Artists participating, along with Patrick Mahon (ON): Colette Urban (Nfld); Sara Hartland-Rowe (NS); Chris Down (NB) Caroline Boileau (QC); Sheila Butler (ON); Diana Thorneycroft (MB) Allison Norlen (SK); Sean Caulfield (AB); Ben Reeves (BC); William Noah (NU)
In this bookwork, eleven Canadian artists contributed to the production of an 'exquisite corpse' drawing of water utilizing the famous 'blind' process developed by the Surrealists. Artists from all parts of Canada (10 provinces and Nunavut) were asked to engage in making an extended drawing of water: they were given a blank paper embellished with a copy of the 'edge' of another artist's drawing to which they were to attach their own drawing. The respective emphasis of each artist's contribution to the bookwork was entirely up to its maker, whether focused on water expressively, symbolically, rhetorically, through humour, or critique, etc. The original drawing book was displayed within the Rodman Hall exhibition, "The Source: Rethinking Water through Contemporary Art," and a limited-edition printed version of the book, set within a watery blue cover – an extended visual meditation on water at an important time in history, especially regarding the environment – was produced in an edition of 200.
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