Akimbo recently asked me to contribute five of my current interests/obsessions to their Hit List feature. Here's what's on my hit list... read.

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Completed this piece on day 7 - Wednesday Jan 23. Making progress with the work and exploring potential developments.

Jordan Schwab brought his first year sculpture class to see the work process. Had an opportunity to talk through the project.

14 panels cleated and primed. Let the routering begin...

Cybernetic gesture study (depth gauge)
3/32 round bit & trim router

14 panels sheeted, trimmed, filled; ready to sand and prime tomorrow. Should start routering by tomorrow afternoon. Flush cut bit in a trim router worked perfectly for cleaning up the mdf edges. These process shots aren’t the art of it all but I’m glad to have developed the skills to manage the engineering/technical side of things. Makes the process flow much more smoothly so I can focus on resolving formal visual problems instead of mechanical issues. And of course it helps to work out technical installation details with experienced preparators - thanks Jordan and Ian for your help strategizing the log install. Coming together nicely!

Built strainers for 14 panels today. Lots of square footage to work with.

Production mode. These poplar 1x2s reminded me of doing strips on the old stacker at Canfor Plateau when I started there in 2005.

Started a one month residency at University of Saskatchewan’s Kenderdine Gallery today (January 15). Set up tools and started assembling panels. In the evenings at my home studio, I’m finishing the last few pieces for a solo exhibition opening at Darrell Bell Gallery January 25th. Several years of research and studio practice are coalescing into two simultaneous exhibitions in Saskatoon within the next few weeks. Going to be updating this blog regularly to document the process at The Kenderdine.

Representations, mediations, always abstractions. Naturalism, Realism are, after all, -isms; verisimilitude standing in for the notion of direct correspondence. The map is not the territory.

I'm currently sitting at my sister's place in Toronto, preparing for my performance of Arboreal Audio tomorrow evening at this year's Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium. It's a trip being back in this city again, seeing a few of the same old sites, marking the massive changes to street front shops through the pressures of a volatile market. Having nice weather here certainly helps put a positive spin on my overall impression, but I'm really enjoying experiencing this city again in a way that seems all new. I'm really looking forward to transposing the trees of Arboreal Audio into this concrete jungle.