Tag Archives: sarah beck

New work for ‘Drawing For Art’

‘We refuse to be worn out’, 2021.

Since becoming a mom I’ve struggled to get back to the studio. Pandemic life with a new pandemic baby in the mix has stolen the last of the solo hours reserved for my practice.

The same day Station Gallery’s Olexander Wlasenko asked me to contribute to ‘Drawing for Art’ I read about the death of Lauren Berlant, a cultural theorist with whom I was unfamiliar. Intrigued by her work, her quote ‘We refuse to be worn out’ immediately connected with me.

I created this piece over the past three weeks in fits and starts, once my little ones were asleep, dedicating my domestic labour to her words as if a mantra. Made from materials around my home I stitched the quote into an old pillowcase each night before I lay down for my few hours of sleep. It was made as a dogged, domestic and exuberant endurance work.

Materials: Pillowcase, left over thread, recycled frame and oval mats.

‘Drawing For Art’ takes place September 30th and you can learn more about it and how you can scoop up this baby on the gallery’s website.

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Interview on CBC

Last week I had the pleasIMG_9652ure of speaking with Doug Dirks from CBC Radio’s Homestretch. We had a chance to discuss the inspiration behind ÖDE.

Calgary – you can still catch the exhibition at The Military Museums.

 

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THE SANDWICH PROJECT

endless_shiftIt’s finally upon us! Waiter’s Hourglass will be on display starting tomorrow night at The Art Gallery of Windsor as part of The Sandwich Project. The exhibition considers the ways in which food is a metaphor for economic consciousness. Through the themes of food sustainability, consumerism, and consumption, the exhibition considers the effects of food on a community, a culture’s economic growth, and the overall well-being of the body.

Oh, and did I mention I will be showing alongside Andy Warhol?!

June 1 – September 30, 2018.

The opening reception will take place June 1st, at 7pm.

Also, June 2nd at 1pm I will be participating in a panel. Other panelists include Elizabeth Buset, Dr. Adam Lauder, and Dr. Robert Nelson. We will be reflecting on how we depict food, theorize food, and engage with food in a material fashion. I will be sharing an excerpt from my novel Currency.

 

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Photo Narratives

Beck4Photo Narratives is featuring a series of my images titled ‘Passing‘. I began my career as a photographer, then found my way to installation and sculpture. I can’t say how refreshing it was to sort through my endless photo library to put a series together – never forget your first love.

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Room Magazine

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I was delighted to receive word that Waiter’s Hourglass will be featured in the upcoming issue of Room Magazine. Room is Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal showcasing fiction, poetry, reviews, art work, interviews and profiles about the female experience.

Waiter’s Hourglass, as you can imagine, was inspired by my years of working in the service industry. According to the last census Canada has more artists than auto workers. Many of us seek work as servers and bartenders to subsidize our practices and provide us with flexibility. While a waitress I was often engaged in menial tasks, watching the hours drain away, wishing I was instead in my studio doing work for myself. Waiter’s Hourglass is an ode to this experience, illustrated by the materials of the trade – two ketchup bottles.

 

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Money is in reality just an embodiment, a condensation, a materialization of a network of social relations…    -Slavoj Žižek
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After hundreds of hours pushing dyed sand, grain by grain, with a razor blade, the $1000 mandala is done. The evidence of my labour is visible in the missing paint that my butt rubbed off the floor!

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And once the exhibition was over…

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Learn more about my Mandala series here.

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Debt+ on NY1

Reporter Ruschell Boone from NY1 stopped by Flux Factory before Debt+ opened to have a look around and a preview of the exhibition. I barely recognize the mandala now that I am in the home stretch!

Be sure to stop by June 24 at 7pm to see the Closing Performances and to see the finished mandala before it is swept away.

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Gothamist & Art F City

Debt-Positive-logo-webAccording to The Gothamist, swinging by Flux Factory to see Debt+ is one of 20 Ways To Make Your June Jubilant! Who doesn’t want to be more jubilant?

Art F City has also called it one of This Weeks Must See Art Events.

June 24, 7pm: Closing Performances including the completed $1000 Mandala

The American Mandala I am creating is of the now defunct $1000 bill featuring Grover Cleveland. This amount reflects Flux Factory’s rent when they opened their doors in 1993 – an amount that seems impossibly low today. The $1000 bill was withdrawn from circulation in 1969 due to its use by organized crime. With the rise of electronic transactions, the need for larger denominations has dissipated, yet they remain rare collector’s items worth more than their face value.

Gallery Hours: Thursday–Saturday 12-6pm, June 4-24

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Clean Sweep

temp_regrann_1462805611001Shlomi Greenspan and I presented ‘Clean Sweep‘ as part of Gallery Galleria at the Galleria Mall May 12-17, 2016. ‘Clean Sweep’ is a claw machine filled with a miniature world.

Gallery Galleria is a series of socially-engaged contemporary art projects that respond to the Galleria Shopping Centre’s architecture and celebrate its role as an informal gathering place. Works by participating artists highlight the ecologies and eccentricities of one of the city’s first enclosed malls. As Toronto’s urbanization continues to intensify, the exhibition will honour and preserve the site’s intangible cultural history in light of the neighbourhood’s imminent redevelopment. With works by Sarah Beck & Shlomi Greenspan, Adrian Blackwell, Oliver Husain, Jessica Vallentin, and Marjan Verstappen. Curated by Aisle 4

Want to learn more? Peter Knegt wrote an article for  CBC’s Arts section you can read here. Terence Dick also wrote an article for Akimblog you can read here.

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Instawhat

Cfq9ZV6XEAAWrFWDid I ever mention I have an Instagram account? Check it out at @spark_life.

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