IDLE WORSHIP 2025 was a tongue-in-cheek subversion of Calgary’s car-obsessed culture, responding to the prevalence of personal vehicles by reclaiming these paved places for people, art, and ideas. A convoy of subversive creativity, IDLE WORSHIP traversed our civic landscape as so many commuters do daily ~ but more subversive intentions. Pithy and playful, IDLE WORSHIP is equal parts community project, commentary, and intervention in plain sight.
Tag: sculpture
IDLE WORSHIP 2025: artists & route
On May 24 & 25, 2025, a mobile exhibition of 11 artist-driven cars will tour the sprawling parking lots of Calgary/Mohkinstsis, transporting strange, subversive, and satirical artworks in a motorcade of cars. IDLE WORSHIP features pick-up truck performances, back-seat sculptures, and automotive installations designed in response to our car-centred city, featuring an all-star cast of local artists.
GATHER BY FIRE
A backyard ritual sculpture burn (for Matthew Mark)
Participants:
Audrey Lane Cockett
Caitlind r.c. Brown
Daniel Barossa
Dale Meyer, Veronica Murphy, and Sadie
Eric Heitmann
Joanne MacDonald
Keith Rodger
Wayne Garrett
+ a Christmas Tree contribution from Matthew Waddell & Laura Anzola
BELLWETHER
Episode 31 of EARS HAVE EYES
BELLWETHER: sounds at the edge of foreseeable futures
ARTISTS:
Alexandra Spence
Felix Mayer
Helen Ottoway
Matthew Burtner
Pierrot Desperes
Soft Ions
Hosted by Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garrett
HEAT SEEKING
Week 6 of 7: a hide & seek slow dance
PARTICIPANTS:
Clare Duckett
Desiree Nault
Eric Heitmann
Rebecca Reid
Ryan Bourne
Wayne Garrett
Caitlind Brown
& many dancers!
TIMBER
Week 5 of 7: a collaborative interlocking lumber sculpture
PARTICIPANTS:
Eric Heitmann
Ivan Ostapenko
Caitlind Brown
Wayne Garrett
GATHER BY FIRE at EMPIRE OF DIRT
Week 2 of 7: a residency & ritual sculpture burn on Arrow Mountain
Participants:
Elaine Weryshko
Jim Wallis
Larry McDowell
Lisa Benschop
Marnie Temple
Nikki Emerson
Palmer Olson
Veronica Verkley
Wayne Garrett
Caitlind r.c. Brown
Hibernation 2024 Themes!
We’re delighted to share the themes of our 6th Annual Hibernation Project! We’re beginning with a feast and ending with a LIVE public access TV broadcast, and covering pretty much everything in between. This year features a Hibernation-in-Residence at cSPACE Eau Claire, and an offsite Fire Residency at Empire of Dirt in Creston, BC! We hope you’ll join us for another year of experiments, snowy day projects, and the dreams of we who wake to sleep.
GATHER BY FIRE
Week 6 of 6: a backyard ritual sculpture burn (for Matthew Mark)
Participants:
Andrew Davidson
Audrey Lane Cockett
Clare Duckett
Daniel Barossa
Eric Heitmann
Hannah Doerksen & Palmer Olson
Jane Grace
Jennifer Bourree-Lebouthillier
Joanne & Jonathan MacDonald
Tiff Polancec
Wayne Garrett
Caitlind Brown
HOUSE OF CARDS
Week 3 of 6: cardboard architecture
Participants:
Christina Milinusic
Clare M. Duckett, James Jensen, Louisa Jensen & Kaili Jensen
Kari Brawn & Gary McMillan
Khalid Omokanye & Maud Salvi
Mary Mazurek
Monica Ila
Studio North (Mark Erickson, Hayden Pattulo, Damon Hayes Couture)
Tiff Polancec
Caitlind Brown
Theme by Studio North
TOBOGGAPALOOZA
Week 1 of 6: return of build-your-own-toboggans!
Participants:
Aiden & Mike Tan
Andrew Davidson
Audrey Lane Cockett
Blake O’Brien
Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
Daniel & Maggie Schaefer
Maggy & Ellen Close
Logan
Sarah VS & Family
Vanessa Porteous & Friends
Themes of Hibernation 2023!
The Hibernation Project is back!!!!!! Because we’ve been gradually spreading our events out over the course of the entire year, we have a short and sweet pop of wintertime magic for you this year! It’s gonna be a load of fun, collaboration, and creative satisfaction, so we hope you’ll join us – as an artist or attendee!
Check out all our themes in this handy blog post.
IDLE WORSHIP
IDLE WORSHIP is a mobile exhibition of art and performance in cars touring across the parking lots of the greater Calgary / Mohkinstsis area on Sept 24 and 25, 2022. Intended to subvert the car-centric culture of Alberta and utilize the “non-site site” of the car interior, IDLE WORSHIP is part community project, commentary, and intervention in plain sight.
IDLE WORSHIP is a spinoff of The Hibernation Project.
All the Thank Yous!
We’ve reached the end of The Hibernation Project 2022! Thank you to the artists and participants who joined us on this wild adventure! This year, we once again navigated the shifting waters of a global pandemic to facilitate 11 Hibernation Project events spanning digital space, tobogganing hills, radio waves, hockey rinks, community centres, and our…
GATHER BY FIRE
Week 11 of 11: a backyard ritual sculpture burn
Artworks by Elaine Weryshko, Jamie Tognazzini, Kamila Eltassi, Kat Dornian, Sarah Smalik, Wayne Garrett, and Caitlind Brown, featuring the unveiling of Maggie Schaefer’s SNOWDOWN Time-Capsule and an impromptu drag performance by Audrey Lane Cockett.
CLEAR FOR TAKE-OFF
Week 7 of 11: a carnival of paper planes, tricks, stunts, and flying high
All participants were artists in this bizarre and delightful happening, so instead of naming artists, we’re airing on the side of anonymity. Thanks to all the folks who traveled Jett’s Way Airlines!
SNOWDOWN
Ongoing theme: a gathering place for snow sculptures
Snowy contributions from Bruce & Liv Barton, Clare Duckett, Dale & Sadie Meyer/Murphy, Maggie & Daniel Schaefer, Matt Masters & The Burgener Bunch, Shyra DeSouza, Suri & Lincoln, Tiff Polancec, Veronica Murphy, Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett, and more TBA!
Theme by Maggie Schaefer.
HIBERNATION PROJECT THEMES 2022
We are delighted to announce the themes for the 4th Hibernation Project, our annual DIY domestic art intervention bridging Winter to Spring. A tool for embracing and combating Winter in Canada, each weekend an open community of artists, musicians, performers, and participants respond to a theme, making new work and sharing old work for an intimate audience. This year, locations range from tobogganing hills, to domestic space, to community radio, and beyond!
THE NIGHT SEA JOURNEY
Week 7 of 12: stepping into the shadow realm, where spirits linger and monsters await
Artists: Mark Erickson, Monica Illa, Geneviève Paré & Kathryn Smith, Keith Rodger, Michael Ander Schok, Elaine Weryshko, Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
Theme by: Elaine Weryshko
FROZEN TOGETHER
Week 6 of 12: water, cold, snowsuits
Artists: Noel Begin, Mark Erickson, Svea Ferguson, Jenna Swift, Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
Theme by: Noel Begin
THE HIBERNATION PROJECT 