Up and Down: Downtown Eastside Architecture by artist Arni Haraldsson is a publication made along with his exhibition under the same name at Artspeak in 2003. It was also produced at the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Carnegie Centre — a community centre at the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES). This exhibition publication is comprised of 12 postcards that pair photographs of the DTES by Arni Haraldsson between the early1990s and the early 2000s with passages on the back by artists and writers whose practices share similar concerns over the gentrification process and related socio-economic problems at the DTES.
Although a deck of postcards isn’t any novelty in the realm of artists’ books, this publication is peculiar in its contrast of the aesthetics of architecture photography and urban decay, and the dire message it bears which is shown in the very limited but carefully selected texts. The photographs have a uniformed “detached” and documentary feeling to them, yet they also strike a sense of melancholy as there is barely any figure in these slightly dark-lit architecture shots. Some of them juxtapose abandoned or dated buildings with the newly built ones or the enormous cranes by the water and the prestigious neighbourhood across the water. Some of them simply expose dark and filthy alleys (not to say that there isn’t artistic or aesthetic value to it).
But it isn’t until you flip the card over and see the rather blunt criticism in the text towards all aspects of the city development in Vancouver at the time, that you realize that Haraldsson wants to show the authentic DTES. There are complaints of politicians by name of their economic or housing policies that caused more severe social inequality, disappointment and despair in the changing urban landscape into a sea of generic-looking high-rise condominiums, and description of increasing violent incidents witnessed by the neighbourhood. There are even underlines below certain words that force you to notice them: burned out, very sick, Vancouver.
As a first generation immigrant to Vancouver, I’ve always been fascinated by the dynamics at the DTES, as it is constantly in the spotlight of many pressing social issues in the city: housing crisis, fentanyl epidemic… It seems to operate in its own rhythm and habitat, yet it reflects the brutal truth that we all live in without a filter. Up and Down: Downtown Eastside Architecture also strikes a cord in my own interaction with the space since I moved to the city. I am now intrigued to take a stroll again in this unique neighbourhood that refuses to be defined by a few words.
Works Cited
Haraldsson, Arni. Up and Down: Downtown Eastside Architecture. Vancouver, BC : Artspeak, 2003.
Up & Down : Downtown Eastside Architecture by
“Chirashi: Stories from the Garden” by Baco Ohama (Call Number 0091)
Baco Ohama is a Japanese-Canadian artist who works primarily with text. She has various artist publications, some in tandem with exhibitions, and others as works on their own.
“CHIRASHI: stories from the garden” is an artist’s book interlaced with poetry, personal narratives, and documentation of family history in both text and photographs. Through poetic descriptions of gardens, recountings of familial relationships, and a transcription of a letter, Ohama builds a portrait of her grandmother, Asayo Murakami, with implications to the pains of loss, quiet joys, and excitement of discovery of cultural heritage.
The book begins with a poem depicting her grandmother in the garden, and through this fragmented depiction, Ohama indicates the struggle of language barrier and loss of fluid communication. She ends the poem introducing a letter written to her grandma, the writing of it being “a slow process” for her as she must check and double-check translations.
Ohama’s letter to her grandmother exists in this book fragmented, with each successive piece of it marking a different section of the book. The letter is written in Japanese hiragana, in Japanese romanized phonetics, and in English, highlighting the process of translation, Ohama’s efforts to communicate with her grandmother, and her efforts to connect with her history.
Much of the book’s content are fragmented memories and stories, often retold by different family members. Many pages are accompanied by family photographs, printed on translucent vellum sheets, making the text on either side partially visible through them. The visual effect is a delicate fogginess, emulating the feeling of recollecting memories.
As the reader pieces together the snippets of stories around Ohama’s grandmother, they are made increasingly aware of the transference of a culture from one geographical location to another, and its effects on the passing of culture through ongoing generations. Ohama’s process of cultural recovery through the making of this book underlies each page, revealing the pains and the joys of being a part of a diaspora and having to search for your histories. Ohama wisely states:
“The bridges are there between generations. Between sansei and yonsei and our issei and nissei parents and grandparents. There is much to be shared when we open ourselves to the lives and experiences, the stories and the love, the pain and the treasures of one another.
At times when we get so busy and caught up with the multitude of things we must do each day we may forget to walk over that bridge.
When we do it’s quite possible that we will discover … /
… a garden in full bloom”
The book is finished off with a glossary of Japanese words used in the text.
Linda Ohama, has filmed a documentary of their grandmother titled “Obachan’s Garden”, which will be showing next Monday at the Cinematheque, Vancouver.
Additional Resources:
http://japanesecanadianartists.com/artist/baco-ohama/
https://wsworkshop.org/collection/until-my-body-says-sleep-kokyo/
Brick Press is an independent publisher (or small press) local to Vancouver. Run by Ryan Smith and Kelin Kaardal, Brick Press prints and distributes various publication projects, often by other local artists in Vancouver or other independent printers and publishers.
As an independent publisher, Brick Press is not associated with large corporations or high-budget market distribution, but rather focuses on distributing local, and perhaps more niche content that would be difficult to find in wider publishing markets.
Their studio uses a mechanical offset printing press and various book-binding equipment to create their publications, all done start to finish by hand (this is a lot of work!). Distribution of their books occurs at book fairs, galleries, online, and at their shop.
Find out more about Brick Press by visiting their website, Instagram, and their shop in Vancouver!
247 Main Street, Vancouver, BC -- Open Sundays from 12-5 pm.
@brickpress on Instagram
“The State of Art” vol. 1-3 by Annette Avalon (Call no. 1561, v2, v3)
Published by Brick Press
In this three volume set, Annette Avalon overviews the state of contemporary art and its institution. Fast-paced, often hilarious, and equally poignant, Avalon’s critique of the current conditions of the contemporary art world is relatable and stinging.
“Hi My Name is Stephanie :) I’m Studying in Holland” by Tiffin Breen (Call no. 1750)
Published by Brick Press
This book compiles documentation of the author’s correspondence during her time self-employed as a sex worker. The reader candidly looks into various conversations and online interactions experienced by the author.
Cathy Busby is a Canadian artist now based in Vancouver, BC. Her works are often political and site-specific. Busby’s work often looks at personal and private pain, and how it can become politicized and commodified in the public realm. Although her works are shown in exhibition format, “artist books and printed matter are an integral part of [her] practice. As works in themselves, they describe and expand a project while extending its reach through distribution” (Busby). Often Busby’s work comes in both formats, as seen with the following projects, and others such as “Your Choice” (2008) and “About Face” (2012).
“Sorry” by Cathy Busby (2008) -- Call Number: 0720
“Sorry” is a project by Cathy Bubsy focused on questioning the artificiality of public remorse. It was first exhibited in Hamilton, Ontario in 2005, followed by an exhibition in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the same year, and finally in Sydney, Australia in 2008. The artists book version of the work was published in Halifax in 2008.
In this project, Busby examines the rise of public remorse as a political action by displaying blown up images of different apologist’s mouths. Each image represents a moment of remorse, and although the mouths are often characterized by a trembling lip, they are also often a stern mouth, a complacent mouth, or even a grinning mouth. Robin Metcalfe notes that “the ‘trembling lip’ apology [...] has the curious effect of eclipsing those actually suffering the consequences of the act for which apology is given, emphasizing instead the subjective condition of the one apologizing”. Focus on solely the mouth (or “trembling lip”) highlights the theatricality and artificiality of public apologies. Busby includes public apologies of varied consequence, ranging from apologies for accidental nudity to apologies for ongoing histories of cultural genocide. When faced with only the images, the severity and significance from apology to apology cannot be detected, thus causing the reader to question the sincerity of each apologist.
The book version of this project compiles all of these photos, one per page, and is followed by a list of the apologies, apologists, and brief contexts. Although the book does not recreate the extreme size of the images when in exhibition format, the images in the book are still larger than life, causing discomfort and anxiety for the reader. The book version also includes an index, and two interviews to contextualize the project.
“We Are Sorry” by Cathy Busby (2010) -- Call Number: 1411
Similar to the above-mentioned project “Sorry” (2008), “We Are Sorry” (2010) explores the political and public action of apologizing, more specifically in relation to the oppression of indigenous peoples and cultures in Canada and Australia. This work was first exhibited as a public mural in Melbourne, Australia from 2009-2013, in the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2010, and in Belkin Gallery in Vancouver, Canada in 2013. The artists book was published in 2010 and contains excerpts from both apologies, one read in each direction of the book by flipping it over.
Busby again uses the blown-up mouth as identifiers of the apologists, though more confrontational is a mural of vinyl text -- a transcription of, in the Melbourne exhibition, Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s indigenous peoples, and in the Canadian exhibitions, Stephen Harper’s apology to former students of residential schools in Canada. With these focused transcriptions, Busby points out the use of apology to reinforce colonial ideologies and even cloak economic benefit (Gaertner). Although many have described these public apologies as meaningless, one can read them as political moves to instill and retain power and control.
Busby’s work makes no explicit commentary on the apologies themselves, but draws extended attention to their happening, and asks its viewers to look deeper into the causes and effects of these attempts at amendment. In both exhibition and book format, it serves to prolong the existence of these political actions in mass media in order to stop them from phasing out of discourse. Busby’s work in relation to the the institutional treatment of indigenous peoples in Canada extends further into a series of other projects, the most recent being “We Call” (2017).
Works in the Emily Carr Library:
ExCat 5707 “Branded” (2008)
0720 “Sorry” (2008)
0721 “Your Choice” (2008)
1411 “We Are Sorry” (2010)
0722 “About Face” (2012)
1350 “Steve’s Vinyl” (2013)
Additional Resources:
Cathy Busby website:
http://www.cathybusby.ca/index.php
Gaertner, David. “Apology’s Worth It: How Canada Profits From Apology”, Novel Alliances: Allied Perspectives on Literature, Art, and New Media. May 22, 2014.
https://novelalliances.com/2014/05/22/apologys-worth-it-how-canada-profits-from-apology/
Miyagawa, Mitch. “A Sorry State”, December 12, 2009. Updated May 1, 2017.
https://thewalrus.ca/a-sorry-state/
Bachlakova, Polina. “The Work of Cathy Busby”, BeatRoute. December 2, 2013.
http://beatroute.ca/2013/12/02/the-work-of-cathy-busby/
Wirk, Mandeep. “ACT NOW on Reconciliation”, Rungh. May 21, 2018.
http://rungh.org/act-now-on-reconciliation/
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