WNDW Gallery

Although I had committed to both days of Cutting Copper: Indigenous Resurgent Practice, I just didn't have it in me to take that second trip to UBC, especially after reading what I thought to be the most intriguing of the press releases on Instant Coffee's March listserve: Jasmine Baetz and Christian Vistan's ongoing Cactus Packing Project, mounted this time through artist Lexie Owen's WNDW curatorial project.

The long window at the bottom left of the house is the exhibition space where the travelling cacti are displayed.

Here is the press release that appeared on Instant Coffee's listserve:

Jasmine Baetz + Christian Vistan : The Cactus Packing Project
WNDW gallery @ 943 10th Ave E
FEB 20 - MAR 6

CURATOR'S TOUR MAR 5 @ 1130am

This WNDW is at 943 10th Ave E, Vancouver + will be showing The Cactus Packing Project, a joint initiative of emerging artists Christian Vistan and Jasmine Baetz.

Baetz and Vistan are interested in their nomadic identities and personal histories. The Cactus Packing Project is an ongoing collaboration that grew out of the time Vistan and Baetz spent in Vancouver together, and is inspired by the sculptural assemblage forms that Baetz's cactus, Jorge, took when packed for a move.

In 2014, Baetz and Vistan started sending cacti to each other in the post, observing and documenting the symptoms and logistics of border-crossing transactions and transitory bodies, such as the cacti.

Baetz, originally from Ontario has resided in Mexico, British Columbia, and the United States, and is currently based in Boston; while Vistan, originally from Bataan, Philippines, currently resides in Vancouver. Both Baetz and Vistan are interested in how this jumble of locations and their specific histories relate to their respective identities. In confronting this puzzle of identity, Baetz and Vistan are considering how locales and local histories relate to their work and to the larger issues of displacement, nomads and nomadism(s).

https://www.facebook.com/events/1017541344950632/

About WNDW:

WNDW is an itinerant gallery space that inhabits residential windows. The project aims to bring contemporary art out of self-selecting high culture areas placing it directly into the quotidian life of the residential street. The project supports Vancouver's emerging artists, providing them with an innovative space to display their work as well as supporting them financially through the payment of artist fees.

WNDW is administered as part of the Parks Board Fieldhouse Studio Residency Program, at Burrardview Park, where project director Lexie Owen is Artist-in-Residence. This project is also made possible by generous funding from the BC Arts Council and The City of Vancouver.

www.wndwgallery.com

Here is a picture of Owens (left) and Vistan (right), as interviewed by Lito Howse (middle) during Owens's curatorial tour yesterday afternoon:

And what the hell, here is a picture of Lucy Lippard. She would love this project!