Up now! Sneak peek of Pretend Not to See Me, a not-to-be-missed doc on Canadian artist Colette Urban
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Colette Urban performing Belvedere Courtesy Site Media Inc |
What does it mean to live on the edge of the country, but at the heart of art? This and other questions are explored in Pretend Not to See Me, a whimsical, fascinating film having its Toronto premiere at the Reel Artists Film Festival on February 26. A special sneak peek clip is embedded below.
Pretend Not to See Me follows performance artist Colette Urban. Living on an oceanfront farm in Newfoundland, Urban restages 13 enigmatic performances from her lifetime of work for the camera, transforming into half-woman half-bear, dancing a tango while strapped into bungee cords, wheeling nonsensical record contraptions and turning herself into a parody of consumer goods.
In the film, Urban takes her art out of the gallery and into the natural environment of her Newfoundland property, an abandoned chicken farm. In the process, she rediscovers her art, her commitment and her passion, reminding us all of the need to believe in ourselves.
Belvedere from Site Media inc on Vimeo.
Belvedere (performance clip above) is a term that means a house with a view. In Newfoundland, homes at the turn of the century would often be moved, either on the water or on the ice, especially during resettlement. Urban was interested in the fact that women are often connected to the home, either physically or symbolically. Here, she creates a cage-like mask, where the female is trapped in the house, gazing out at the world, and carries that view with her.
Pretend Not to See Me places the viewer within the artistic mindset. Throughout, the musical score provides a strong narrative thread. Traditional Newfoundland songs are reinterpreted and act as a chorus for the artist's intimate bond with this place, while Tanya Davis’ song “Art” makes an evocative statement about the price of artistic excellence.
Performance artist Colette Urban uses her own body as an almost kinetic sculpture to explore themes of identity and social convention. Born in Denver, Colorado, she immigrated to Canada in 1973 where she studied and established her career. She began spending summers in Newfoundland in 1993. In 2007, she moved full-time to Newfoundland and established the Full Tilt Creative Centre on her property.
Urban has performed her works across Canada, in the Netherlands, in England and in Italy. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and catalogues and in art journals including Fuse, Art in America, Vie des arts, and Backflash.
Full Reel Artists festival schedule is online now at canadianart.ca/raff/schedule
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Colette Urban performing Field Orchestrina from Pretend Not to See Me Courtesy Site Media Inc |
