In their words: Conversations with Writing Topography artists—#02: Gerald Vaandering
To view on the web click the link below
http://beaverbrookartgallery.org/en/blog/in-their-words-conversations-with-writing-topography-artists-02-gerald-vaandering/
admin November 10, 20150 Comments
Over the next several weeks, we will be posting interviews with artists currently featured in the Gallery’s Writing Topography exhibition. These interviews were conducted by Rebecca Goodine, a university student participating in an internship at the Gallery. These interviews present artists talking about themselves and their work in their own words.
Interviews were conducted with the artists by email, and have been lightly edited for grammar and flow (occasionally, questions and responses have been removed). At the end of interviews, we’ve included some links to provide a bit more information about a topic or theme from the interview; these links have been chosen by us, and were not provided by the artists.
Gerald Vaandering
“Creativity, among hundreds of other definitions….. is about making ways to make a normal person walk strangely, for the sake of saving the soul.”
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your artistic practice.
Myself…. never really think of myself in ways that can be put to words in any brief statement. It is always cumbersome. I am an artist, since I was a kid, capable technically but mostly I experience art as a way to see.
How would you describe your work in the exhibition?
This most recent installation project is not a nostalgic look back but rather a very progressive presentation of an idea that is an exceptionally simple, beautiful and sobering. In the forests of Newfoundland the black spruce often grows with a curved trunk, a sought-after shape for boat builders creating the bow of a boat. It is strong because it grew into that shape. It was not forced into shape by the boat builders.
For this installation I cut down a good number of these curved trunks and using them as a support, I mounted archetypal houses on each. Combined, it presents itself as a wave of houses, a sort of indiscriminate development or indicator of “progress,” depending on whose vantage point we are looking.
The issues presented are sociological and geographical. They involve economics, the environment, and the challenge to be wise as we move from understanding our sense of place within the changing economic climate in which we find ourselves. The unbridled ebb and flow is currently seen in the housing market in Newfoundland and in many places across Canada. But this more than just about houses.
Can you tell us about the process of creating the work in the exhibition?
Technically…. I walked through the forest looking for the curved trees, cut them, stripped the bark off them and let them dry out for a year. I built the houses out of Styrofoam and epoxy. Lots of sanding. Initially I wanted the logs to be self standing but practically that did not work and in the end the rebar suited the installation well, being a building material it also practically supports the work.
What was the inspiration for this work?
Well that is always a loaded question. Looking at the world around me inspired the work. Playing the game Settlers of Catan inspired me, those little houses showing domination, and as much as clear cutting happens everywhere in the world where there are forests, when my neighbour cut down several acres of a beautiful forest that I thought always looked somewhat magical…. that just put me over the top. But “clear cutting” is more than a term for deforestation, for me, it also applies to so much of the way we disregard the environment for the sake of economic gain. I have seen it (with) both small and big business.
What was the development process like from your initial idea to the finished work?
This was one of those pieces that did not change much from the initial idea, even though I did start the work 5 years ago. I think I was expecting it to change and I was waiting for it. Just never happened.
What is it you hope for the viewer to discover or consider through this work?
“What are we doing?” Everyone knows what we are doing, global warming is not a big secret anymore. So what are we doing?
What do you find most compelling or enjoyable about this particular work?
I think it looks beautiful, fun, and poignantly compelling all at the same time.
How does your work connect with broader themes?
Nothing is born out of a vacuum. People have always moved to where the land would support them, all through history. In Newfoundland it was the cod, in fact it was on their postal stamps at one time. “Codfish…Newfoundland currency.” Today people live and are sustained by the offshore oil.
My bibliography includes discussions about culture and the economy and how we understand, even define ourselves in the light of our pursuit for economic gain. John Ralston Saul, Unconscious civilization, (and) the well-known book Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner (2009), explore and expose the hidden side of this world’s economic development. What exploration of economics would be complete without some exploration into Adam Smith (1776), the father of modern capitalism. Boomerang by Michael Lewis is a great read about the world economic crisis and he explains well the greed we all live in and for. These themes are not hard to find in everyday radio, television, the news, etc. It is everywhere.
What are your larger thoughts on the themes of the Writing Topography exhibit, and how it relates to your piece?
That is a hard one since I am not conversant in the body of work presented there but it does feel good to see work that seems to agree with me. Working alone in a studio can get you wondering.
Pine Clad Hills has such an interesting juxtaposition to it, the standardized houses created in primary colors sitting on top of a wave of logs and steel. Could you discuss this element of precariousness in your work? What is it about Newfoundland environment and industry that has interested you?
This is complex but I will make it very simple… the pursuit of progress paradoxically seems to be what will kill us. If not environmentally then at least at the core of who we could be. The houses are riding a wave, waves that never gently caress the shore. Aside from the reference to the Newfoundland Cod and then the oil industry mentioned earlier…. well, this is more than just NL, this is everywhere.
What does ‘creativity’ mean to you?
Creativity, among hundreds of other definitions….. is about making ways to make a normal person walk strangely, for the sake of saving the soul.
What kinds of things do you find helpful as sources of inspiration?
Honestly, pretty much everything is seen as a source on inspiration, that and God.
What advice do you have to give to new and aspiring artists?
Don’t spend too much time thinking about your audience. If your work is good the audience will think about the work, that would be a great success.
To view on the web click the link below
http://beaverbrookartgallery.org/en/blog/in-their-words-conversations-with-writing-topography-artists-02-gerald-vaandering/
admin November 10, 20150 Comments
Over the next several weeks, we will be posting interviews with artists currently featured in the Gallery’s Writing Topography exhibition. These interviews were conducted by Rebecca Goodine, a university student participating in an internship at the Gallery. These interviews present artists talking about themselves and their work in their own words.
Interviews were conducted with the artists by email, and have been lightly edited for grammar and flow (occasionally, questions and responses have been removed). At the end of interviews, we’ve included some links to provide a bit more information about a topic or theme from the interview; these links have been chosen by us, and were not provided by the artists.
Gerald Vaandering
“Creativity, among hundreds of other definitions….. is about making ways to make a normal person walk strangely, for the sake of saving the soul.”
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your artistic practice.
Myself…. never really think of myself in ways that can be put to words in any brief statement. It is always cumbersome. I am an artist, since I was a kid, capable technically but mostly I experience art as a way to see.
How would you describe your work in the exhibition?
This most recent installation project is not a nostalgic look back but rather a very progressive presentation of an idea that is an exceptionally simple, beautiful and sobering. In the forests of Newfoundland the black spruce often grows with a curved trunk, a sought-after shape for boat builders creating the bow of a boat. It is strong because it grew into that shape. It was not forced into shape by the boat builders.
For this installation I cut down a good number of these curved trunks and using them as a support, I mounted archetypal houses on each. Combined, it presents itself as a wave of houses, a sort of indiscriminate development or indicator of “progress,” depending on whose vantage point we are looking.
The issues presented are sociological and geographical. They involve economics, the environment, and the challenge to be wise as we move from understanding our sense of place within the changing economic climate in which we find ourselves. The unbridled ebb and flow is currently seen in the housing market in Newfoundland and in many places across Canada. But this more than just about houses.
Can you tell us about the process of creating the work in the exhibition?
Technically…. I walked through the forest looking for the curved trees, cut them, stripped the bark off them and let them dry out for a year. I built the houses out of Styrofoam and epoxy. Lots of sanding. Initially I wanted the logs to be self standing but practically that did not work and in the end the rebar suited the installation well, being a building material it also practically supports the work.
What was the inspiration for this work?
Well that is always a loaded question. Looking at the world around me inspired the work. Playing the game Settlers of Catan inspired me, those little houses showing domination, and as much as clear cutting happens everywhere in the world where there are forests, when my neighbour cut down several acres of a beautiful forest that I thought always looked somewhat magical…. that just put me over the top. But “clear cutting” is more than a term for deforestation, for me, it also applies to so much of the way we disregard the environment for the sake of economic gain. I have seen it (with) both small and big business.
What was the development process like from your initial idea to the finished work?
This was one of those pieces that did not change much from the initial idea, even though I did start the work 5 years ago. I think I was expecting it to change and I was waiting for it. Just never happened.
What is it you hope for the viewer to discover or consider through this work?
“What are we doing?” Everyone knows what we are doing, global warming is not a big secret anymore. So what are we doing?
What do you find most compelling or enjoyable about this particular work?
I think it looks beautiful, fun, and poignantly compelling all at the same time.
How does your work connect with broader themes?
Nothing is born out of a vacuum. People have always moved to where the land would support them, all through history. In Newfoundland it was the cod, in fact it was on their postal stamps at one time. “Codfish…Newfoundland currency.” Today people live and are sustained by the offshore oil.
My bibliography includes discussions about culture and the economy and how we understand, even define ourselves in the light of our pursuit for economic gain. John Ralston Saul, Unconscious civilization, (and) the well-known book Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner (2009), explore and expose the hidden side of this world’s economic development. What exploration of economics would be complete without some exploration into Adam Smith (1776), the father of modern capitalism. Boomerang by Michael Lewis is a great read about the world economic crisis and he explains well the greed we all live in and for. These themes are not hard to find in everyday radio, television, the news, etc. It is everywhere.
What are your larger thoughts on the themes of the Writing Topography exhibit, and how it relates to your piece?
That is a hard one since I am not conversant in the body of work presented there but it does feel good to see work that seems to agree with me. Working alone in a studio can get you wondering.
Pine Clad Hills has such an interesting juxtaposition to it, the standardized houses created in primary colors sitting on top of a wave of logs and steel. Could you discuss this element of precariousness in your work? What is it about Newfoundland environment and industry that has interested you?
This is complex but I will make it very simple… the pursuit of progress paradoxically seems to be what will kill us. If not environmentally then at least at the core of who we could be. The houses are riding a wave, waves that never gently caress the shore. Aside from the reference to the Newfoundland Cod and then the oil industry mentioned earlier…. well, this is more than just NL, this is everywhere.
What does ‘creativity’ mean to you?
Creativity, among hundreds of other definitions….. is about making ways to make a normal person walk strangely, for the sake of saving the soul.
What kinds of things do you find helpful as sources of inspiration?
Honestly, pretty much everything is seen as a source on inspiration, that and God.
What advice do you have to give to new and aspiring artists?
Don’t spend too much time thinking about your audience. If your work is good the audience will think about the work, that would be a great success.