Donald Lawrence: Casting the Eye Adrift

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Donald Lawrence, “One Eye Folly,” 2008

interactive public sculpture (camera obscura)

Offering insight into almost four decades of Donald Lawrence’s practice, the retrospective exhibition Casting the Eye Adrift brings together major sculptural works, videos, photographs, drawings, preparatory models and ephemeral works that represent Lawrence’s longstanding interest in the intersections between art, science and technology, and concepts of wilderness.

Lawrence’s artistic practice translates the natural world and everyday objects into multifaceted installations that reveal their hand-built construction and his resourceful use of materials. These interests can be traced to his early awareness of display apparatus and sculptural construction inspired by childhood objects, including a fossilized dinosaur bone ever-present in his family home and a telescope gifted to him by his brother. 

Lawrence’s current focus on the camera obscura emerges from research into historical understandings of optics in relation to emergent and obsolete technologies. The camera obscura was important to both art and science; it was a precursor to photography and an early optical instrument that provided a means of observing solar phenomena as well as being a tool for artists to render their subjects. Lawrence’s large-scale public artwork, Comet MMXVIII (2018), is part of the Kamloops Art Gallery’s collection and is currently installed on the roof of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District building entrance. Evoking a comet in the night sky and Lawrence’s enduring interest in the pre-photographic optical apparatus that allow us to view such phenomena, the incorporation of bubble wrap and fluorescent light tubes also speaks to Lawrence’s innovative use of salvaged materials and obsolete technology.

Tours Added

One month remains to experience this new art work by Donald Lawrence - Paramount Camera Obscura and in addition to the Tuesday morning tours, we've added tours on Wednesdays. Located on the canopy of the Paramount Theatre on the corner of Victoria Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Kamloops, this addition to Lawrence's current exhibition Casting the Eye Adrift provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience a camera obscura. We look forward to seeing you. Please click on the title for the tour schedule.

Paramount Camera Obscura

Public tours of a new camera obscura artwork by Donald Lawrence on the canopy of the Paramount Theatre are now available throughout the summer.

A key focus of Kamloops based artist Donald Lawrence’s practice has been the merging of art, technology and science. Through pinhole camera and camera obscura projects, Lawrence’s work draws upon early optical and image-making devices, and centres on conventions of illusion that emerged through the use of these technologies in 19^th century European culture (though their origins lay in previous times and in other cultures).

Lawrence’s cameras obscura have emerged as site-specific projects that revisit early photographic technology through experiences outside the gallery context. As part of his Kamloops Art Gallery exhibition Casting the Eye Adrift (on until December 31, 2020), Lawrence has created a new camera obscura tent structure that is installed on the canopy of the Paramount Theatre, called the Paramount Camera Obscura. This project is a partnership with the Kamloops Film Society. Reflecting Lawrence’s interest in the connection between urban and “wilderness” cultures, and our romantic relationship to nature, the structure looks like a rustic camping shelter. 

The phrase, camera obscura, is Latin for “darkened chamber” or “dark room.” The camera obscura is a device that admits light through a small opening (often fitted with a glass lens) into a box or darkened space to project an upside down image of the outside world onto a surface inside the box or space.

With this work, visitors are invited to enter the tent structure and sit on vintage theatre seats to experience a new view of the intersection at Victoria and 5^th Street as an upside down projected image.

Guided Tours for 2 people at a time (or family groups of 3) offered through September: Tuesdays 3:00 to 5:00 pm

Please bring a mask

Social distancing and sanitizing protocols will be in place

For accessibility information and “what to expect” when visiting, please go to:

https://kag.bc.ca/news