Mark Strowbridge

Jessica Thompson

Purchased in 2005, Truck Gallery’s Contemporary Art Mobile Public Exhibition Rig (CAMPER) was a mobile residency program for artists working with the gallery. As a place for visiting artists to work and to get outside the gallery walls, CAMPER’s focus was to interact with the public sphere and to get rid of the austerity and exclusivity that galleries are often accused of.

In 2007, Truck launched the “Patch Project,” whereby the public participated in workshops and learned a variety of techniques — everything from craft-making to death-rock hair and makeup styling. At the end of each workshop, participants earned a unique patch.

The “Patch Project” was put on hiatus this year and CAMPER has returned to the residency model, christened Temporary Resident: Artists for Innovative Contemporary Culture (TR:AFFIC). Every participating artist is asked to program four public events during their stay.

In July, Toronto-based artist Jessica Thompson and her engineering-meets-art projects will occupy the space. She is displaying her laughing bicycle in conjunction with The Good Life Community Bike Shop and Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Festival. While in residence, she is working on a light-and-sound umbrella.

In August, puppeteer and multimedia artist Shawna Reiter takes over and will host four public workshops. In September, in conjuction with Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, local filmmaker Kyle Whitehead moves in, takes CAMPER out to the suburbs and transforms the space into a mobile film laboratory.