NEWS: 

OPENING OF 2013 EXHIBITION -  SATURDAY, MAY 18.  2-4PM.  ARTISTS WILL INTRODUCE THEIR WORK AT 2:30PM.
WORK BY:  LEAH DECTER, LAURA HALE, SHEILA MACDONALD, UTA RICCIUS, ERIN ROBERTSON


FIELDWORK  began in the summer of 2008 with installations by the FIELDWORK Collective (Chris Osler, Chris Grosset, Erin Robertson, and Susie Osler).  Our intent is to present imaginative, thought-provoking, art installations in a field in rural eastern Ontario and to provide the opportunity for artists to create work for an unusual and unique artspace.  FIELDWORK  hosts work by local, national and international artists at various stages of their careers and invites the public to visit the field site (free of charge) to explore the artwork year-round.  We also host workshops in collaboration with other organizations.
More information on past installations can be found by scrolling down this page and/or by looking in the archives in the right hand menu.  Directions to the site can be found here

If you would like to be notified by email when a new posting or change has been added to this blog, press the orangy/red 'Subscribe' button (RSS symbol) in the menu to the right and follow the instructions.  We also have a Facebook group called 'fieldwork' which we welcome you to join.

For information on the first three installations at FIELDWORK (Summer 2008, Autumn 2008, Winter 2008/09)  visit our old blog.

FIELDWORK gratefully acknowledges the continued support of the Ontario Arts Council, as well as all of our friends, volunteers, and especially our visitors!

Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for supporting FIELDWORK's 6th year of bringing thought-provoking, site-responsive art to YOU from a field in eastern Ontario, and virtually, online!  The Council has helped bring our vision to life!

susie osler - May 6, 2013

The grass is getting greener at FIELDWORK these daysBuds are bursting. The ground has softened, and all sorts of birds are migrating back to the field, scouting about for some new digs after their long winter sojourns south.  Soon they will also be watching with curiosity as 5 new artists migrate to the site from various parts of Canada to spend time exploring, observing, creating and installing work in preparation for the opening of the FIELDWORK 2013 season.
On Saturday, May 18 from 2-4pm you are invited to join in the spring revelry at the opening of FIELDWORK’s 6th season of presenting imaginative art in and around a road-side field.  Meet the artists and hear what they have to say about their creative process during a brief introduction to their work at 2:30pm.

The artists presenting work at FIELDWORK are a diverse lot.  Winnipeg based inter-media artist Leah Decter will spend a week at FIELDWORK investigating the relationships between beaver and human settlements and processes of (de)colonising.  Decter's work at FIELDWORK is the third in her ongoing series, Caster Canadensis.

Saskatchewan’s Laura Hale will fly in to spend 10 days using materials found on site to create one of her ephemeral environmental landworks.  Hale reflects on and responds to the environment she is in, building her work in situ.  It will be interesting to see how the FIELDWORK site inspires her.

For those ‘robins’ amongst us with ears to the ground, you’ll want to check out Lanark County resident Sheila Macdonald’s interactive ‘eardrum’.  Intended as part auditorium and part messaging system to the underground it invites us all to consider the sonic culture of the soil – and to have a bit of fun!

For the creatures looking to move up in the world, Uta Riccius’ suburban nests may be the dream homes they are looking for.  Her foam ‘mobile homes’ comment on the suburban sprawl, packaged houses, and the artificial perception of choice she witnesses on her home turf of Ottawa. 

FIELDWORK Collective member, Erin Robertson (Wakefield) will also be stretching her creative wings in the 5th new spot on the site.  Work by several previous FIELDWORK artists will also continue through this season.  There will be much to explore!

FIELDWORK is free and open to the public all the time throughout the year. For more information about the project visit www.fieldworkproject.com, or Facebook:  Fieldwork – Land.Art.Exploration

The FIELDWORK Collective extends heartfelt gratitude to the Ontario Arts Council for supporting the project’s 6th year.

 



susie osler - May 6, 2013
fieldwork - joan scaglione - land art

 

 

The boats of Ribs of Sky are about journeys. When I made them in Saskatchewan I was thinking about many kinds of journeys. I saw in my mind’s eye ancient fleets of boats piloted by a highly experienced navigator computing the wind, waves, and sky in her mind as she searched the vast distances for new land. I saw my boats moving through imaginative space navigating metaphors of the psyche. I felt inspired by the French voyageurs traversing waterways across Canada to Saskatchewan. To connect with that history more tangibly, I invited forty-five members of the community to portage my 18 boats from the lake behind the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina into its docking area on a minus thirty day.  There they would acclimatize to the gallery space. In the gallery several boats were hung from the twenty-foot ceiling flying in one direction, while the remaining fleet moved across the gallery floor in another. This hand-made fleet travelled from Saskatchewan to Kingston finding its way onto the fields of Maberly at the fieldwork site in September 2012.
In the late summer, fall, winter, and early spring, the boats sprawled across the earth.  Each vessel was altered by the changing seasonal conditions. The boats became ledges for the praying mantis chrysalis in the warm weather. Wind patterns of snow waves rippled away from each vessel in the winter months. Screws popped, slats pulled away, but they held together. Reciprocally, the land was marked and transformed by the fleets’ presence. The land recorded the weight and discoloration of the boat impressions on the earth. Those who viewed them recorded in memory this fleet moving across the field.
The journey of the boats came to a material conclusion at fieldwork this May. Initially fashioned from steamed cedar in my yard back in Saskatchewan, the sixteen remaining dried and mottled frames were dismantled on a glorious Ontario day. My friend wielded his saw that sliced each boat into several parts. But when he sliced the largest boat up the middle, two friends and I witnessed a profound moment of mystery in seeing the boat’s ribs being torn open, gaping, like a wound. It has been a journey of beginnings and endings. The vessels have revealed different metaphors for different people.

susie osler - Apr 30, 2013

Interested in submitting a proposal for fieldwork's 2014 season?

Deadline:  March 1, 2013

For more information and details:  Click on 'Call for Proposals' in the menu to the right.

Please share with others who might be interested.

susie osler - Feb 7, 2013
2013
fieldwork, joan scaglione, ribs of sky ribs of stone, 2012
fieldwork, barbara meneley, landmarks, winter 2012
fieldwork, susie osler, part lot 18 concession 6, timber frame barn
fieldwork, alicia marvan, winter 2012

We got a beautiful deep coating of snow over the Christmas holidays, some of which has stuck around for a while despite temperature fluctuations swinging well above zero.  The field and forest beyond is always interesting to explore in winter on foot, snowshoes, or skis.  It's great to see lots of tracks out there - evidence of visitations!

susie osler - Jan 26, 2013
fieldwork
fieldwork, Queen's University workshop, 2012
fieldwork, joan scaglione 2012
stefan thompson, creature trail, fieldwork, 2012
fieldwork 2012, chris grosset, blind
fieldwork, susie osler, part lot 18 concession 6, autumn 2012

End of November wander around the field.  All is peaceful and still under a brilliant clear sky.  Dusting of snow in places. Winter is coming and the installations look settled in...

susie osler - Dec 2, 2012
2012, autumn
fieldwork, chris grosset, blind, autumn 2012

 

It’s been a busy time for sport hunt enthusiasts in this part of eastern Ontario.  I saw many satisfied hunters rushing around this past weekend. The first two week period of deer hunting season in the wildlife management unit where the fieldwork site is located closed yesterday.  The next hunting period for this year runs from December 3rdto 9th.  Meanwhile, retailers in Ontario are gearing up to take advantage of bargain hunters on Black Friday, November 23rd, an American shopping traditional that coincides with the celebration of Thanksgiving south of the border.  Our Canadian retailers don’t want to Canadian shoppers to miss their chance to bag a few good deals so the marketing is in full swing.

All of this activity made me reflect on blind, my recent installation at fieldwork.  The forces of politics and economics have transformed many things in our lives, including our connection to the land, and the resources that are provided by the land.  I think we're being put in a position of defending our food choices and where our food comes from.  It seems to me that our attitudes towards hunting and shopping are greatly influenced by where we come from, whether rural or urban, and these attitudes can also define our connectio to the land itself.

blind invites visitors to the field to take some time for quiet contemplation, inside a hunting blind structure, to think about where their food comes from, and whether we are hunters, gatherers, or somewhere in between. Ask yourself this question, “where does my food come from?”, and then maybe think a little about why that matters.

chris grosset - Nov 22, 2012