DEAR PM vol.16
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 3, 2016 at 7:10 AM
subject Trudeau bien reçu par les dirigeants israéliens; Inuit say gin maker needs to compensate for appropriating culture
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived the drive back to Montreal and the weekend with the family. It was a good weekend: played a lot with the kids, a lot of cat-n-mouse at a few parks. There was a birthday party for Thomas in the Lhasa park on Saturday. And we had Pascal, Sarah and Pip over for supper on Friday. The kids didn’t like my tofu stir-fry on Saturday but it was mostly due to the saffron; I had made it paella-style. Sunday we made a quick studio visit to Sarah and Pascal’s new space, then I dropped Rose and Clo off at the cinema to see Kubo, this time in French, while I went grocery-shopping with Sol after he napped in the car. Picked up supper from Tousignant. Gave the kids a bath and read stories and Rose was asleep by 8 and Sol not too long after. I bought him a small Lego airplane which he loves to bits and back again, repeatedly, so I dug up my old Lego castle for them to play with. They love the drawbridge. The string still works, even after thirty years.
I’ve had a thought I want to add to the Dear PM grant and exhibition proposal: how about projecting the letters on the exterior of a building in downtown Saint John?
Update from the Trudeau metre, after 335 days in office, and of 219 campaign promises you have 62 in progress, 34 achieved and 20 broken, including a big one on maintaining fossil fuel subsidies. I see you are visiting Israel for the Peres funeral: any plans to visit Palestine while you are in the area?
I notice that the ungava gin issue has made headlines. Did I tell you that last week Clo was at an event where a rep from Ubisoft bragged about circumnavigating elders who didn’t want their sacred chants used in a video game and went directly to aboriginal teenagers to get the access? Cultural appropriation, gross.
Happy Monday from the Greyhound bus en route to Ottawa. I’m going to catch some zzzs. -chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 11:48 PM
subject Trudeau pressé d’agir lors d’une cérémonie sur les femmes autochtones disparues; Liberal carbon plan likely to withstand any constitutional challenge by provinces
Dear Justin,
I am still alive I survived another day of work and finished up Sobeys and then an opening at Axneo7 cycling there and eating meat again I don’t think I mentioned that but since staying with Greg and Julia from time to time I eat meat including sandwich meat for lunches sometimes though I try to ensure that it is non hormones grass fed etc. etc. anyway Greg lent me a flashlight for my bike I strapped it on with elastic bands I worked on Dear PM applications tonight before heading out I enjoyed the crowdedness at Axe and seeing Jason and Melanie and Simon and Sara-Anne and Nelly-Eve and eating some beef pie and drinking beers and then cycling back home in the dark and watching the Bue Jays on TV which is something I never due and now I’m tired and will go to sleep.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 10:50 PM
subject Drones armés: le Canada signe une déclaration pour des règles claires; It’s time the feds got off the health-care escalator
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. Survived another day of work, finished the Sobey install in time for the press preview at 10. Also got paid today, it felt a little less than what I was expecting but then realized that the pay period included from when I started on the 1st to the 23rd of September, and there was over $1K taken in taxes, and my account was already overdrawn by a few hundred dollars, so it threw me a bit. Time to start paying some overdue bills.
Had wild messenger and texting exchanges with both Clo and Judith this morning as they reacted to their absences in the recent article Katie wrote about Third Space for Canadian Art. It felt a bit like while male privilege, while the hard work of women goes unmentioned. Katie’s article might just have been edited for length and clarity, but in any case they felt ignored and erased from history.
I finished an application to the SJAC and sent it to Emily at Third Space tonight, if all goes well they will hold a spot for the Dear PM retrospective in November of 2018, and the show would spread along the pedway to Harbour Station. I sometimes get anxiety when I think of all these letters made public. WTF am I doing this for?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 9:36 PM
subject Risques de violences: la construction d’ambassades interdite sur Sussex; Wanted in Iraq: More Canadian intelligence, less ball hockey
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived Thanksgiving 2016 (x2), the bus home from Ottawa on Thursday, a night out at La Plaza that night with Judith and Robert and Pip and Pascal and Sarah and Clo, and then Friday shopping until we dropped (not literally) at Frank n Oak and Coz, then Robert’s book launch and poetry reading at Drawn and Quarterly and the party afterward at editor simon’s house, then a Saturday of laundry and Paw Patrol and playing with the kids and renting Up again, then later the Imitation Game (for Clo and I) and then Sunday and first Thanksgiving with Sarah and Etienne and Femke and a late night and kids in bed by 10:30 and then today Monday a holiday and more fun and then another Thanksgiving chez Pip and home in time to get the kids in bed shortly after 8 and then the house tidied up but no energy to work on grants just want to read New Yorker and go to bed, tomorrow starting work on a Francis Stark install for the Montreal Biennale which should be nice as I’ll be here all week.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 10:28 PM
subject Ottawa doit larguer le «cartel du taxi» pour favoriser Uber, dit Bernier; Former cabinet minister, ex- MP set to enter Conservative leadership race
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived a half day of installing an off-site project for the Biennale, which consisted mostly of walking to the hardware store to buy some, well, hardware. The media for a 3-channel video installation has not yet arrived so no final placement of projectors could be made, no holes drilled, no speakers mounted. Still need to get cables. Spent the morning working on the grant after getting the kids out the door. Rose walks herself to school now did I tell you this already? Clo and I met for supper at Petit Alep, I tried their poutine (made with lamb – third day in a row of blowing vegetarianism out of the water, though technically I am a flexitarian so par for the course, really). Sol was still awake when we got home, though Suzie is really good and efficient at picking up the kids, doing an activity, bringing them home, doing homework, making supper and sometimes even a bath before bed. I fell asleep putting Sol down, which always gives me a bit of insomnia. Maybe Netflix? The New Yorker? Debt or Infinite Jest (both almost abandoned, like 100 years of solitude). What are you reading lately?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 10:39 PM
subject Les consultations du NPD révèlent un soutien au système de vote proportionnel; Ontario woman’s lawsuit against convicted sex killer Russell Williams and his wife is settled
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day on the BNL, driving to Home Depot and then Addison Electronique with Luc to get anchors and cables. Lots of cables. The link to the files for the Frances Stark three-channel video installation just came to me late this afternoon and after starting to download them on the iMac I realize that the disk is full; no room at the inn. I’m trying on the Mac Mini but it is connected wireless and is giving me between 4-11 days estimate to downloading. Then a network error and it stops altogether. I need to remove files from the iMac and try there it was quicker, in the hours at least. Luc and I put up the projector mounts basically as far back as we could go; we’ll hopefully just zoom in to get the right size image. OK so I dumped a bunch of audio and video files on the iMac and am downloading B and C (1 day and 2 hours, respectively), while A is still downloading upstairs (10 hours). Sometimes upstairs it drops to 15KB/s which puts the download at 2-3 days. Ridiculous! I need to go to sleep but am worried something will screw up. Twitter is slow. Who posts your Tweets for you?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 10:18 PM
subject Les ministres de la Justice discuteront de l’enquête sur les femmes autochtones; Activists fight trucking of highly radioactive waste to U.S. as Canada ends medical isotope production
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day of spinning in circles for the BNL. Spent a good chunk of it on Marie- Josée’s admin PC at Optica because the Stark files weren’t downloading to either my Macs or Lorna’s Mac and it seems Macs have a problem with files larger than 4gigs. Then M-J,s computer slowed right down and for most of the afternoon I thought I had broken it as the simplest tasks became tedious and had a tendency to freeze the whole computer. The files had to be authored through a Brightscreen software in order to play on those players. My mood was already in the dumps from a big fight with Clo in the morning, like we’re both just sick and tired of the banality of work ad life and paying bills and sitters and nannies to look after our kids while we work and grow apart. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, but it’s not helping me get motivated to finish this grant or work on any art. It makes me want to disappear.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Oct 14, 2016 at 10:42 PM
subject Le cas Trump dissuadera-t-il des femmes à se lancer en politique?; Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice among four dead in British Columbia plane crash
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day #bnlmtl. First off was a dentist appointment for Rose, who lost a bottom tooth at school yesterday. The Tooth Fairy brought her a her elastic furry ball which she wore today. It was more of the same, with the exception I spoke with Emily at Third Space about the grant. keeps me stressed, only two weeks to go. Kids were up late tonight, I need to share Dear Pm files, I need to go to bed, I need to work tomorrow, I need to work to pay for shit and pay for shit to go to work.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Oct 16, 2016 at 12:18 AM
subject Le cas Trump dissuadera-t-il des femmes à se lancer en politique?; Teen killed by falling tree as violent storm strikes B.C. and another, more powerful one is on the way
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived my last day on the BNLMTL install, which was just as circular and ineffective as the past days: missing gear, lack of clear directives, etc. Working on a Saturday, even just until 3, helped put me into a bad mood. Spending the week at home didn’t make things easier with the kids or help Clo and I connect more, and added to my resentment at Montreal institutions. And muddling through the New Chapter grant texts, probing the reasoning behind the whole Dear PM project, contributes to an overwhelming sadness. I just don’t know where my passion is anymore, it’s like I write these letters and take photos of Tim Horton cups as a final tethering to a promise I made myself a long time ago and can no longer remember, or choose to ignore. Anyway it’s late, S. Roberts came over for a birthday supper, the kids a bit late getting to bed, I fell asleep a bit with Sol, woke up and read in bed a bit more as Clo going out to a Cousins dance party with Roxanne, and tomorrow the whole family off to Gatineau for a family visit. I’d best notify Greg and Julia of our arrival in the evening.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Oct 16, 2016 at 11:34 PM
subject Des amendements imminents au système des suramendes; Water ‘alarmingly’ tainted even on reserves with good treatment plants, study suggests
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. Survived the drive to Gatineau, lunch with Rose-Marie and Gilles, and the a Hubert family reunion housewarming party for Tante Camille in Orleans, then Clo and the kids dropped me off at Greg and Julia’s. The kids ate some pizza and ran about the house playing hide n seek, a little on the wild side but they were so tired. I think they enjoyed playing with their cousins for the afternoon, some of them they haven’t seen in a couple years. Clo drove the kids back to Montreal and I watched some TV and then went online.
I wonder what good reading about Donald Trump can do me. Have to turn off facebook and go to bed. Did no work tonight. -chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 17, 2016 at 11:08 PM
subject Ottawa s’inquiète des menaces russes de piratage informatique; Canadian tax dollars paying for U.S. high-tech workers to build satellites in California
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work at the NGC, seemingly seamlessly slipping back into the swing of things after a week away. Helped hang a 4.5m-long pastel on paper, move a few crates around, uncrated a large triptych, moved it around the gallery. Saw Nicole a fair bit, she had started last week. Might drive back to Montreal with her on Friday. After work I cycled to the YMCA nearby, took a quick tour and started a membership. I need to buy some sneakers and shorts and stuff but I want to start working out in the evenings and doing yoga, getting back in shape mentally and physically. Had supper with Greg and Julia, spaghetti and homemade meat sauce, then watched a little more than half the baseball game. I notice Tim Hortons have made ads targeting Jays fans. I see that Cleveland still have that ridiculous logo, and that a court injunction failed, but what I don’t understand is how their fans can still buy and wear it, and cheer them on. After all, it’s 2016. Anyway I’m going to bed early and will hopefully write more on the grant tomorrow. I asked Robbie in Halifax to do the graphic novel part and Vanessa in NB to contribute her Thought Poems. And Bruce MacKinnon will make a political cartoon as well, so despite it all being so theoretical, it’s coming together.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 11:08 PM
subject Deux nouveaux candidats à la direction du Parti conservateur; Liberals’ carbon pricing along with pipeline approval a winner with voters: poll
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. Happy anniversary: five years ago this day Mathieu Lefevre was tragically killed on his bike in Brooklyn. His light still shines. And today was another day at work but also one where I was offered a term position until May 2017. The full-time contract comes with dental, which only goes into effect in 3 months (I took Rose to the dentist last week and so paid $100). What matter? My credit card is almost maxed out. Tonight I bought running shoes and shorts and started working out at the YMCA. Clo often says she likes my physique more when I work out, and hopefully the released endorphins will keep the dark spells at bay. Maybe not as good as sex but at least more often. Tonight Greg made a lamb curry which we ate while watching the Habs cruise to victory over the Penguins. And the Blue Jays managed to stay alive. I’m still working on the New Chapter grant but now it’s time for sleep.
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 11:28 PM
subject Jean Chrétien estime que Donald Trump «enlève la dignité du service public»; Class action accuses one of Canada’s biggest nursing-home companies of neglecting residents
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived one year since the last election. Remember that? I photo-bombed you as you got on your bus after leaving the main Papineau polling station. You were there with your whole family and a phalanx of reporters. I just added the memory to my Facebook feed. I also survived watching the Trum- Clinton debate, though now I feel as though I have been dragged naked through an automobile car wash. Odd how I still feel dirty. I almost wish that self-centred misogynist megalomaniac wins the presidency just to watch him squirm for 4 years. One can dislike Clinton for many reasons but at least she doesn’t debate like a spoiled bully of a child. I worked out again at the Y after work and then met with Charles to discuss a contribution to the Dear PM monograph, then after supper with Greg and Julia and the *shudder* debate I’m in bed writing to you and going through Tinder and having that awkward moment of realization when you see a friend and colleague o the site and know you have to bring it up with them.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 11:55 PM
subject Slow economy could add billions to federal deficit, Bill Morneau warns; Le Canada et la Russie s’échangent des pointes à l’ONU
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived walking to work in order to stop and buy ad umbrella from a Shoppers Drug Mart that is listed on Apple Maps but doesn’t in real life (found one at a dep instead) because the forecast called from rain and it was right. Moved some silver at work, attended a guided tour through the Cutline show of Globe and Mail archive images, walked home, worked out at the Y, met my new friend Katherine at the Museum of Nature who gave me a tour – quite the fantastic structure, and amazing renovations. We ate at a burger place called The Works and talked politics, my project and your unwillingness to follow-through on electoral reform. Came home in time to catch Rex Murphy digging into you on the electoral reform dodge as well. Iliana texted me to ask why on the revenu Quebec business tax information page they still have a clause that states the following: “In calculating your total supplies do not include … supplies made to Indians”. what does this even mean?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 6:59 AM
subject Objectif: 100 millions de Canadiens d’ici 2100 ?; Former cabinet minister Steven Blaney officially joins Conservative leadership race
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived Friday at work and the drive home to Montreal. It felt good to give her tips on how to navigate through the rush-hour traffic on the 15 and 40. I’m still not great with Ottawa navigation though I did suggest we take Aviation to get out of the city and it seemed to avoid some snarls. She dropped me off near Petit Alep, where I was meeting Clo and Jess and Greg who were in the city visiting. Then Clo and I were off to Pascal and Sarah’s studio to celebrate her birthday. Did I tell you Clo is going to take a small section of the studio for herself? She brought a few things over on Sunday while I was craving pumpkins and making soup from squash. It was a home-style weekend for us, no gallery visits or planned events, except a playdate for Rose with Colette on Saturday.
Wow, this bus is flying. On the overpasses heading east it really feels like flight.
Have you had a chance to see the new season of Black Mirror? I had only watched the Christmas special that they did back in 2014, and even then I only finished that last night, after feeling emotionally thrown under the bus from the first two episodes of season three. The first we watched, Nosedive, was mostly comedic, but the second, about the experimental gaming tests, really freaked us out. True horror, made me paranoid and anxious and stuck in my own head, a bit like pot. In searching for a palette-cleanser watched a new stand up bit by Louis CK. Felt good to laugh. The series really plays up the unknowable state of death and teases out technological wizardry in extending life, or at least, a certain semblance of a life. Not sure a copy would be so accurate, but if we’re all in a simulation, then why not? So nightmarish.
I’m going to try to catch a bit of sleep before work, as I didn’t sleep much last night. After Black Mirror it was Erika Lust and you can probably imagine where that can lead.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 11:27 PM
subject Libre-échange avec l’UE: l’ajout d’une disposition n’a pas suffi; Ontario nurse accused of killing eight elderly nursing home patients over period of seven years
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday at work, helped take down the Fafard horses in front of the gallery, then installed a show of drawings, and have been working on the Dear PM grant. And working out at the YMCA. My rhythm is thus: I run between 4-5 kilometres on the treadmills, then do a few cycles of machine and free weights. In the evenings, after a meal and wine with Greg and Julia, I’m exhausted. Watched the Habs game last night and most of the first game of the World Series tonight, all while working on the grant. I want it to be over with so I can settle into other routines, or explore new ones, and not worry about deadlines for awhile. I have a contract until May, even taking my first vacation day next Monday. I’ve decided not to drive to work and try to get back in time for trick or treating, instead will take the day to try to finally apply for our parking permit. Fuck why does shit like that have to take so much time and effort (first world problem). Now off to bed and maybe Netflix? No, just bed.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 11:21 PM
subject Maxime Bernier courtise les propriétaires d’armes à feu; Wide open Tory leadership race offers party a chance to remake itself
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day at work, another day at the gym and then after that grabbed some pad thai on Bank St. before hailing an Uber (I re-installed the app) to head to Axneo-7 for artists talks (it was only $8, I was a wimp today and didn’t cycle to work, didn’t cycle at all, it was near freezing and that is just too cold for me). I skipped the opening of the CPI at the national (I’ve been there, done that), and then missed the main talk by Phillipe Hamelin but saw others, Jinny Yu is collaborating with a couple other artists on some videos about migration and otherness. Melanie at Axe had ordered food and set up tables, everyone was invited, very open. I also ran into Tim Dallett, who is in town once in a while on consultations for the
upcoming Saw Gallery and Saw Video moves, and saw Tam Co there with her little guy almost the same age as Sol, and then Tim’s friend drove me back to the golden triangle area. I could work on Third Space Dear PM grant stuff but seriously my mind is mush and my body sore and I should just sleep. Another unanswered letter bites the dust.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 11:36 PM
subject Opérations de paix en pays francophones: une rencontre au Canada en 2017; Doctor sues gay friend for child support, 16 years after he first donated sperm to her
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work (finally got to see the storage facility called 921), then the gym, then snow, then supper with Julia and Greg and then a power outage. We lost power for about an hour. Worked on the grant using wifi from my phone, as all the docs are stored on Google Drive. After power was restored we watched the Canadians come from behind to beat Tampa Bay. Listened to a new Pussy Riot song and video. Watched a bit of the National, full of fundraising scandals and youths turning their backs on you. Cowing to Big Oil interests and performing lacklustre on Native issues will turn progressive youth on you in a heartbeat.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Oct 30, 2016 at 11:00 PM
subject L’avion de Trudeau a subi un problème mécanique rare, selon l’ARC; Could Liberal lock on millennial voters be at risk in sour economy?
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived the bus ride back to Montreal on Friday and the most-excellent, fun and crazy Halloween party at Michel de Broin’s house on Saturday. More on that tomorrow or Tuesday, as I’m slow to recover today and have final revisions to the New Chapter grant to do.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 31, 2016 at 3:17 PM
subject Justin Trudeau désigne six nouveaux sénateurs de l’Ontario; Jury foreman scandal that shut down shock radio show now results in a mistrial
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived the final push on the New Chapter grant. Emily from Third Space did a great job on it, as did Katie And Claudine as editors. Want to see the project description? Here it is:
CHRIS LLOYD: I AM CANADIANA RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION AND MONOGRAPH
At specific moments in an artist’s career, there is momentum to support exceptional projects that provide a survey of their practice to date, propels engaging content into the public sphere, and positions the supporting organisation as a leader in innovative content production for diverse audiences. In line with the celebrations surrounding Canada’s 150th anniversary, Third Space Gallery, the only artist-run centre based in Saint John, N.B., aims to mount an ambitious retrospective exhibition and published monograph of Chris Lloyd’s Dear PM project.
Chris Lloyd is a Saint John artist – now based in Montreal and Ottawa – whose work is anchored in a history of time-based conceptual art. Trained at NSCAD in the 1990s and cofounder of Third Space, Lloyd’s work is influenced by such artists as On Kawara and Tehching Hsieh and follows in the tradition of seminal Canadian artists Garry Neill Kennedy, Cliff Eyland, and Kelly Mark. Lloyd’s particular contribution to a movement often seen as detached and impersonal is his playful and humorous personal descriptions of his daily activities and subsequent transmission to the Prime Minister of Canada. Lloyd then uses other so-called icons of Canadiana, including Tim Hortons and hockey, to trace the logic of nationalism and identity.
I AM CANADIANA is a title that encompasses several bodies of work, most notably the Dear PM series of personal daily letters written to the Prime Minister of Canada since 1999, as well as his Everyday Goalie persona and a vast collection of Tim Hortons imagery. With these projects, Lloyd is occupying the political space and the media sphere with durational performativity, and the proposed project is an ambitious endeavour to engage audiences in thinking about how national identities are formed, the role of the individual in democracy, and the possibility of transforming the political through personal actions.
I AM CANADIANA RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION:
Printed Dear PM letters affixed to the walls of the Frazee Gallery in the Saint John Arts Centre, and through the pedestrian walkway leading to Harbour Station. As of October 2016 there are approximately 3,325 individual letters;
A 5-minute stop-motion animation of all the letters projected on the exterior of a prominent building in Saint John;
a software “reading” all the letters with a digital voice; a stack of printed letters to show the quantity of the letters in physical height; a computer program trolling the metadata inherent in the letters to create fractal imagery based on usage of keywords and repetitions; a search engine opening and closing letters at random.
A selection of painted portraits by Lloyd of four Prime Ministers (Chrétien, Martin, Harper and Trudeau);
Documents, photographs, emails, posters, buttons and newspaper clippings related to Lloyd’s 4-year infiltration of the Conservative Party, the global media frenzy over his unmasking at the hands of the CBC and his eventual participation in the 2015 General Election as an Independent in the riding of Justin Trudeau. Lloyd’s participation pushed the project into the actual political sphere and forced him to draw up a real political program that merged his artistic practice seamlessly within that of the body politic.
The Everyday Goalie consists of a video of the various performances across Canada that Lloyd performed either as part of performance festivals or alone, between 2012-16. In the video Lloyd can be seen attempting to stop bright orange street hockey balls, or wander in and out of the frame, dressed in his custom Old Fashioned Team Canada jersey, strategically placed in front of iconic Canadian landscapes and the video will be edited in the style of a Canadian Heritage Moment.
Everyday Goalie life-size bronze sculpture created by casting the goaltending equipment, piece by piece, which are stacked and welded together to resemble a ghostly version of the iconic “At the crease” painting by Ken Danby. The casting process will transform the gear into metal, effectively sending the Everyday Goalie into retirement.
The Tim Horton suite is comprised of photographs, a video, and watercolour paintings. The video content is based on over 2000 still images taken by Lloyd over a 4-year period of abandoned Tim Horton coffee cups found throughout his daily movements. The watercolour paintings reproduce imagery of the Tim Horton hockey cards on paper made from Tim Horton cups that Lloyd collected in Saint John between 2006-08.
I AM CANADIANA MONOGRAPH:
Quotidian Canadian (working title) is a hardcover monograph published by Third Space Gallery and edited by Saint John writer Katie Wallace and Claudine Hubert, who will also oversee the translation or adaptation of parts of the texts into French. This monograph marks the 20th anniversary of the Dear PM project: Reflecting the staggering scope of Lloyd’s ongoing project, the 365-page book approaches the artist and his work through a wide range of perspectives, from curatorial essays by leading Canadian critics, to graphic and visual representations of its prevailing themes.
The editorial tone and visual aesthetic of the monograph reflect Lloyd’s approach, which is intelligent yet playful, conceptual yet approachable, diaristic but also outward-looking. Relevant to contemporary arts discourse, Quotidian Canadian is accessible and interesting to a general readership. The design sensibility is inspired, in part, by political culture, incorporating, where appropriate, its common elements such as political party colours or elements of campaign or promotional materials, reflecting as well its unsophisticated, grassroots elements through low-fi, often scrapbook-like designs.
The monograph is intended as an exploration rather than explanation of Lloyd’s practice; its aims are both historical and cultural, placing it within the context of contemporary art and in the discourse of Canadian politics and identity. The monograph places Lloyd’s artistic output within a broader societal context of post- colonialism, climate change and nationalism.
The monograph will feature contributions from a number of writers, thinkers, poets, journalists, photographers and illustrators. The following are confirmed participants:
Ray Cronin, curator and former Director and CEO, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia;
Robbie Cameron, an illustrator from Halifax, will tell the story of Lloyd’s entry into the political arena through an original, humorous graphic novella;
Bruce McKinnon, political cartoonist, will create an original political cartoon featuring Lloyd and the four Prime Ministers;
Judith Mackin, gallery founder and entrepreneur, and Robert Moore, professor of literature, poet and essayist, both based in Saint John,will offer a personal portrait of the artist;
Sarah Hollenberg, a Canadian art historian from Halifax will examine the confluence of art and politics;
Anatomy of a Letter to the Prime Minister: Charles Enman, an Ottawa journalist will trace the physical journey of the PM letters;
Kim Waldron, artist and photographer who also ran against Lloyd and Trudeau in Papineau in 2015, will provide a photographic essay;
Other contributors TBD.
Happy Halloween. I’m washing and folding laundry today, went out to get the parking permit (finally!) and groceries, now cleaning up the house a bit. Going trick or treating with neighbours tonight. What are your plans for Halloween?
-chris
DEAR PM 