COVER october 1997 / planet of the arts 7 Clark Conversation ..continued from page 5 s various visual art disciplines would be invited to show some of their work to the Premier and simply to talk about art relative to the role of the Institute in fostering their developing vocations. From the rain-soaked standpoint of early February, there seemed to be something intrinsically worthwhile about sitting down with the Premier to hear his questions about what we do as students at Emily Carr and why do it. The fact that the conversation would take place as the result of a sincere student request seemed to make it all the more valid. We were counting on the power of art to reveal its essential worth, and not on political power to make known our interests and con- cerns. We anticipated that over the course of only a few unhurried minutes the Premier would come to perceive and be in awe of the beauty and truth that permeate the creative work done at Emily Carr Institute. There was a further consideration to hearten the cost-benefit ana- lysts. The Premier could examine directly the sort of return the B.C. gets for the $8,000+ per student the provincial treasury pays to the Institute each year: sensitive, passionate, complex souls with the tal- ent and ambition to make the life of the community more healthful, more fulfilling, and more refined. The historic conversation about visual art between Premier Clark and students from Emily Carr Institute did take place, but not with- out some interesting and peculiar events in the days immediately leading up to it. These events can be seen as the outcome of a failure of nerve, of imagination and ultimately perhaps of moral responsibility by peo- ple in positions of power. But then again, power has indulged in behaviours such as collecting rumours and gathering conspiracy the- ories ever since Cain knocked off Abel. What might be worth pon- dering is whether interpersonal relations at the Institute have become more prickly since we began earnestly sharpening our leading edge this’s and cutting edge that’s. Is this new prickliness one of the conse- quences of contextualizing our art practices so faithfully within a broad culture of cynicism and insecurity? The meeting with Premier Clark was scheduled to follow the con- clusion of the youth conference on Saturday, February 22nd. On the previous Monday, word spread to and from the highest levels of the Institute of a “drum plot”. One version of the rumour described the massing of percussionists in the Planet of the Arts office as a sort of Clayoquot protest-style vigilante force bent on tormenting the provincial politicians who were about to arrive for the youth confer- ence. The rumour combined elements from the impending revival of Emily Carr student performance night with the militant Malcolm X-inspired slogan on the cover of the December issue of Planet of the Arts, “Teaching visual culture by whatever means necessary.” The rumour motivated a message being left at this which ended with the ominous, writer’s residence cryptic phrase: “For your sake I hope this [drum plot] isn’t true ... “ It wasn’t, of course, but then who in his or her right mind would ever believe it to be?! Within minutes of this sinister telephone call being placed, Planet of the Arts co-editor Jonathan Lander was warned in person of being “dragged into trouble” by his main colleague on the magazine. Lander’s role was to set up the audio recording for the conversation with the premier and to photograph the meeting. As it turned out, despite being caught off guard by a last minute order to relocate his lighting set-up from the Institute’s photography studios to the so-called green room in its film department, Lander handled his part of the assignment with aplomb. Following the rumours and insinuated threats on Monday came Tuesday’s allegations of a conspiracy to destroy one of the smaller departments at the Institute. Such is the perceived power of the stu- dent media at Emily Carr Institute that naturally enough the master- minds of the conspiracy were said to lurk in the Planet of the Arts office. The alleged conspiracy blended two B-movie icons: a Freddy-Kruger-type assault and a Terminator-type conclusion. The script had Planet of the Arts bringing the department to its knees _with sadistic, slashing criticism and then had the premier parachut- ing into the scene in order to liquidate the wounded and frenzied teaching unit. On Wednesday Planet of the Arts staffers learned from a confi- dential source that their office had been deemed “a dangerous place.” We wondered if this designation had anything to do with the Premier’s advance team — they had visited the campus a day earlier in search of potential security problems. And besides being dangerous (at least aesthetically), what about the dust build-up and the noisi- Nasty rumours abounded. People’s words flow out of what fills their hearts. ness that perpetually plague the magazine’s office? On Thursday the youth conference got under way. Premier Clark was prevented from attending by urgent polit- ical matters such as the impending federal budget. No new rumours surfaced. Small ¥ Tom Becher, Dean of Design minds were content to recircu- Glen Clark, Honorary Patron of the Institute late the existing ones. : Clark showed up Friday. By now the drum plot had been completely discredited. But the Freddy the Slasher scenario was reinvigorated by news that a student was approaching people in the target depart- ment about their willingness to guide the Premier on a visit through their facilities. The Admissions (604) 844-385 Re-initializing art, Re-booting design, Re-creating B.C. Endowments 844-3871 Scott Gallery 844-3811 Think Emily Carr Institute Saleem Khatak " esign Division (Industrial Design): Planet of the Arts Magazine 844-3861 student turned out to be Board of Governors student represen- tative Linda Szasz, a painting tisements such as the one above. major and Emily Carr’s dele- gate to the youth conference. Ironically, Szasz had been severely at odds with the Planet of the Arts for some time about a number of matters, including the threat- ened lawsuit over the magazine’s Reaction Show review of last December. She was just about the last person who would lend sup- port to Planet of the Arts in any of the dastardly plotting attributed to the publication by rumours and conspiracy theories. Saturday arrived after five long days of escalating malicious talk. It is written, “People’s words flow out of what fills their hearts. Good people draw good things from their store of goodness; bad people draw bad things from their store of badness” (Matt 12:34). At the end of the week, Emily Carr Institute no longer seemed to Planet of the Arts staffers to be the friendly, progressive place they had long imag- ined. Literally six minutes before the interview with Premier Clark was to begin, a demand was made by a member of his entourage to have the location changed from the photography area to the film depart- ment. This meant abandoning half of the audio-visual equipment that had been installed to record and document the conversation, including a large format camera. It also meant not having enough time to re-test our lights and having to move a massive table out of the newly designated room location to open up enough space for a conversation about art. It was an unfortunate and stressful culmination to a six-day ordeal that had been inaugurated by a simple demand, “Let there be an inter- view with Glen Clark.” Besides a writer and pho- tographer from Planet of the Arts, the interview was restrict- ed to three students: Saleem Khattak (School of Design), Ling Chiu (School of Media), and Erin Gunther (School of Visual Art). Despite it being the first day of “study” (i.e., relaxation) week, all three showed up on time and engaged the Premier in a lively eighteen-minute con- versation. Planet of the Arts entered into the conversation only to the extent of main- taining the momentum of the dialogue. Otherwise, the talk was between the Premier of British Columbia and visual artists approaching maturity in their respective vocations. Premier Clark’s questions demonstrated awareness, curiosity and concern about art, media and design issues. Unaware of the petti- ness and paranoia that had threatened all week to derail the meeting, he allowed himself to be gracious, candid, and gen- erous with his humour. Saleem Khattak, an industrial design major now in his third year of study, was first to present his work to the Premier. For the conversation with Clark he brought along rough sketches, precise renderings and presentation boards for a compact disc holder he had designed. These items indicated the process through which Khattak had developed and refined his design concept as he Until the point at which institutional circumstances delayed the February 1997 edition (which came out in March), Planet of the Arts hoped to welcome Premier Clark to the Institute with a series of happy adver- explored alternative strategies and materials with which to construct the piece. At the time of the conversation, the actual prototype for the CD-holder sat in the wood shop, its final coat of varnish still drying. Upon hearing Khattak describe his interdisciplinary research process (physics, design history, sculpture, marketing, cultural stud- ies, etc.), Clark inquired, “How much cross-over is there (between the Institute’s curricular divisions)? Khattak described the integrative role of the Foundation and Critical Studies curriculum, the Institute-wide drawing requirement, and a number of courses in which faculty from one domain dedicate a course section to students from other disciplines. Team teaching across disciplines also occurs, e.g., a joint effort by personnel in ceramics and industrial design. Another level of integration of ideas and approaches in different disciplines occurs spontaneously among students. Student-led initia- tives such as the project to refurbish the Institute’s central lounge space are also promoting dialogue across disciplines. Khattak observed that the importance of this social interaction has been rec- ognized in the physical design of both Institute buildings, and more specifically in the proximity and open access of departmental units to each other. Khattak’s CD-holder provides ample demonstration of the principle of inter-linkage that guides contemporary industrial design practices. This inter-linkage emerges in how he handles the sculptural aspect of the design. The curvilinear nature of the object effects the goal of stabilization through increased mass and at the same time gives visual enjoyment to the user by way of elegant, flowing lines. Moreover, the “lean-to” component acknowledges a basic strategy in the history of human shelter, an approach which exploits the physical properties of gravitational pull and frictional resistance. Physics, cultural history and sculpture are tied together conceptu- ally and concretely in an item that has usefulness and meaning in the daily lives of a wide public. Considering the pronounced fine art aspect of Khattak’s voca- tional sensibilities (he has exhibited his fine art photographs in continued on next page... Erin Gunther presented the painting (above) to the meeting, titled Aggression COVER october 1997 / plonet of the arts 7 Clark Conversation ‘various visual art disciplines would be invited to show some of thei ‘work tothe Premier an simply to tak about at elative to the role ofthe Insitute in fostering their developing vocations From the ran-soaked standpoint of erly February there seemed tobe somthing intrinsically worthwhile about siting down with the Premier to hear his questions about what we do as students at Emily (Carr and why doit. Te fact that the conversation would take place asthe resl of a sincere student request seemed to make it all the more valid, ‘We were counting onthe power of art to revelts essential worth, and not on political power to make known our interests and con: ‘cerns We anticipated that oer the course of only few unhurried rinutes the Premier would come to perecve and be in awe of the beauty and trath that permeate the creative work done at Emily Cart Instat, ‘There was further consideration to hearten the cost-benefit ana Iysts The Premier could examine directly the sort of return the B.C 1s for the 8,000 per student the provincial treasury pays to the Institute each year: sensitive, passionate complex souls with the tal- nt and ambition to make the feof the community more healthful, ‘more fulfilling and moe refined. “The historic conversation about visual art between Premier Clark and students fom Emily Car Institue did take place, but not with ‘ut some interesting and peculiar events in the days immediatly leading up tit These events canbe sen a8 the outcome ofa failure of mere, of| Jmagination and ultimately perhaps of moral rsponstblty by peo: ple in postions of power. But then again, power has indulged in ‘behaviours such as collecting rumours and gathering conspiracy the ‘ries ever since Cain knocked off Abel. What might be worth pon dering is whether interpersonal relations tthe Insitute have become rote prickly since we began earnestly sharpening our leading edge thi¢s and cutting edge that’. Is this new pricklnes one ofthe conse ‘quences of eontextalzing our art practices so faithfully within a ‘broad culture of cynicism and insecurity? The meeting with Premier lark was scheduled to follow the con ‘lusion ofthe youth conference on Saturday, February 22nd. On the previous Monday, word spread to and from the highest levels of the Institute ofa “drum plot: One version of the rumour descrited the massing of percussionists in the Planet of the Arts office asa sor of ‘Cayoquot protest-syleviglante force bent on tormenting the provincial politicians who were about to arive forthe youth confer: ‘ence, The rumour combined cements from the impending evval of Emily Care stent performance night withthe militant Malcolm inspite slogan on the cover ofthe December issue of Planet ofthe ‘Arts “Teaching visual culture Ly whatever means necessary” ‘The rumour motivated 2 message being left at this writers which fended with the ominous, cryptic phrase:"For your ske hope this [deur plo) isn true .* It wast, of course, ‘but then who in his or her right mind would ever believe it to bet Within minutes of this sinister telephone cll being placed Planet ‘ofthe Ars co-editor Jonathan Lander was warned in person of being “dragged into trouble” by his main colleague on the magazine. Lander’ role wa to setup the audio recording forthe conversation With the premier and to photograph the meeting. Ast turned out, despite being caught off guard by a last minute order to relocate his lighting set-up from the Institutes photography studios to the sored green room in its lm department, Lander handled his part ‘ofthe assignment with aplomb. Following the rumours and insinuated threts on Monday came “Tuesday's allegations ofa conspiracy to destroy one of the salle department atthe Institute. Such isthe perceived power of thes lent media at Emily Cas ‘minds of the conspiracy were sid to luck inthe Planet ofthe Arts office. ‘The alleged conspiracy blended two B-movie icons: a Fredy-Kruger-type assault and a Terminator-type conclusion, The Scrip had Planet of the Arts bringing the department to is knees with sadistic slashing crtcsm and then had the premicrparachut ing into the seen in order to liquidate the wounded and frenzied teaching unit ‘On Wednesday Planet ofthe Ans staffers learned from a con ental source tha thee office had been deemed“ dangerous place” ‘We wondered if this designation had anything to do with the Premiers advance cam they had visited the campus a dy eaten search of potential security problems. And besides being dangerous (atleast aesthetically), what about the dust buik-up and the nois- residence tute tha naturally enough the master: Nasty rumours abounded. People’s words flow out of what fills their hearts. ness that perpetually plague the magazine’ office? (On Thursday the youth conference got under way. Premier Clark was prevented fiom attending by urgent poi feal matters such as. the impending federal budget. No new rumours surfaced. Small minds were content to rect late the existing ones, ‘Clark showed up Friday. By row the drum plot had been completely discredited. But the Freddy the Slasher scenario ‘was reinvigorated by news that 1 student. was_ approaching people in the target. depart rent about their willingness to {guide the Premier on a visit through their facilites. The Re-initializing art, Re-booting design, Re-creating B.C. Think Emily Carr Institute student turned out tobe Board ‘of Governors student represen: tative Linda Szas, a painting semen such as the one above. major and Emily Car's dle gate tothe youth conference. Ironically, Sesz had been severely at odds wih the Planet ofthe ‘As for some time about a numberof matters, including the threat ‘ened lawsuit over the magazine's Reaction Show review of last December She was just about the lst person who would lend sup Port to Planet ofthe Arts in any of the dastardly ploting attributed tothe publication by rumours and conspiracy theories, Saturday arrived afer ive long days of escalating malicious alk. People's words flow out of what fils their hears. Good poople draw good things from ther store of goodness; bad people Ara bad things fom ther store of badness” (Matt 12:34). Atthe end ‘ofthe week Emily Carr Institute no longer semed to Planet ofthe ‘Ants stafers to be the friendly, progressive place they had long imag. ined “Literally six mites before the interview with Premier Clark was to begin, a demand was made by a member of his entourage to ave the location changed fom the photography area tothe fm depat- ‘ment. This meant abandoning half ofthe audio-visual equipment that had been installed to record and document the conversation, Including a large format camera It also meant not having enough time to re-tst ou lights and having to move a massive table out of the newly designated room location to open up enough space for a conversation about art was an unfortunate and stressful culmination toa six-day ordeal that had been inaugurated by 2 simple demand, “Let there bean inter view with Glen Clark” Besides a writer and pho- tographer from Planet of the ‘Arts, the interview was restrict a1 thre students: Saleem Khattak (Schoo! of Design), Ling Chia (School of Meda) and Erin Gunther (School of Visual Art). Despite itbeing the firs day of “study” (ie. relaxation) weekall thre showed ‘up on time and engage the Premier in lively eighteen-minute con- Planet of the Arts entered into the conversation only tothe extent of main- taining the momentum of the dialogue. (Otherwise, the talk was between the Premier of British Columbia and visual artists approaching maturity in their respective vocations. Premier Clark's questions demonstrated curiosity and concern about art, media and design issues. Unawate ofthe pet ‘ess and paranoia that had threatened all week to derail the meeting, he allowed himself o be gracious, candi and gen «ous wit his humour, Saleem Khattak, an industrial design major now in his third year of study, was first to present his work to the Premier. For the conversation with Clark he brought along rough sketches, precise renderings and presentation boards for compact disc holder he had designed, ‘These items indicated the process through which Khattak had developed and refined his design concept as he Erin Gunther presented the panting (above tothe meeting ted Aggression ‘Until he point at which institutional crcumstances delayed the Febrary 1997 edition whieh ame out in Marc) Planet of the Arts hoped to weleome Premier Clark tothe Insite witha Series of happy adver explored alternative strategies and materials with which to construct the pec. At the time ofthe conversation, the actual prototype forthe (CDzholder sat inthe wood shop it inal coat of vanish til dying Upon hearing Khattak describe his iterdisciplinary research proces (physics, desgn history. sculptue, marketing, cultural stad ies ete), Clark inquired, "How much cross-over is there (between the Instat’ curricular divisions)? Khatak described the integrative role of the Foundation and Critical Studies curriculum, the Institte-wide draeng requirement, and a numberof courses in which faculty from one domain dedicate 1 course section to students from other disciplines. Tem teaching scros disciplines also occurs, eg. joint effort by personnel in ‘ceramics and industrial desig, ‘Another level of integration of ideas and approaches in diferent