Themes for The Hibernation Project 2022
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The Hibernation Station 3: public access TV from our house(s) to yours!
Saturday, January 15, 2022 // Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
An evening of artist-made Zoom-television in the spirit of public access TV, fresh from the computers of contributors across the continent: Calgary, Edmonton, Whitehorse, Regina, Victoria, Lethbridge, Toronto, and LA. Artists made cooking shows, hosted trivia, shared music videos and performances, baked with the audience, played video art, and brought viewers on a televisual adventure – from our house(s) to yours!
ARTISTS: Eric Hill & Jeff Meldrum, Ingrid Vargas (featuring The Velveteins), Jennifer Crighton, Jett Thunders, Kino Sum (featuring Melted Mirror), Lollipop! (Jessica TheWitt), Migueltzinta Solís, Natasha Jensen, Patrick Hamilton & Fiona McTaggart, Sarah Smalik & Jamie Tea, Swampy Communications Network (Amber PB, Sean Dunham, and Teale Phelps Bondaroff), Who Cares (Jiajia Li & Laura Reid), Yes Nice & Old Saw, and Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett.
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SNOWDOWN: a gathering place for snow sculptures
DATES: Beginning Jan 23 until the snow melts. Sculptures will gradually be added and melt away.
“Snowdown” may sound like “Showdown” but the title of this collective creative endeavor should instead invoke a resemblance to “Slowdown”. Rather than being a competitive experience, “Snowdown” invites artists to come when the weather suits them to the Hibernation Project headquarters, Caitlind and Wayne’s house in Ramsay, make snow sculptures then leave them to mingle with those left by others. With each new flurry more snow creations may arrive and with each Chinook or sunny day some may go.
Viewers can drop-in during daylight hours for a self-guided tour of the sculptures in the yard. Please spread out and wear masks if others are around.
ARTISTS: Maggie Schaefer, Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett, more to come! // Theme by Maggie Schaefer
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SLIPPERY-ER SLOPE: the second annual build-your-own-toboggan and tobogganing race!
Saturday, January 29, 2022 // Theme by Mike Tan
After many Chinooks and freezes, we gathered in Royal Sunalta Park for a socially distanced sledding extravaganza on homemade toboggans! A returning favourite from last year (see 2021 sleds here) participants reimagined an essential wintertime activity by designing and building their own toboggans to race (casually) on a very icy hill.
PARTICIPANTS: Aiden Tan, Audrey Lane Cockett, Caitlind Brown, Chad & Edward Saunders, Dan Schaefer, Desiree Nault, Maggie Schaefer, Mike Tan, Sasha & Carter White, and Wayne Garrett. Also featuring excellent sledding by Sloane & The Bristowe-Turners, Mark, Maria & Phil, John, Lauren, & Elise, Khalid & Maude, and Diane & her sister!
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EARS HAVE EYES: spatial conjuring and ear-specific art for the radio
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 on CJSW 90.9 FM or http://www.cjsw.com
The first of three radio-based Hibernation themes, EARS HAVE EYES: spatial conjuring and ear specific art for the radio explores the interspace between senses. This radio program invited artists to submit audio works exploring the spatial aspects of sound to “illustrate” invisible worlds. Whether creating synaesthetic experiences, mapping the relationship between sound, sight, and identity, or using sonic means to create shapes, volumes, or places, EARS HAVE EYES invites the listener to reconsider the relationship between sight and sound.
Learn more about how to participate in future episodes of EARS HAVE EYES here. New or pre-existing work is welcome. The program airs monthly on CJSW 90.9 fm for the entire duration of 2022.
ARTISTS: Alexandra Spence, Chris Dadge, Hair Control (Rebecca Reid & Ryan Bourne), jamilah malika abu-bakare, John Abram, Noel Begin, Rosina Skulsky & Caitlind Brown, Tunnel (Jen Reimer & Magnus Tiessenhausen), and Wihtikow ᐃᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ. Hosted by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett.
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BEACONS: light sculptures & illuminated experiments for winter darkness
February 12 and 13, 2022 // Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
During the longest and coldest nights of the year, we yearn for more light. This desire is both visceral and social, as much about our visual desire for more sunlight as our interhuman desire for a metaphorical “fire” to gather around. During the lonely nights of winter, we are subliminally searching for beacons – proof of life in the distance, something to aim for, hope on the horizon. With this in mind, participating artists were invited to create beacons, in the form of light sculptures, projection installations, and illuminated experiments.
ARTISTS: Joanne MacDonald, Logan Lape, Maggie Schaefer, Noel Begin & Jennifer Ireland, Rebecca Reid, Sarah Houle, Susan Clarahan, and Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett.
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EXCUSES: art you’ve been meaning to make, a place to share it, people to talk to
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Hearkening to the early intentions of The Hibernation Project as a place to workshop ideas, explore impulses, and build imperfect experiments, EXCUSES invites artists to feel “the right kind of pressure*” to finally finish (or start) rainy day projects. Taking the form of lightning round of Zoom critiques, EXCUSES was a space + time for critical feedback, encouragement, and discussion.
ARTISTS: Allison Morgan, Maggie Schaefer, Matthew Waddell, Kamila Eltassi, and Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett, with contributions from Katie Wackett.
*A previous artist described The Hibernation Project as offering “the right kind of pressure.” We can’t remember who said this anymore (was it you? Let us know!) but we often think about what it means to facilitate pressure that is kind, nourishing, and helpful.
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CLEAR FOR TAKE-OFF: a carnival of paper planes, tricks, stunts, and flying high!
Saturday, February 26, 2022 at Ramsay Rink // Theme by Jett Thunders
Tired of staying at home? Ready to go on vacation? Is your favourite part of every trip the AIRPORT? Participants were invited to make paper airplanes and land them in a cardboard airport, guided by Air Traffic Controller, Jett Thunders, from the tower. Ground Crew occasionally removed the wreckage from the runway of the P(aper) A(irplane) X(change). Our Flight Attendant offered participants a complimentary in-flight refreshment and a moist towelette. Thanks for flying Jett’s Way Airlines!
ARTISTS: All participants were artists, all artists were participants. We didn’t know everyone who showed up, so we’re airing on the side of anonymity.
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WILD(ER)NESS: beyond human soundscapes
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 on CJSW 90.9 FM or http://www.cjsw.com
The second of three radio-based Hibernation themes, WILD(ER)NESS: beyond human soundscapes asks listeners to consider the relationship between soundscapes and landscapes, sound and place, wilderness and wildness. Artists, musicians, and journalists explore the too-often ignored sonorous space beyond human soundscapes. Whether this is interpreted as soundscapes made by animals or environmental entities, audio from places inhospitable to humans, sounds occurring at the tense intersection where people and wild spaces clash, or music inspired by creatures and experiences in nature, the sound art pieces on this month’s program are beautiful, spatial, observational, and – at times – political, inviting the listener on a wild adventure, ears first.
To learn more about these artists, or to submit your own sound art to future episodes of EARS HAVE EYES, visit EARS HAVE EYES.
ARTISTS: Alexandra Spence, Annie Dunning, Bert Crowfoot (with the voice of Elder Mary Thomas), Christina Milinusic, Curved Walls (Richard Gallant), Derek Haussecker, Jean-Paul Perrotte, Robin Minard, and Rucyl Frison. Hosted by Wayne Garrett & Caitlind Brown.
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THE TIME BETWEEN US: anticipation or duration, chronological or non-linear
Part 1: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Part 2: Tuesday, April 19, 2022
on CJSW 90.9 fm
In this program, sound artists, musicians, and storytellers explore, deconstruct, and reimagine the relationship between sound and time. Some compositions are nostalgic, others philosophical; some dissect grief, others reflect on the accumulations of time. A sonic excursion across decades and right back to the moment these soundwaves touch your eardrums, the time between us narrows just a little bit through the enduring sound works of these artists.
To learn more about these artists, or to submit your own sound art to future episodes of EARS HAVE EYES, visit EARS HAVE EYES.
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FIRST TOUCH: a slow dance
Friday, April 15, 2022 at The Calgary Bridge Centre // Theme by Desiree Nault
Featuring a live “High School Band,” this springtime social invited participants to sway beneath the disco ball in a romantic community centre slow dance party! Beginning with movement games and performance art exercises, dancers were invited to wear Social Distancing Dance Prosthetics as slow jams filled the community centre, taking participants on a ride through sentiment, nostalgia, and novel delights.
ARTISTS: Desiree Nault & Caitlind Brown (Social Distancing Dance Prosthetics), Clare Duckett, Eric Heitmann, Ryan Bourne, Travis Miller, and Wayne Garrett (the “High School Band,”) Ryan McNally (Sound Tech), and all the dancers! Special thanks to Vicki Van Chau and Fiona from the Calgary Bridge Centre.
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GATHER BY FIRE: a backyard ritual sculpture burn
In honour of our friend Matthew Mark 🖤 who loved art, fire, and a little bit of wildness.
Saturday, April 16, 2022 // Theme by Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
The last theme of The Hibernation Project was a sculpture burn and fiery tribute to our dearly departed friend Matthew Mark Bourree. Participants were invited to construct sculptures out of wood and cardboard, burned in a communal ritual calling for Spring. Hearkening to primal relationships, GATHER BY FIRE was named for an artwork by Sarah Smalik & Matthew Mark Bourree, and speaks to the great and mystical magnetism of people towards light, heat, and each other.
ARTISTS: Elaine Weryshko, Kamila Eltassi, Kat Dornian, Jamie Tea, Sarah Smalik, Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett, with an impromptu fire extinguishing performance by Audrey Lane Cockett. Featuring the unveiling of SNOWDOWN Time-Capsule, organized by Maggie Schaefer.
THE HIBERNATION PROJECT 