feeling so much yet doing so little
Feb 17 - Apr 7, 2012
opening Feb 16, 7PM
Western Front
303 east 8th avenue, vancouver
tel +1 (604) 876-9343
As any good collective would, in 2005 the members of Instant Coffee drafted a "manifesto" of sorts. In it, they define themselves and their objectives in terms of their caffeinated namesake: Instant Coffee "mimics the real thing without the pretense of being better. It isn't that much easier to make, but that much is reason enough to justify its particularities."
After 12 years of artistic production, from the Disco Trailer to the Light Bar, Instant Coffee (the artists, not the beverage), are in no need of justification. Their upcoming prospective retrospective will take place throughout the Western Front as an exhibition, a residency, a publication and a series of talks and events.
Instant Coffee artist collective video trailer for Feeling So Little Yet Doing So Much, their prospective retrospective at the Western Front, Vancouver
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Feeling So Much International Prospective Lecture Series
For this series Instant Coffee has invited a number of international curators representing key moments in the collective's 12 year history, as well as moments to come. Moderated by Caitlin Jones.
This International Prospective Lecture Series is presented with the generous support of Jane Irwin and Ross Hill
Bernd Milla
Thursday, March 8, 7pm
Bernd Milla, Director of the Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg will reflect on exhibition praxis and possibilities for artists’ work and presentation.
Lise Nellmen
Thursday, March 22nd, 7pm
Lise Nellmen of Sparwasser HQ, a not-for-profit project and exhibition space in Berlin, will speak about Instant Coffee and collaborative curatorial practices.
Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy
Friday, April 6th, 7pm
Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy, curator of contemporary art at Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in New York, and agent for Documenta 13 will speak about her curatorial practice.
STORE FRONT
Every Saturday Instant Coffee will be selling necessary accessories and other special items from their new "West Coast Modern" furniture collection, and will on occasion be joined by other designers and artists, including Robert Kleyn and Samuel Roy Bois.
As part of STORE FRONT each Saturday Instant Coffee has invited artists, critics and curators to host a series of low key events.
Making Sense of Things Together
Saturday, February 25th, 12-5pm
As a response to IC’s motto “Get Social or Get Lost,” join artist and critic Amy Fung for an endurance performance/lecture for which she will assembling a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of a Jackson Pollock painting she inherited at an Edmonton garage sale.
Paper Folding Doodle
Saturday, March 10th, 2-5pm
Kim Kennedy Austin and Graham Kaye will distractedly origami.
General Joke Store
Saturday, March 10, 2-5pm
Artists Aaron Carpenter and Jonathan Middleton have been honing their joke-writing skills over the past year or two. The General Joke Store provides the opportunity to purchase some their recently crafted jokes. An assortment of jokes will be on offer in the “knock-knock”, “lightbulb”, and “chicken crossed the road” genres, as well as a selection of rude and off-color jokes, sure to alienate you from your friends and co-workers.
Paint it Pink
Saturday, March 17th, 12-5pm
Bring it in, Instant Coffee will paint it pink
Pyrography (woodburning) Workshop
Saturday, March 24th, 2-5pm
Come, burn a design on a piece of wood and make a button!
Track Day
Saturday, March 31st, 5-9pm
A slot-car race tournament hosted my Matt Smith.
OTHER EVENTS
Bild N Sound
Goethe Satellite @ Instant Coffee
Saturday, March 10, 8pm
A project by the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with Instant Coffee and Revised Projects
Instant Coffee together with Bernd Milla brings together German artist videos with Vancouver musicians. Milla has programmed a selection of silent videos by German artists, including Hans-Christian Dany, Mirko Martin and Sebastian Stumpf, and in response, Instant Coffee will program Canadian musicians to play a live score.
Island Pavilion Launch
Friday, March 16th, 7pm
Island Pavilion is a Vancouver based production studio specializing in the printing of original and limited edition artworks. The artworks produced with IP are distributed online through www.islandpavilion.org, including work by Christian Oldham, Krist Wood, Nicolas Sassoon, Petra Cortright, Robert Lorayn, Sara Ludy, Francoise Gamma, Laura Brothers, Alexander Peverett, Tabor Robak and Sylvain Sailly.
GOOD NEWS Issue 05 Launch
Saturday, April 7th, 2pm
Instant Coffee will publish the next in their series of "one question" handmade journals. GOOD NEWS Issue 05 will address the question "What constitutes a successful failure?"
Wood Whittling Club
Feb 29th, March 14th, March 18th, 7pm
Every second Wednesday Instant Coffee will host an informal gathering of artists and anyone who wants to whittle and socialize. Wood will be provided, but bring your own carving tools.
Classical Reading Group
March 6, 13, 20, 27, 7pm
Every Tuesday in March Instant Coffee will host a reading group for TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens, a relevant classic for discussing present economic issues. By the way it is the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens.
Instant Coffee is a service oriented artist collective based in Toronto and Vancouver.