Talk by Jillian McDonald

Description:

Western Front hosted artist Jillian McDonald for a talk as part of an external Upgrade! Vancouver program organized by Kate Armstrong.

McDonald spoke on her new work, Horror Cycle, which examined the way in which the genre of horror films manufactures fear as entertainment. Unlike contemporary horror films, McDonald’s work had no extreme violence, little gore, no character development, and zero plot. These were stripped away in order to highlight the protagonists and their dilemmas. 

McDonald’s previous work mined the field of celebrity worship and fan fiction. Her work is often performative and relational, and is meant to be stumbled upon in everyday situations. McDonald also showed a broad selection from Me and Billy Bob and discussed Snow Stories.