Review
FAMILIAR
Joanne Bristol
Runs until June 26
Stride Gallery
(1004 Macleod Trail S.E.)
What secret lives might our domesticated animals lead when we, their benevolent caregivers, scurry off to jobs, philanthropic engagements, basket-weaving classes and cocktail parties? Holly Golightly’s cat was lucky enough to be set free from Audrey Hepburn’s incapable but lovely and composed hands. But what misadventures and innovations was that rascal cat up to when Holly was digging up trouble at Tiffany’s and Sing Sing?
Joanne Bristol’s cat Sabre is just that sort of classy debutante: "androgynous, mid-30s in cat years, serious demeanor – not unlike Rem Koolhaas."
Bristol closely examines her relationship with Sabre through the installation Familiar, featuring video works, architectural plans, scripts and photographs, currently on exhibit at Stride Gallery.
Bristol says that the work is "inspired by the idea that the personal is the political." She operates the Institute for Feline + Human Collaboration in Banff. Domesticated animals – often called "pets," since that is what we love to do to them – could in fact be the "comfy hostages" that Bristol calls them. Hosting a pet in your home sets up a whole list of negotiations and reconsiderations of what you thought was your space, as any kitten owner will attest. In the interest of not bargaining with our pets, but rather graciously welcoming them into our homes, would it not make sense to develop one or two architectural changes? Maybe a palm frond here, a retractable skylight there? This line of thinking is the basis of Bristol’s blueprints, some of which are a Fritz Lang Metropolis gone wild, others, utopian feline bungalows.
The word amateur, Bristol notes, actually comes from a word meaning "lover" – an amateur is one who does something for love. As an amateur but ambitious architectural draftsperson, Bristol has crafted several housing scenarios for herself and Sabre as roommates, in the hope of providing a cat playland worthy of the animal she loves.
Taking the role of researcher, Bristol presents her observations with equal parts cool calculation and genuine, maternal, fragile love for Sabre. Of course, it’s crucial to note that Sabre herself is no wallflower. She’s a collaborator in all this. Her cameos pepper the exhibition with wily sass. Co-starring are a few of her toys: Verne the vet, Slappy the spotted bat and Carmen – a fuzzy wool cylinder of a square-eyed chew toy with more bravado than any cover girl of recent years.
Video footage of auditions for a Sabre theme song – look for what might be an in-training Bikini Kill cover band – sums up the nuts and bolts of Bristol’s relationship with her cat: Sabre looks to her for food. Of course, fuddy-duddies like this writer and the artist who crafted this work would argue there is some kind of psychic, emotional connection we share with our pets. Isn’t there?
Cat Toy, an artist’s multiple by Bristol available for sale at Stride for the duration of the show, is a must-have for refined felines, who will be charmed to hear that proceeds go to the Bow Valley SPCA.
This investigative body of work takes empirical evidence by the ear and twists. It’s sharp, funny and wise. Pet lovers and art lovers alike should follow their instincts and take in Familiar. |
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