Day 3 - Getting to know the Artists

Since experimental sound art is a somewhat unknown medium for a few of us here at the gallery, we wanted to know more about how Ian and Laura had made the progression into this experimental art form. 

Laura had always been interested in music and creating music. She had always owned a guitar, or a clarinet and experimented with sounds. Her mother had been a painter and an artist and Laura explained that the smell of paint and oils feels like home to her. She used music as a jumping point for her visual arts, taking inspiration for her works from peculiar sounds. In Edmonton, Laura with a group of friends and other artists would set up tents outside theatres, and after the shows were over would improvise with sound and vocals. She mentions it was a really interesting cross breeding of different mediums, ideas and spaces. 

Ian had worked as a musician in Edmonton during a time when live music was just becoming really popular in local bars and hotels. The more he played live, his interests gradually progressed to where he was experimenting with free formed, improvised music, and the idea of adding computer generated sounds. 

Laura met Ian at a fringe festival in Edmonton 25 years ago, and the two had never really thought of working together until later in their careers. One evening in Edmonton Laura and Ian were playing solo shows at the same venue and the audience suggested they work together, and so the partnership began. 

In asking how the idea of Instant Places came about, Laura suggests that it began on a tour through Canada and then to Europe. Instead of flying into cities like Berlin,  setting up their installations and then taking off to the next location, they wanted to scout things out at "street level". They wanted to make their own kind of residencies and to really get to know these cities and people on a different level. The pair started inviting locals to perform with them and would broadcast live to different locations. In this sense they are really taking inspiration from their surroundings and allowing their performances to happen in a really organic and natural way. 

Ian explains that with each new city they visit, there is a lot of walking involved. They like to get out and see things on a different level, outside of the protective bubble of a car or away from daily distractions.  That is how they feel they can take ordinary, everyday items or occurrences and incorporate them into their work. 

Stay tuned to the blog for more updates about Instant Places residency. Feel free to stop by the gallery to chat with Ian and Laura about their experiments and work.