Lorna Boschman's work as a media artist
International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA)
Curator Anne Golden has selected two programs of work directed by Lorna Boschman to appear at the Panorama of Quebec and Canadian Video during this year's FIFA. The Festival will be held from March 17-27, 2011. Join us on March 23 (18:30 pm) and 24 (21:00 pm) at the NFB Theatre, 1564 St-Denis Street in Montreal.
Anne and Lorna will have a public conversation with the audience about the work and the process of creating it. The first evening is entitled I’ll be your mirror and includes: Scars (1987), A Cancer Video (1996), Butch/Femme in Paradise (1988), Drawing the Line (1992), BoyGirl (1999), and Jill and Lorna’s Kitchen: Thanksgiving (2007).
The second program is entitled I’m sticking with you and includes: Fat World (1993/4), Before the New Millennium (2007), From the Inside/OUT! (2000) and the premiere of an interactive media work Mother Daughter Bake-Off. Travel expenses provided through a Canada Council Travel Grant for Media Artists.
The Talking Poles (2010)
Over the past two years, I've worked with Vicki Moulder, T’Uy’Tanat–Cease Wyss and Bobbi Kozinuk on a pair of interactive audio sculptures the Talking Poles. The public art project was commissioned by the City of Surrey as part of their designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada. Videos and audio clips created with community members on the themes of Love and Peace can be viewed/heard on the City of Surrey’s site.
The Talking Poles are two public artworks which give local community members a voice and creative expression. Located on the Serpentine Greenway near the north and south intersections of 68th Avenue, the poles are positioned to greet people, giving them occasion to pause and reflect.
These permanent interactive artworks communicate through audio compositions. They convey natural and musical sounds and the words of area residents from diverse cultures, expressing universal concepts of compassion: love, peace and respect for nature and the environment. To experience the recordings live, visitors step closer to a pole and interact with a motion sensor.
Words, symbols and images from these diverse cultures form the design pattern on the exterior of the poles and emphasize the messages of love and peace. Videos and audio clips created with community members can be viewed/heard on the City of Surrey’s site. Read the artist statement and credits or view stills from our iterative design process.
Jill & Lorna's Kitchen (2006 - present)
Multiple short cooking episodes have been posted on our YouTubechannel. Recipes include Vegetarian Lasagna, TV Dinner, Traditional Thanksgiving, and Ice Cream Sundaes. Created in collaboration with Jill Mandrake with a theme song performed by Sister DJ’s Radio Band. http://youtube.com/user/JillandLornasKitchen
this ability media club (2005-07)
From February 2005 to May 2007, I directed a weekly media workshop for "self advocates" at the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion (BACI)'s Still Creek Centre. The Media Club was co-sponsored by BACI and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). My role was as facilitator of the program, technical instructor, and editor of the six short films. The completed works are online at CitizenShift.
A half hour documentary about the project with background interviews with the directors is available at Canadian public libraries or through the NFB.
Before the New Millennium (2007)
During the 1990's, a Vancouver based art collective Kiss & Tell presented three major performances, True Inversions (1992), That Long Distance Feeling (1997) and Borderline Disorderly (1999). The three members of the group, Persimmon Blackbridge, Lizard Jones, and Susan Stewart are still active as artists and teachers in other disciplines.
As the writer and director of the video, I am trying to gain a perspective on cultural attitudes of the period toward performance, sexuality and censorship through recreating portions of their live shows. The spectator is engaged through digital duplication and the appearance of two different performances at once. In a sense, I am trying to re-enact how a performance is remembered from the viewer's perspective, the favorite bits larger than life, the sound of the audience as loud as the stage.
In Her Own Time (2005)
Produced by the Justice Institute of BC. Educational video for service providers, designed to help them learn to empower women in order to gain control over domestic violence. 15 min. Video.
Walking Woman (2004)
Walking Woman (2004) from Lorna Boschman on Vimeo.
Produced by Margaret Dragu. Artists begin on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery and converge near a mall described as “the Rome of Richmond.” Together they tour and dance at public art sites with traveling musicians, in an event led by one of Canada's formemost performance artists. 27 min. Video.
From the Inside/OUT! (2000)
From the Inside/OUT! (2000) from Lorna Boschman on Vimeo.
Produced by the BC Self Advocacy Foundation and BC Association for Community Living. Developmentally disabled adults share stories about life in BC’s institutions and their journey to life in the community through a multi-media installation first show in Vancouver at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Winner of Golden Sheaf at Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival and the NFB's Kathleen Shannon Award. 25 min. Video.
BoyGirl (1999)
BoyGirl from Lorna Boschman on Vimeo.
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. A short look at tomboys and other women who are mistaken for men, inter-cut with a huge fire, set to Johnny Cash’s classic Ring of Fire. 14 min. Video.
Dr. Lorna's Seven Day Poodle Diet (1998)
Produced & Directed by Lorna Boschman. Dr. Lorna and her Poodle poke fun at diets while taking over the Dieting Network. Take a fresh look at fat phobia while discovering the real lives of fat people. 53 min. Video.
SPLAT! (1997/98)
Line Producer and Episode Director for one season of half hour program, shown on Teletoon Network. Fast paced magazine style show about Canadian animators and their art.
A Cancer Video (1996)
A Cancer Video (1996) from Lorna Boschman on Vimeo.
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. An herbalist deals with cancer, death and transformation and her relationship with her son against a backdrop of Winnipeg and the Snake Pits of Narcisse. 23 min. Video.Sunnybrook (1995)
Produced and Directed by Persimmon Blackbridge and Lorna Boschman. Based on the art exhibit and book of the same name, Sunnybrook tells the story of Diane, a one to one counselor for adults whose work makes her question the validity of the institution. 45 min. Video.
Fat World (1993/4)
Produced through Banff Centre for the Arts. Directed by Lorna Boschman. A half hour documentary about the lives of fat people, edited while in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts. 25 min. Video.
Big Fat Slenderella (1993)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. A Western Front Media Production. In this initial exploration of the lives of fat people, Dr. Lorna and her poodle Diette promote the Poodle Diet, while images of fat animals are inter-cut with fat people being interviewed. 15 min. Video.
True Inversions (1992)
Written and Produced by Kiss & Tell. Directed by Lorna Boschman. True Inversions created its own dialectic on lesbian erotica while focusing on the differences between passions performed on and off camera, legal, social and self forms of censorship, the motion of emotion, and the eroticization of safe sex. 29 min. Video.
Drawing the Line (1992)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. Exploration of the interactive art exhibit by Kiss & Tell, who hung 100 lesbian sex photos on the wall and asked viewers to express their opinions and draw their lines directly on the gallery walls. 7 min. Video.
Doing Time (1991)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. A video interpretation of a sculptural installation by Persimmon Blackbridge, this tape presents text and sculpture about the lives of four women who’ve been locked inside Canada’s prison system. 27 min. Video.
Family Secrets (1990)
Co-produced with Kim Blain. Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. Part of the NFB’s Five Feminist Minutes, this optically printed work shows the process of remembering childhood sexual abuse. 6 min. 16mm film.
Orpheus Awakening (1990)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. An over the top queer remake of the classic Greek myth. 14 min. 16 mm film.
Our Normal Childhood (1988)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. In a very personal tape, a woman talks about sexual abuse while the director reflects on the normality of parental spanking. 11 min. Video.
Butch/Femme In Paradise (1988)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. On the wild west coast, a butch/femme couple act out a sexy fantasy against a backdrop of voluptuous rock formations. 5 min. 16 mm. film.
Scars (1987)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. While displaying their scars, four women talk about slashing as a means of externalizing pain.11 min. Video.
Smash the Plates (1986)
Produced and Directed by Lorna Boschman. In this comedy, a group of artists attempt to start a revolution through breaking dishes. 26 min. Video.
