Western Front Archaeology

Oct 11 — Nov 5, 1983

Kate Craig
General Idea
Randy Gledhill
Berenicci Hershorn
Image Bank
Knights Of Pythias
Glenn Lewis
Eric Metcalfe
New York Corres-Sponge Dance School of Vancouver

Field:

Exhibition

Location:

Western Front

Description:

This exhibition showcased materials from Western Front’s archive, accumulated during the organization’s first decade. Shards of pottery, old postcards, magazines and artists’ books, video tapes, costumes, and props from previous performances haunted the space, alongside artefacts belonging to the Knights of Pythius, who constructed the Western Front building in 1922. Together, these fragments, or “artefacts,” offered a speculative reconstruction of the past.

The exhibition was timed to coincide with the celebrations at the new Vancouver Art Gallery and the amplification of this history at The October Show.

Curated by Hank Bull.

Seen in black and white, in a brightly lit, white gallery, photos, posters, mirrors, sculptures, and cutout graphics hang on the walls. On the floor stand several desks with a sound mixing board, a sound system and an ovular, vertical sculpture.

Seen in black and white, in a brightly lit, white gallery, four photos and a cutout fan made of thunderbolts hang on the walls. A wooden, ovular, vertical sculpture stands to the left, in the centre, a miniature airplane on a chest and to the right, a sound system on a chest stand.

Seen in black and white, mirrored, jagged cutouts hang on a white wall. Images hang below two teeth-like, black cutouts, and on the bottom hang two sets of black tassels.

Seen in black and white, a wide scroll falls to the floor. On it, an illustration forms from pale cutout paper, creating spiral and half-spiral shapes, with a compass and grid below, and a pentagram at the base.

Seen in black and white, in the white gallery, hangs a paper fan made of thunderbolts and stars at its centre. In front of it sits a chest that displays a miniature airplane on top of it.

Seen in black and white, in the white gallery, posters and photos line the walls. In the corner, five long arrows lean against the wall, and a wheel, attached to a display pole, stands to the right. In the right corner, two trophies sit on a radiator.

Seen in black and white, a photo hangs of an expressionless man and woman sitting. Below it, a briefcase sits open with a gun inside.

Related People

Hank Bull (Curator)

Captions:

Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.
Western Front Archaeology, installation view, Oct 11 – Nov 5, 1983.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.