The Hibernation Project
2024 THEMES
Our 6th Annual Hibernation Project begins with toboggans, ends with a live public access TV broadcast, and covers pretty much everything in between. We’re trying something new this year: Hibernation 2024 features a Hibernation-in-Residence at cSPACE Eau Claire (a heritage lumber mill turned Artist Residency in downtown Calgary / Mohkinstsis), as well as a Fire Sculpture Residency hosted by Empire of Dirt in Creston, BC!
Whether joining us from near or far, as an artist or spectator, we hope you’re excited for another year of experiments, snowy day projects, and dreams of we who wake to sleep.
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TOBOGGAPALOOZA: build your own toboggans!
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Theme by Mike Tan
The return of the much-anticipated annual wintertime event where participants build (or decorate) their own toboggans and we all go sledding together! TOBOGGAPALOOZA launched this year’s Hibernation Project in style, featuring toboggans from the obscure to the ridiculous, the prehistoric to the otherworldly! Thanks to everyone who dusted off the ol’ glue gun and came to this brand new hill in Ramsay to ride the waves of snow with us.
PARTICIPANTS:
Aiden Tan
Andrew Davidson
Audrey Lane Cockett
Blake O’Brien
Brad Hawkins
Caitlind Brown
Carter & Sasha White
Chad & Edward Saunders
Clare Duckett
Foon Yap
Jeremy, Nelize, Arlo & Elliot Gignoux
Mike Tan
Rory Allen
Wayne Garrett
& many more attendees!
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GATHER BY FIRE at EMPIRE OF DIRT: a residency & ritual sculpture burn on Arrow Mountain
January 30 – February 4, 2024
Micro-Residency at Empire of Dirt in Creston, British Columbia
Theme by Marnie Temple & Jim Wallis + Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
Every year, The Hibernation Project hosts a sculpture burn in tribute to our friend & fellow artist Matthew Mark Bourree. Artists build sculptures out of wood or paper, and burn them in a communal ritual combating the cold, dark Winter and calling for the relief of Spring.
This year, The Hibernation Project was invited to host GATHER BY FIRE at Empire of Dirt, located on Arrow Mountain overlooking Creston, BC on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people. We saw this as an opportunity to expand the experiment, inviting a small crew of participants to build larger and wilder sculptures than ever before. Hearkening to primal relationships, GATHER BY FIRE was named for an artwork by Sarah Smalik & Matthew Mark, and speaks to the great and mystical magnetism of people towards light, heat, and each other.
PARTICIPANTS:
Elaine Weryshko
Jim Wallis
Larry McDowell
Lisa Benschop
Marnie Temple
Nikki Emerson
Palmer Olson
Veronica Verkley
Wayne Garrett
Caitlind r.c. Brown
In honour of Matthew Mark 🖤 who loved art, fire, and a little bit of wildness.
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Photos by Mike Tan
EARS HAVE EYES: a listening party for sound art on the radio – LIVE!
LIVE-TO-TAPE Recording: Sunday, February 11, 2024
Airing February 14 and March 13 at 8 pm MT on CJSW 90.9 FM and Golden Co-op Radio
cSPACE Eau Claire
Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
In celebration of the 2 year anniversary of our show, we recorded a special live-to-tape episode of EARS HAVE EYES with a live studio audience! Listeners brought pillows and a blanket, and sprawled on the floor for a dreamy Listening Party at the historic Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber Company. Sound artists, experimental musicians, and auditory explorers spun a tapestry of sonic experiments for the enjoyment of our ears & inner eyes.
PARTICIPANTS:
Audrey Lane Cockett
Chris Dadge
Christina Milinusic
Hermitess (Jennifer Crighton)
Keith Rodger
NUM (Milad Bagheri & Maryam Sirvan)
Live hosting by Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett. Sound by Brad Hawkins. Thanks to cSPACE Projects.
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UNLIKELY SPREADFELLOWS: a potluck to subvert culinary convention
February 15, 2024
Theme by Alex Mitchell
Over the course of a lifetime, food can become one of those aspects of your life that you take the conventions of for granted. Still, a single dish can remind you that the way we interact with and experience food has as much to do with flavour and texture as it does with presentation and socialization. What happens when we throw tradition out the window and experiment with combinations we’ve never encountered before, or maybe had bizarre experiences with in the past?
PARTICIPANTS:
Alex Mitchell
Audrey Lane Cockett
Geneviève Paré
Kari Brawn & Gary McMillan
Kora-Lee Morris & Collaborator
Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
& many more attendees!
WRECK AGE: a tale of twenty-something angst during the great Calgary flood
Theme & Performance by Max Maxwell
A special encore performance in the basement!
In honour of the ten year anniversary of the Calgary Floods, embark on a poignant journey of self-discovery and acceptance with Max Maxwell’s encore production. With raw honesty and vulnerability, Maxwell brings you a coming of age story, as he struggles with identity and belonging set against the backdrop of the Great Calgary Floods of 2013. In this captivating performance, Maxwell seamlessly weaves together personal archival multimedia and music from the era to draw you into the complexities of life, love, and loss amidst the chaos of a natural disaster. With Maxwell’s masterful writing, you’ll be taken on a journey of resilience and hope, drawing you in with his raw emotions and relatable struggles, as you witness firsthand the transformative power of self-love and acceptance.
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TIMBER: a collaborative interlocking lumber sculpture
February 16 – 18, 2024
cSPACE Eau Claire
Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
Photos from the Glenbow Archives, found here.
In response to the history of cSPACE Eau Claire as the former offices and vault for the Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber Company, artists & sculptors joined us in crafting a collaborative interlocking lumber sculpture. We worked with Ivan Ostapenko to provide salvaged lumber, and participants created sculptures following (and breaking) the conventions they desired, with the caveat that their work must, at some point, intersect with the sculptures around them – creating one, giant, growing, organic structure.
This event was partly inspired in part by Khalid Omokanye’s socially distanced collaborative sculpture, ISOLATED BABEL, for The Hibernation Project 2021.
PARTICIPANTS:
Eric Heitmann
Ivan Ostapenko
Caitlind r.c. Brown
Wayne Garrett
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HEAT SEEKING: a hide & seek slow dance
February 24, 2024
cSPACE Eau Claire
Theme by Desiree Nault, with Rebecca Reid & Ryan Bourne, and Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett
This year, we welcomed the return of the slow dance! Featuring a live band and communal movement games, this performative slow dance invited new and experienced dancers to embrace a poetic relationship to the art of moving their body alone, with, and in front of others by participating in movement games and exercises. The theme of this edition was Hiding & Seeking.
PARTICIPANTS:
Clare Duckett
Desiree Nault
Eric Heitmann
Rebecca Reid
Ryan Bourne
Wayne Garrett
Caitlind Brown
& many dancers!
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THE HIBERNATION STATION 4: public access TV for a live studio audience!
March 1, 2024
cSPACE Eau Claire
Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett
Hearkening to the joys of late night talk shows and public access TV, The Hibernation Station returned with an all-star cast of live performance art, videos, music, interactive bits, comedy, dance, and fun fun fun! Our live audience was ready to laugh, cheer, and cry on demand (just like the live broadcasts of old). Televised video to come!
PARTICIPANTS:
Clare Duckett as Barren Sharon
Hairbrush with Jett Thunders, Helen Y, Scott R, Brady K, and Jordan M
Jennifer Crighton as our head chef
Jack Bride as The Weatherman
Kiki Barua as Massimo
Matthew Waddell as The Queen
Patrick Hamilton as Chip McGrip and Fiona McTaggart as Beanie Madison
SCN Swampy Communications Network, featuring Sean Dunham as Shelly and Amber PB as Slima Garden, with Eric Hill, Sunny Adams, Brette, Carlie, and Joshua
Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett as Hosts, and Wayne Garrett as our Workshop Expert
Thanks to Phil Bowen for being our Director of Videography, Audrey Lane Cockett for their support videography, and Jared Sych for photography! Thanks to Desiree Nault for being our Emotional Director.
THE HIBERNATION PROJECT 