Deep Freeze Five Finger Friday

It’s a true winter weekend, with big beautiful snowflakes drifting down. We are going to do what we have to do to survive this together – find the good and celebrate.

We are holding the first of many 2016 winter festivals this weekend, right here on the Ave. Deep Freeze is in its 9th year, and here are five reasons why this ‘cool’ festival (sorry) should be on your to-list this weekend.

image from DeepFreezeFest.ca

INDEX FINGER: THE LEADER

Snow and Ice Carvings

The great big snow carvings are always a hit, and what I’ve seen developing on the Ave this year will not disappoint. The ice carving competition (with chainsaws) starts Saturday with judging on Sunday. It’s always fantastic to see what these carvers see in a block of snow or ice. In the case of the snow carvings, sometimes we also get to play.

MIDDLE FINGER: THE ATTITUDE

Mischievous Fairies Projection Mapping

I’m not sure exactly what to expect from this, but I looking forward to something cool every time I hear ‘projection mapping’. This is essentially projecting moving images onto a building in a way that interacts with the three dimension space of the building. These Deep Freeze projections are set to enchant us on the facade of Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts on Saturday from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. Once the sun goes down, get ready for the fairies will show up and get up to some sort of mischief.

From the website; 

Mischievous fairies, elves and ogres take over the facade of the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts through brilliant projector mapping by Owen Brierley and David Banks. Catch these fantastical creatures popping out of windows, jumping out of doors and sliding down balconies on Saturday from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm.

RING FINGER: THE FAITHFUL

Alysha Creighton’s WAITING ROOM

Find respite from the madness that is a huge festival in the still solace of Alysha Creighton’s WAITING ROOM. Our current intermedia exhibit of image and sound ends very soon, so this is a perfect chance to catch it while you can.

Find out more about WAITING ROOM here.

PINKY FINGER: THE OUTLIER

Alberta. Of Earth and Sky at Gallery at Milner

image from Earth Sky Art

While not out of town, this show is not actually part of Deep Freeze at all, so we shall consider it the week’s outlier.

Local artist and arts champion Jay Bigam (@JayisPainting) has a solo show on at the Gallery at Milner at Stanley A. Milner Library downtown. His show features abstract landscapes that capture the feeling of a place, rather than a direct representation.

Get ready for landscapes that burst with colour and dance across the canvas in ribbons.

Jay Bigam will be live painting at the Gallery every Saturday from 2-5 while the show runs (throughout January).

Get more information here

THUMB: THE UNSUNG HERO

Deep Freezer Races

It’d be hard to dub the annual Deep Freezer Races as art, but I would say this one zany event is the force that keeps Deep Freeze interesting every year. This is the one thing that people tend to go ‘huh?’ about, and the one crazy idea that shows off just how willing Arts On The Ave is to bring crazy ideas to life.

It really is people pushing each other around in deep freezers, and it really is amazing.

Catch the races between noon and 2pm on Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10 on 118th Ave between 92 and 93 Street.

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See you on the Ave this weekend?

The Carousel - The Works Festival

Riding in a shopping cart may be the ultimate childhood experience. You are forced to accompany your parents on the most mundane adult mission - getting provisions for the family. Confined to a small cage, you must rely on your childhood powers - your imagination - to break free. Having grown up and pushed that cart many times now, I can say that the parent is not usually excited by this trip either. But as a child, you can find a way out. You can climb up into this cagey metal chariot and a chore becomes a rise. The dreadful, boring excursion becomes something to look forward to. A simple shopping cart can be transformed. At The Works Art and Design Festival this week, I discovered that a shopping cart can still provide adventure. A group of artists from Quebec called BGL have built a massive installation in Churchill Square called The Carousel. It transforms objects of drudgery and crowd control into a work of whimsical beauty.

You first see The Carousel and wonder what it is. It can look like a pile of scrap metal at first. Then you notice the arrangement of things, organized around a central pole, and then you see the flying shopping carts, suspended on chains like the old Swing of The Century at West Edmonton Mall. Then you see it moving, see a smile on a kid's face and realize that this doesn't just look like a ride. This IS a ride.

I'm not sure I'd have the courage to hop aboard if I didn't have kids with me, but I did, so I rode The Carousel.

There is no motor. The Works volunteers actually grab the handle of a cart and run circles until us riders lift off. Then they do that again. And again.

To see my city this way, dizzying past from the inside of a soaring shopping cart, is a gift.

I love this piece. I walk by it every time I am in the square.

I love it because it is fun. It is silly. It is not pretentious. I love it because of the statements it is making about crowd control and play and subversive childlike joy. We can transform the ugly, oppressive pieces of life through a hopeful, playful perspective. A good sense of humor goes a long way. Perhaps I love this piece most because it communicates all of this and more very clearly, without saying a word, in a public space, to regular people. This piece works outside of a gallery, and it works for people not well versed in the vocabularies of high art. At the end of the day, if you don't 'get it', you likely still have a smile on your face. So you do get it.

The Carousel will be in Churchill Square until July 2, just begging you to take a ride.