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Follow Kavin Ni as he interviews Associate Profes-sor and VIVA 2010 award recipient Marina Roy, and 4th-year AHVA BFA double-major and soon to be Venice Guggenheim Museum intern Eric McKinnon.

In this issue:

Art Takes You Places:

Curator Tours Campus events Tips from VISA Students to VISA Students

VASAVisual Arts Students’ AssociationMonthly Newsletter

March 2011Edition 1 Issue No. 7

Eric McKinnonMarina Roy

INTERVIEW

Marina Roy is an artist and Associate Professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory specializing in video, animation, painting and drawing. She is also the recipient of the 2010 VIVA award.

K: Are you a native of Vancouver?

M: I was born in Quebec City.

K: What influenced you to become an artist?

M: I enjoyed drawing from a young age. I was initially discouraged from becoming an artist; those around me said it was impractical—I would never find work in the field. I took a chance and went into art anyway.

Seeing Mary Kelly’s Interim Exhibition at the Van-couver Art Gallery in 1990 was a pivotal moment in inspiring me to work more conceptually just as I was entered art school at that time.

K: Was there a pivotal point in your art career?

MARINA ROY

M: An exhibition at Artspeak gallery in 2000, which also resulted in the publication of my first book, Sign after the x.

K: Where did you receive your post-secondary visual art degrees?

M: I received my BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and my MFA from the University of British Columbia.

K: How long have you been teaching at UBC?

M: 1999-2000; 2001-present; I spent a year teaching in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Victoria.

K: Why did you choose to teach at UBC?

M: It’s a good fit: I enjoy teaching studio art and theory, I like the faculty here, I live here.

Untitled (Reagan), Oil on panel, 12”x18”, 2005. (Marina Roy)

K: What interests you beside art?

M: Reading, cooking, walking, writing, sleeping, ani-mals and the environment.

Besides art related texts, I read a lot about biopolitics and psychoanalysis; I also read philosophy and litera-ture (my first degree was in French literature).

K: What are the media that you mostly work in?

M: Video, animation, drawing and painting; I also write occasionally.

K: Are there any person(s) or group(s) that has signifi-cantly influenced your artwork and art making pro-cess?

M: I do not think my work reflects anyone else’s influ-ence directly, but I have many people whose works I admire and who have inspired me in my artistic ap-proach and thinking process:

Art/Aesthetic: Jan Svankmajer, Louise Bourgeois, Max Ernst, Jean Painleve, Mary Kelly, Marcel Duchamp.

Writing/Theory: Eric Santner, Rosalind Krauss, Hal Fos-ter, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Lisa Robertson, Sadie Plant.

Counting Chickens, Enamel on glass, 193.1 x 245 x 36.2 cm, 2009. (Marina Roy)

Counting Chickens, detail.

Counting Chickens, detail.

Art Gallery in a show curated by Kathleen Ritter, How Soon Is Now?.

K: How did you feel when you received the news of acquiring this award?

M: Incredulous; but once it sunk in, happy for the rec-ognition of course. It was a huge honour.

K: Who do you feel has supported you in earning this award?

M: Most of my colleagues and former colleagues from within the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, my collaborators and a few Vancouver curators who have shown my work or asked me to write.

“For me, teaching is complimentary to making and thinking about art.”

K: Do you think it is difficult being an artist in the con-temporary society?

M: No, there is so much to respond to and think about. For me, making art is a no-brainer, I have always enjoyed making artworks. It’s another way of expressing ideas that are not necessarily bound by language or instrumental, goal-oriented practices; making a living off of art is more difficult.

I was lucky in that I succeeded in getting a perma-nent position teaching art that has made it easier to continue making art and having a career in the arts. For me, teaching is complimentary to making and thinking about art.

K: I heard that you recently won an award. Can you tell us what it is and when you received it?

M: I received the VIVA award, a BC art award for mid-career artists in Spring 2010. The award was founded by Jack and Doris Shadbolt in 1987.

K: How did you earn it?

M: I was nominated based on the work I had made up to that time. It probably also had something to dowith the body of work I exhibited at the Vancouver

Totem & Taboo (horizontal version), Books and bibelots on cedar bookshelf, 50’× 10”, 2009. (Marina Roy)

K: Can you tell us about your family background?

E: Totally. My family is from Ontario. My dad is the reason why I got into art. He is an architect, and has been for pretty much his whole life. He got his BA from University of Western Ontario and then he came to UBC for a degree for Architecture.

He was a big motivator for me to come to the west.

K: Does your dad enjoy art?

E: He is really into art. He is well-known in Toronto art galleries. He has put lots of art in our house ever since I can remember. So I have been exposed to it since I was born, which is nice.

Plus, I grew up around galleries. I went to them be-cause my dad was so interested in art.

ERIC McKINNON

Toronto-born Eric McKinnon is a 4th year AHVA BFA graduate with a double major in Visual Arts and Art History. He’s laid back, musical and pas-sionate. What more? He’s off to Venice where he got a position with the Guggenheim Museum.

K: When did you first make art? What did you do?

E: I have always been an artsy kid. I write, play music, make art... I’ve been in a band forever! I have been a musician since I was 5. I learnt how to sing and how to play percussion, guitar, bass and piano.

Luckily, my high school let me do both art and mu-sic. For me, it really had to do with blending the two together.

K: What or who inspired you then?

E: A big influence was poster artist Jermaine Roger. I like the style of being able to blend auditory and visual forms of art. I think they really go hand-in-hand on stage: lights backing you up and images promot-ing your actual music. This led into my later interests in graffiti and cartoonish art. Originally my goal was to become a poster artist.

K: What are your main mediums?

E: Photography, print media, digital and sculpture. I was mainly a painter before I came to UBC. Now, I like working with the physical and being able to cre-ate something more than a 2D image.

The Party, Digital photo manipulation, 2010. (Eric McKinnon)

I like work that extends into your world and into your face; it’s really powerful.

K: So what are you working on right now?

E: It’s called Forever 52. My work takes 2 decks of cards in two different colours decayed, burned and destroyed. They are also covered in dirt, ash, burnt cigarettes and dollar bills.

K: What was your inspiration for this piece?

E: I was really inspired by Jeff Wall’s Destroyed Room and Dead Soldiers Talking.

Another influence for my work was the Iraq inva-sion. The United States created this deck of cards of the most-wanted Iraqi individuals on their hit list and distributed them to their troops in order for them to recognise these wanted individuals.

“I like the style of be-ing able to blend au-ditory and visual forms of art.”K: I heard you got a position in the Guggenheim mu-seum. Can you tell us about it?

E: It’s pretty much an internship. I do everything from ticketing, letting people in, checking purses and even giving tours. Each student intern is also responsible for taking care of an artist in the biennale.

I also have to prepare and present a lecture at the end of my term on a conceptual idea or artwork that I feel has been necessary or relevant to the time and/or art history.

So, while I am working there I am also studying.

K: How long is the term?

E: You can apply anywhere from a month to 3 months. I applied for the 3-month term from Septem-ber to December.

K: What motivated you to apply?

E: My god sister graduated exactly like me with adouble-major BFA. She did the internship and recom-mended it. Plus, my dad pretty much backed me up and gave me advice because I really wasn’t sure about where I would go with my degree.

Graduating this year and not knowing what I wanted to do was very taxing. This internship was an oppor-tunity that dropped on the table right in front of me and I wanted to take a shot at it.

K: When you announced the good news to your fam-ily, what did they say?

E: Everyone in my family was really excited. My dad was super pumped about it. I told my references as well.

Funny thing, one of my references was my high school art history/art teacher and an advisor. Well, I let her know, and she pretty much told the entireschool and made a huge deal out of it.

“Graduating this year and not knowing what I wanted to do was very taxing.”

Forever 52, Collage/ sculpture portrait, 2011. (Eric McKinnon)

So I am kind of nervous about going back to that school. Everyone knows what I am doing in the sum-mer.

“There is no way you can go overboard.”K: Who did you use for your references beside your god-sister, of course?

E: My visual art/art history high school teacher, Van-couver-based artist Gordon Smith (who I worked for), and also Richard Prince - who is very kind.

I didn’t see the reference letters but since I got in, I assume they all wrote really nice letters.

K: If other people want to apply for this kind of posi-tion, what kind of advice can you give them?

E: There is no way you can go overboard. One of my interviewers told me that they like people who are really interested in art but not strictly focused on one aspect of it. They want artists who know their history, their theory, and who are ready to get out there and enter the workforce.

Also, they like people who are comfortable talk-ing, having one-on-one conversations and giving a lecture. The job entails giving tours and talking to people. You have to be able to speak Italian, too.

K: You are taking this for 3 months. After the term is finished do you have any plans to go back?

E: If I am asked to stay, or go to another museum of Guggenheim, I would definitely do that. It would be an honour. I feel privileged to even be accepted for this term.

K: Last words about the Guggenheim?

E: The internship at Guggenheim is not a permanent role. The purpose is to educate you and get your foot into working for a gallery. It is to expose you to this kind of area and workspace.

This is a big name to put on my resume. It’ll really help me apply for other jobs like teaching or working in a gallery- which I hope are both options for me.

This is one of my first stepping stones to getting into the world of art.

“This is one of my first stepping stones to getting into the world of art.”

Wasted Space Portraits, Digital photo series, 2010. (Eric McKinnon)

Got something to share about art?Send it to VASA and we’ll add it to our archive on our blog!Submissions can be sent to:

vasaubc@gmail.com

Editor: Joy KimGraphic Designer: Alison Lau

VASA is an undergraduate club of the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.

EVENTS Hippie Chick by Dana ClaxtonApril 18-30, 2011 | Canada Line Subway SystemVarious LocationsInfo: http://www.ahva.ubc.ca/eventsDetails.cfm?EventID=997&EventTypeNumID=7/

Off-Campus:

On-Campus:

Letters to the Garden Now- April 30, 2011 | Irving K. Barber Learning Centre1961 East MallInfo: http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/events/

Screenings at MOA: Festival of Anthropology FilmsApril 30-May 1, 2011 | Museum of Anthropology and Old Barn Community CentreInfo: http://anthfilm.anth.ubc.ca/

How Do You Sleep With Yourself? UBC BFA/BA Visual Art Graduating Class ExhibitionApril 21-May 2, 2011 | Koerner Library, Dorothy Som-erset, B.C. Binning 1958 Main Mall, 6373 University BlvdInfo: http://www.ahva.ubc.ca/

Get to Know: Open StudioApril 24, May 1, 8, 15 (1-4 PM) | Beaty Biodiversity Museum2212 Main Mall http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/events/

High Speed and Camera Trap Wildlife Photography- Scott LinsteadMay 4 (7 PM) | Beaty Biodiversity Museum2212 Main Mall Info: http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/events/

Multiversity Galleries Curator ToursEvery Tuesday (1-2 PM) | Museum of Anthropology6393 N.W. Marine Drive VancouverInfo: http://www.moa.ubc.ca/events/events_news.php?item=758/

FacesNow-June 5, 2011 | Belkin Art Gallery1825 Main Mall Info: http://www.belkin.ubc.ca/

BEING A SMART VISA STUDENT:Tips from VISA Students to VISA Students

TIPS

# 3 Get Involved!

Join the Facebook group: “Groupies!” “Groupies!” offers updates on weekly trips to artsy locations with other fellow Visual Arts (and those in-terested in arts) students! Need someone to go with? No prob. Just meet at the given location and make new friends or find yourself surprised to see some of your classmates!