborate@thomasandguinevere.com.
- contact information (name, address, email and mobile/phone)
- a short statement about your background (100 words max)
- a short statement about why you want to participate either as a Creative or Production Collaborator (100 words max)
- a personal website if applicable to your creative work
*Please do not send attachments.
WHEN is the deadline?**
MARCH 26, 2012
WHAT happens then?**
Your request will be considered by the artists Thom Sokoloski and Jenny-Anne McCowan, after which you will be contacted by email. Once chosen as a Creative Collaborator you will research our Story Bank, a collection of hundreds of stories assembled to represent the diverse peoples inhabiting Canada during The War of 1812, and select the story you would like to work with. They include stories of individuals who during the war were not involved militarily but rather in the dramas of love, loss, survival and patriotism as well as those of collaboration, deception, greed and betrayal.
A series of Installation Creation Workshops will follow the story selection process in which the artists will work with all Creative Collaborators to transpose these stories into art installations set-up within each of the 200 tents.
Each installation is meant to evoke the story it represents. As an archaeologist evokes an unknown time through an assemblage of real artifacts, each Creative Collaborator will evoke their story with metaphorical ones.
Each installation is crucial to impact of all 200. The night allows for mystery but more importantly, given the nature of the inner luminosity of the tents, the public cannot take a position of viewer of the work without being implicated into the total expression of the collaborator’s work within each tent. The viewers’ movements within the tents, where their bodies create a shadow play on the canvas, make for a kind of ephemeral action painting. What prevents the experience from becoming simply inane play is the focus each inner installation demands of the viewer. The body’s shadow play is written by the way the viewer is being unknowingly choreographed by the interaction he or she has with the experience set-up by each tent’s installation Creative Collaborator. Daylight is when the individual tents and their interior artworks are closed and hibernate as a solemn sculptural landscape.
During the day, The Encampment waits in ready for the twilight hour.
The creative process of The Encampment requires a time commitment that is paramount to the success of the artwork. In as much as the final realization of the artwork creates a mass collective experience of art and history, the process necessary to realize it requires an authentic engagement that only comes from every participant’s commitment to it.
If you are interested in participating, please review the Previous Versions under the The Encampment menu heading above which were presented in Toronto, New York City and Ottawa to get a better understanding of the artwork and our creative process.
If you apply as a Production Collaborator, your application will be considered by the artists in conjunction with our Site and Installation Managers.
**For our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about becoming a Creative Collaborator, please click HERE.
