DANCE CLUB
Friday, February 13
New Gallery
This week, in a unique turn of identity, The New Gallery will act out an interesting play on the maxim "art imitating life" by installing a nightclub within its space.
"What I was looking to do is bring a sense of community to the evening, a place that is sort of reminiscent of the days when I went to Republik," says local artist and Alberta College of Art and Design instructor Shelley Ouellet, the creative force behind Dance Club. "It was a place where I met so many others from the community, it wasn’t just a place to drink or dance but it was a place where I felt at home, with so many different members of the arts community and the community at large."
While Ouellet admits some of the genesis for this event has roots in her own local history, this event is as much in tune with the present as it is with the homage from which it has partially blossomed.
"It’s a participatory event," says Ouellet. "It’s an open invitation to those in attendance to participate in a work of art." The evening’s art angle comes from a series of cameras and monitors located throughout the gallery, all ready to record and catalog the festivities and their subsequent progression or evolution. The resultant footage will be re-edited and compiled by Ouellet.
"I suppose the idea is to be a kind of a voyeur – to look in on people during an event and see what they do, what they act like in front of the camera and how that changes throughout the course of a night. It’s almost like a play on the reality-TV thing but with a very different edge."
Aside from the interactive nature of the work and the evening, Ouellet has an alternate minor agenda in play. It’s one that looks to reconnect the many individuals within the community to each other and to others outside of it. "One of the things I want to accomplish is to give artists and interested members of the city a common meeting point that’s different from other events that have taken place in the New Gallery. For just one night, I want to develop a place to share in the work and in turn, hopefully we’ll reconsider what art is, to both the artist and the community."
To do this Ouellet will completely change the look and feel of the gallery. The mechanical and cosmetic changes are an effort to not only broaden the impact of her work but also to give a fresh experience to the gallery patron.
"It’s an opportunity for people to not only re-conceive what a gallery is and what can be done in a ‘traditional’ gallery space, but also altering perspectives by providing an event that’s a common focal point for a community, even for just one evening."
Dance Club will feature local house DJs Bruno and TJ and the festivities commence at 9 p.m. |
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