Luminocity
to
Kamloops Art Gallery 101-465 Victoria St, Kamloops, British Columbia V2C 2A9
Allison Hrabluik, "The Splits," 2015
HD video with sound, 15:00 min, Image courtesy of the Artist
Downtown Kamloops and Riverside Park
Curated by Charo Neville
Luminocity returns in the fall of 2018 for its third biennial event. A week-long video art exhibition, Luminocity showcases video projects by artists from across the country in public spaces throughout the downtown core of Kamloops. As an off-site Kamloops Art Gallery initiative, Luminocity embraces new creative concepts and modes of expression in the media arts field and brings recent video projects previously shown primarily in gallery settings to the outdoors.
Inspired by popular public art events such as Nuit Blanche that take over major cities throughout Canada, previous Luminocity events have transformed Kamloops’ urban environment with projections on the facades of buildings and from storefront windows, along with site specific installations at Riverside Park, projects at Arnica Artist Run Centre and performances in the Rotary Bandshell and the Old Courthouse.
This year Luminocity lights up similar sites and introduces new ones with a selection of diverse multi-media work by artists based nationally and from here at home. Highlighting themes emerging in current video practices, many projects feature predominantly female protagonists, explore Asian folklore and examine traditional Indigenous practices and our relationship with them today. Many of the videos probe fantastical stories of other worlds, at times ghostly and dark.
This year’s event will debut the next chapter of Howie Tsui’s Retainers of Anarchy, a 25-metre scroll-like video installation that references life during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE). In his newest project Parallax Chambers (White Camel Mountain), Tsui employs the same honed production process of drawing, animation and programming by way of an algorithmic animation sequence with stereo sound and applies this to a suite of intimately animated rooms within the Kowloon Walled City (situated geographically and administratively beyond the borders of both Hong Kong and China). This project serves as an avatar for the transitory state inherent to the diasporic experience.
Delving into Japanese folklore and spirit worlds, and integrating a film noir aesthetic, Cindy Mochizuki’s Scissors, the third chapter of her trilogy Rock, Paper, Scissors, 2017, tells the story of K, a 175 year old blind ghost who walks around a furnace in a steel factory, circling a giant who cuts through time.
Works also include new video projects by artists Maureen Gruben, Jeneen Frei Njootli and Jim-me Yoon that were created as part of LandMarks2017, a curated series of contemporary art projects made in and around Canada’s national parks and historic sites in June 2017 that addressed Canada150, our collective histories and shared futures.
Allison Hrabluik’s Splits, 2015, offers a series of quick cuts showcasing fourteen individuals and groups, each demonstrating some kind of skill. Hrabluik’s mesmerizing video collage showcases an idiosyncratic cast of characters performing their strengths, aptitudes and obsessive interests, including rope-jumpers, weightlifters, dog trainers, a hairdresser, an opera singer, a piano player, a prolific hot dog eater and a tap dancing crew.
The Bandshell is once again home to evening performances and events throughout the week while Riverside Park is aglow with multiple video projections. Be sure to pick up a Luminocity guide at the Gallery or visit luminocity.ca to learn more about the multitude of projects, artists and events. Look for KAG art instructors who will be roaming Luminocity sites to offer you insights into the art work.