PARK

PROMOTING ARTISTS | REDEFINING KULTURE

PARK is a network organized by a group of young Calgarian artists to promote and support fellow young artists in the community. The city is growing, and we are excited to step up and take an active role in helping and shaping how culture will grow in urban Calgary.

From outdoor art sales to indoor fashion and art events, we're making PARK an active verb. The organization of our events is non-profit, with the opportunity for 100 percent of the profit of sale going to the independent artists taking part in the PARKSALE and PARKSHOW.


website: http://ourPARKonline.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ourPARKonline


check out past entries and features by hitting the archive button on the top right.

Jun 16 2009
(personal work by Jimmy Turrell) I just returned from a weekend where I mostly plugged out. It felt good to leave behind my addiction for checking my email, texting and generally exploring the capabilities of the techno-communications society we are all very well aware of living in nowadays. Ironically, my getaway included a trip to the only Star Trek-themed town in rural Alberta, Vulcan. I guess it’s pretty hard to truly plug out. While there, I marvelled at the juxtaposition of Klingons and wheat fields and “roughed it” while watching the fantastic fireworks they set off in honor of their Spock Days, while someone played electro music out of his car’s stereo. The moment was a perfect reminder that, short of throwing myself into the back country of the Rockies or my cell phone, the influences of consumer techno-pop culture are pretty heavily integrated into our lives. It’s not such a bad thing- the work of London, UK-based artist Jimmy Turrell is proof. His awareness of and creative collaboration with both brands (like Nike, MTV, and Lexus), as well as pop cultural figures (his celebrity portraits are colourful eye-gasms) comes through in his layered and graphic representation of both inane and heavy elements of popular culture. The cross pollination of photography, collage, painting and digital design in his work is a vivid reminder of the capability for diverse environments and elements to come together into something marvellous. If anything, our culture today is the result of the pastiche of ideas, images, novelties and legends that we have access to with increased connectivity. Likewise, the minds of us young folk producing today’s art represent a full spectrum of influences and inspiration, with a vast range of representation. We’re looking at the future through a digital prism and the light casting itself on the wall is both unique and integrated into quite the show of colours. By putting our art and design sale into a park, we’re hoping to do the same thing. Graphic works, bold t-shirts, fine art paintings, graffitti and both new and vintage fashions juxtaposing with live music and green, green trees and lawns. We’re not unplugging from the digital world we live in, but bringing out the tone and vibe of the networks and flow of ideas we’ve discovere, into a natural world. Just like Spock + rodeo, we’re hoping our collage of talent will surprise and delight in its variety. We’re inspired by yesterday-this moment- and tomorrow, and we’re putting it all out there here on this blog, but more importantly, in the park, where we can not only share our pastiche of creativity and culture, we can grow it.

(personal work by Jimmy Turrell)

I just returned from a weekend where I mostly plugged out. It felt good to leave behind my addiction for checking my email, texting and generally exploring the capabilities of the techno-communications society we are all very well aware of living in nowadays.

Ironically, my getaway included a trip to the only Star Trek-themed town in rural Alberta, Vulcan. I guess it’s pretty hard to truly plug out. While there, I marvelled at the juxtaposition of Klingons and wheat fields and “roughed it” while watching the fantastic fireworks they set off in honor of their Spock Days, while someone played electro music out of his car’s stereo. The moment was a perfect reminder that, short of throwing myself into the back country of the Rockies or my cell phone, the influences of consumer techno-pop culture are pretty heavily integrated into our lives.

It’s not such a bad thing- the work of London, UK-based artist Jimmy Turrell is proof. His awareness of and creative collaboration with both brands (like Nike, MTV, and Lexus), as well as pop cultural figures (his celebrity portraits are colourful eye-gasms) comes through in his layered and graphic representation of both inane and heavy elements of popular culture. The cross pollination of photography, collage, painting and digital design in his work is a vivid reminder of the capability for diverse environments and elements to come together into something marvellous.

If anything, our culture today is the result of the pastiche of ideas, images, novelties and legends that we have access to with increased connectivity. Likewise, the minds of us young folk producing today’s art represent a full spectrum of influences and inspiration, with a vast range of representation. We’re looking at the future through a digital prism and the light casting itself on the wall is both unique and integrated into quite the show of colours.

By putting our art and design sale into a park, we’re hoping to do the same thing. Graphic works, bold t-shirts, fine art paintings, graffitti and both new and vintage fashions juxtaposing with live music and green, green trees and lawns. We’re not unplugging from the digital world we live in, but bringing out the tone and vibe of the networks and flow of ideas we’ve discovere, into a natural world. Just like Spock + rodeo, we’re hoping our collage of talent will surprise and delight in its variety.

We’re inspired by yesterday-this moment- and tomorrow, and we’re putting it all out there here on this blog, but more importantly, in the park, where we can not only share our pastiche of creativity and culture, we can grow it.

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