It all becomes clearer when you consider the root of the word "collaboration." There, at the heart, is the concept of Laboratorio - to work with one another, to create a laboratory for ideas packaged in a series of thought-provoking art events held over three weekends at various locations on the Coast.
Organizer Giorgio Magnanensi hopes to experiment in that laboratory, to foster that collaboration of mediums that creates new art from existing art. He, Heather Gatz and Steve Wright were responsible for the first Laboratorio event held at the Arts Centre in 2009, a series of auditory creations along with visual art.
"I didn't want Laboratorio to be identified with just one discipline, sound," Magnanensi said.
The series seeks to engage the community in the aesthetics of many disciplines - film, dance, sculpture - through workshops, discussions and audience participation.
Last weekend, film animator Matthew Talbot-Kelly presented one of his latest animated shorts, The Trembling Veil of Bones, an experience rich in surreal imagery and accompanied by a live soundtrack - that of an ensemble responding sonically to the images.
"I want to open a window into his work," Magnanensi says. He can show digitally how the work is put together, first in its draft form, then sketches, to the use of technology to compose the finished product.
This weekend (Sept. 16 and 17) an artist of the acoustic environment, Vancouver-based Hildegard Westerkamp, offers a Sound Walk in Roberts Creek (on Friday) with a discussion in preparation for Saturday's visit to sculptor Geoffrey Smedley on Gambier Island. Smedley's stellar career includes study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, teaching at University of British Columbia and exhibitions at more than 60 galleries. His Gambier metal-working studio features large kinetic sculptures.
When Magnanensi first visited the artist, he was struck by how these carefully fabricated moving sculptures made an unusual soundscape, the gears, cogs and pendulums creating a time and meter symbolization. It is this kind of creative inspiration that fuels the Laboratorio events. Rather than simply observing, he hopes the events will foster better attention to how we listen.
A third workshop planned for the weekend of Sept. 23 and 24 has changed its focus. Instead of a scheduled discussion with multimedia artist Jackson 2bears, the event will offer a performance on Sept. 24 from cellist/electronic musicianCris Derksen from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, 5714 Medusa at Trail Avenue in Sechelt. In the second part of the evening, Derksen willbe joinedby a diverse group of local musicians includingMagnanensi, Andrew Bate, Stefan Smulovitz,Barry Taylor and Steve Wright.
Derksen is a half-Cree, classically-trained Canadian cellist with captivating melodies and steadfast baselines. She is able to easily meld into hip-hop,rock, folk and country, and she brings an intense musical passion to her work.Using a loop station and effect pedals, she is able to create an inspiring multi-dimensionalauditory experience. She also uses her voice in spoken word and song to layer melodies and to construct a song form in a way that is uncharted for most classical players.Using sounds from her inherited past, she mixes the traditional with the contemporary.
All Laboratorio events are free or by donation, courtesy of various local sponsors and by a grant from Canadian Heritage. Participants pay their own ferry fare for the trip to Smedley's workshop, and they must be pre-registered as space is limited. For more information, contact [email protected] or 604-886-9066. More about the Laboratorio Arts Society can be found at www.laboratorio.ca.
