Happy Holidays

The Trucker

Allison Moore 2008

Lino-cut

Happy Holidays

I will stay in Quebec all winter long.

All the best wishes for 2009!

Uncle Ronnie's Pop up Holiday Art Shop_Toronto

This Holiday Season, I will exhibit a few of my new intaglio prints at the Project 165 art space in Kensington Market Toronto. My new series of etchings feature portraits of hipsters. Please stop by the Gallery at 165 Augusta Avenue in Toronto, if you are in town. Thanks to Ryan Ringer and the the great people at Methinks Presents.

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METHINKS PRESENTS UNCLE RONNIE'S POPUP HOLIDAY ART SHOP
Holiday Reception:
Saturday, December 20, 7 - 11pm

Holiday Hours:
December 20 - 24
11am - 7pm daily

New Year Hours:
January 2 - 9
12pm - 4pm

Location:
Project 165
165 Augusta Ave, Kensington Market, Toronto, ON

Inspired by the defunct rare-junk shop of an increasingly reclusive, virtually unknown Toronto art collector and hoarder of curiosities, "Uncle" Ronnie Graham, this livingroom-gift shop-installation-ki tchen table hybrid is a tribute to a rare bird and its keeper, a living memory of a distant place of careful wonder. Works sell from $20-150.

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Midnight Follies

Midnight Follies

Allison Moore 2008

Ink on nepal paper

22x30

This winter is the first time I have been able to work on my projects full time.  It feels good.

Next stop Gallery Arts Sutton. January 10-February 8 2009.  

preparing for Ville-Marie

"Hair Boy"

Ink on paper

Allison Moore [2008]

Next week I am driving up to Ville-Marie in the Abitibi Region of Northern Quebec to set up an exhibit at the Salle Augutin-Chenier.  The show is a DUO exhibit with artist and collaborator Arthur Desmarteaux.

EXPOZINE

EXPOZINE is Montreal's Annual Small Press, Comic and Zine Fair.  This year I finally participated for the first time to launch my new booklet the "Loose Lips Almanac", a contemporary collection of proverbs written by my brother, musician Bradley Thomas Moore, and illustrated by your truly.

I have always wanted to do an illustrated book work. The "Loose Lips Almanac" was an idea Brad and I came up with over coffee on our weekly Monday meeting. Brad introduced me to the wonderful proverbs of Benjamin Franklin produced for the "Poor Richard's Almanac", published between 1732 and 1758.  We decided together we should produce a booklet of proverbs for contemporary times. The results proved to be random bits of advice, not quite truisms, but playful thoughts I could illustrate.
I illustrated 8 verses altogether, although there were in the end lots to choose from. This may be the first edition of many.

Thank you to all who came by my table at expozine.
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In times of economic despair, support local artisans while keeping your carbon footprint to a bare minimum!
Looper Projects and other talented local artists will be at:

Puces Pop: Breakfast for Dinner
Saturday, December 6, 2008 11:00am - 6:00pm
St. Michel Church Hall,
Corner of St. Viateur & St. Urbain
Montreal, QC

Hot Cakes Friday, December 12, 2008 12:00pm - 7:00pm
Saturday, De

cember 13, 2008 12:00pm - 7:00pm
Sunday, December 14, 2008 12:00pm - 7:00pm
In the basement of the Saint-Enfant-Jésus Church
5035 rue St. Dominique
Montreal, QC
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PUCES POP FESTIVAL MONTREAL

Puppet Making Workshop

This October I participated in the Pop Montreal Festival as Musician, Workshop leader, craft maker and exhibiter.  I was asked to organize a puppet making workshop for the Pop Montreal Festival.  The series of workshops was organized for the pop montreal festival as part of this years KIDS POP.  All workshops took place at the Mile End Cultural Centre at 214 Bernard.

As a participant for the ShOW & Tell Event as part of the Puces Pop DIY (Do IT YOURSELF) section of the Pop Montreal Festival,  I exhibited my silkscreen prints and some of my hand puppets at the Green Room.  The puppets were made in collaboration with Arthur Desmarteaux.  I also sold my prints and embroidered shirts at the Puce Pop MArket, and played my trombone with my brother Bradley Thomas Moore for his show at the KGB.  (I played one song), making for a very amazing, busy schedule at this year's festival.

The Puppet Making Workshop was a successful event with many participants.  Although most people were under 10 years of age, the parents who brought the puppeteers were just as eager to dig in and make some puppet magic.  I brought my home-made crafted Shadow Puppet Theatre to test out the finished results.  We made mostly Brown Paper Bag puppets for the little ones... but later made some shadow puppets to try out the stage.  

Thank you to Puces Pop and the Pop Montreal Festival for such a great event, and especially to JENNY CRAIG who organized the DIY, craft market, the Show & Tell etc, etc....

Show & Tell Exhibition at the Green Room

The PUCES POP Craft Sale

The Shadow puppet play at work.  nice dragon!

Brown paper Bag Puppet Making Action

Thank you to all the participants, I hope you had fun.

Studio XX_Journés de la Culture

Saturday, September 26, 2008

It was a fun active day at Studio xx for the Journees de La Culture.  Lots of people came by to take a look, and interact with my micro-ecosystem tide pool.

Thank you to everybody that came by to visit Primordial Soup.

Thank you to Darsha Hewitt for helping with the electric wire work.

Thank you to Studio XX and CALQ for funding and support.

Journées de la culture

Journees de la culture

Studio XX 

Saturday, September 27, 2008

12h - 17h

4001, rue Berri  #201

514-548-7934

Metro::Sherbrooke

Darsha Hewitt, Louisa Sage, Allison Moore, Risa Hatayama and Katherine Kline.

Photos:Stephanie Lagueux

2007-2008 Autonomy and Activism Participants

To be featured on September 27th during the Journees de la Culture event at Studio XX.

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I will be presenting my video project Primordial Soup during the Journees de la Culutre events this weekend.

La soupe primordiale est une installation vidéo interactive sur le processus de l'évolution. Le projet intègre des logiciels libres tels Pure Data, GEM et Arduino 11 et, des détecteurs de mouvement.

La soupe primordiale met en scène des animations de formes microbiennes dessinées Avec flash CS3. Les animations sont ensuite importées dans PD et utilisent indépendamment les algorythmes Boids. Développés par Craig Reynolds in 1986, Boids est un programme de vie artificielle, simulant le comportement des oiseaux en vol. Boids fonctionne de la même façon qu'un automate cellulaire puisque chaque Boid agit de façon autonome et réfère au voisinage comme le fait l'automate cellulaire.

L'écosystème virtuel des microbes est contrôlé et influencé par une interface utilisateur, au moyen de laquelle le mouvement des spectateurs ou l'action va influencer l'évolution de animations. Ces éléments combinés ensemble recréent l'environnement du début de la terre et simulent les origines de la vie. Cette interaction est importante, en imitant la qualité fragile de la vie et de l'influence qui intervient entre les individus de differentes especes.

L'installation ressemblera à un etang que l'on trouve dans les aquariums. L'oeurve evoque un aquarium interactif que l'on pourrait retrouver dans les laboratoires de biologie marine.

This project is funded through the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec.

Gulf Island Film School

This summer I am working at G.I.F.T.S  ( Galiano Film School) teaching film workshops.  

The film school has been opened since 1995 and offers week long sessions in specialized film courses with overnight accommodation and amazing FOOD.  The courses are more of a bootcamp to kick filmakers into gear.

The GIFTS courses are all intensive, live-in sessions where students work in small teams on projects that are entirely theirs.  

I have been teaching Visual Effects and Animation, as well as a new directors 2-week course where each student writes and directs their own film.  

The school is grounded in hands-on experience, by having all students participate in all areas of production to create a finished film at the end of the week.  

Thanks to life-long friend Bryan Green and VTGS for the hook up.

I will be posted at Galiano Island until early September.

Go G.I.F.T.S!

Pure Data Reigns!

Every Sunday I have been participating in a series of Workshops at Studio XX, in Montreal.

 Automation & Activism:: 

an introduction to open source technology_grass roots software free and open to the public domain. Go Linux! 

My main activities have been playing around with electronics and Pure Data.

With the help of Alex Quessy I have a patch to scrub video or audio tracks with the use of a motion sensor.  The video and or audio plays forward and backward at the speed and motion of your hand moving overtop the sensor. 

---kinda like a theremin....but with a bit more control - the frame rate will play at the speed of my hand going up and down, and I can play whatever audio cue I want to upload---  

For audio it acts like a Dj scratching a turn table, for video it is like scrubbing up and down the timeline...but only a little more magical, cause there is no timeline, and I don't actually touch any buttons.  hehehe  

This new patch will most likely be integrated with my project Primordial Soup....

Le Pays Qui N'exist Pas!

FRINGE FOR ALL!  

This Monday, June 2nd @ 20h00 -  Cafe Campus

Performances at Studio Just For Laughs

Saturday, June 14 @ 21h15

Monday, June 16 @ 23h15

Wedenesday, June 18 @ 19h30

Thursday, June 19 @22h45

Saturday, June 21 @16h00

Sunday, June 22 @ 19h00

See you there!

Mounting the Banners

UPDATES ON THE BANNER PROJECT

S'exposer aux intempries

Mois de l'art Imprime

Atelier Graff - Rue Rachel, Montreal, QC

After long preparation of the images, technical drawings, structural planning, meetings with the city council, meetings with community council, meetings with technicians and engineers, fire men and professional sign makers.....

.....we finally have our banner project successfully mounted on Rue RACHEL!

This project is made in collaboration with artist Arthur Desmarteaux.  All images are made collaboratively.  We used digital photos, mixed with  microscopic photo-imagery and hand-drawn textures to create an illusion of holes and extra windows in the facade of the building.  The imagery inside the hole includes human anatomy (eyes, arms, and legs) and psychedelic molecular landscapes.  

It is our first public art piece, and also our first time printing large scale digital prints. The final pieces are 40 x 70 inches.

It was a rewarding experience to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops involved in displaying art in the public domain.  We certainly learned a lot  in the process.  But none of this would have been possible without the generous support from the great people at GRAFF STUDIOS.  

Thank you especially to Christiane Desjardins (director at Graff) and Laurent Lemarche who helped with many of the technical details.

Opening Reception:

Thursday, May 15, 2008

5pm

963 Rue Rachel est

Montreal, QC

PUPPET UPDATE

Le Pays Qui N'existe Pas

On sunday we had the first read- through of the script written by Marc Boutin. 

The story is about a young boy, Roch who grows up in a poor inner city neighborhood.  His mother works as a prostitute for Alain Grappain who runs his Prostitution business under the guise of a car wash.  Roch has no father so he is left alone most days to entertain himself in the streets.  There is a group of kids that pick on him, and they collectively play a game "terrorist". Roch often escpaes into his imaginary world fighting monsters and rescuing his mother.   

There are many characters, the set is quite elaborate, and the story includes two alternative endings....which the audience decides!   Making for a very interesting pupppet show indeed.

We finally have a set venue and schedule.  Studio JUSTE POUR RIRE

Performances June 14 - 22 2008  (detail description later)

This week has been very productive.    There are 10 completed puppet heads, and most of them have been painted.  Etienne has been laboriously constructing the set and I am also just about done the final Papeir mache details of my LARGE puppet heads, that will be worn for promotional purposes.    

We have to have the press kit ready for Monday distribution, so we have an exciting photo shoot coming up this weekend.

For ticket information please view official website::

Montreal International Fringe Festival

514-849-3378

Eurika! Primordial Soup is Interactive!

This week has been fantastically productive in all projects.

The main breakthrough is finally applying a physical interaction to my video project, Primordial Soup.

Thanks to Alexandre Quessy.  Who has introduced me to Simple Message System - my life has been made so much easier.

(I was getting quite overwhelmed.  All this programing language and electronics seems a bit over my head at times.)

But a basic understanding of wiring and electricity with my breadboard, creating a switch with the arduino....then I Upload simple message system, and I instantly have communication with Pure Data and Arduino!

Eurika!

After tweaking the patch in Pure data a bit, I am sable to send the incoming data to change the variables in my animations.

Now my microbial animation are at the mercy of my control.....by turning the knob or using an infared motion sensor I can alter the speed, attraction and orbiting pattern of the Boids.  All very exciting results.

I finally reap the fruits of my labour.

Thanks to these great people::

Boids = Craig Reynolds

Boids with Pure Data = Eric Singer

Simple Message System = Alexandre Quessy

My arduino Coach  = Patrice Coloumb

Studio xx 

CALQ

Abra Ka-dabra

The other day I needed to get some cheapie electronic parts for my video installation.  

I was told that there were two good places in Montreal.  Addison  and Abra Electronics.  

I decided to go to Abra, I was not disappointed.

Although a little difficult to find...a maze of highways, the crossroads where Route 40 and 15 collide, once I arrived I found a safe little haven of friendliness and cool gadgets.  

My treck started at Cremazie metro where I had to take the 100 bus west to the Decarie.  

Abra is loacted on Cote De leisse - this strange road vastly spanning the entire space below the 40 highway.  

I was on the wrong side, and while passing underneath the 40, cars and trucks whooshing everywhere, a train stopped me in my tracks.   There also happened to be  a building being demolished; cutaway like some Gordon Matta-Clark.  So among all the cacophony and chaos of this urban landscape, I was quite relieved to find everything I needed at Abra, at surplus prices.

Breadboards, wiring kits, robot kits, all types of switches, buttons, and resistors, tools and LEDS.....nice for the geek in anyone.

Le pays Qui N'exist Pas!

Amoung other things....I have become involved with Puppet theatre.  

I always was a big fan of Jim Henson and the Muppet Show.  

Now i am living my childhood dream making puppets!

Bottom line - puppets are very entertaining and everybody loves them, even scary ones from Thailand.   

The Show Entitled "Le Pays Qui N'existe Pas"  is the second production from Ego Trip, and will be playing at the Montreal Fringe Festival this June 12-22, 2008.

The story is written by Marc Boutin, and Directed by artist Arthur Desmarteaux.   

The story involves a young boy growing up in a city in a poor neighborhood.  His mom works as a prostitute to make a living.  (FYI this show is for adult audiences!) The other kids pick on him, and he creates an alternative fantasy world to escape his own reality.

 Most characters will be hand puppets, but we will make use of shadow puppets, video and black light.

Musician Julie Rocque will provide the soundtrack.

I am currently making large Papier Mache heads for larger characters in the fantasy world.  

A nice break up from all the computer work I have doing recently!

Stay tuned for updates.....

Automation and Activism

Primordial Soup Updates::

I have been involved with a series of workshops at Studio XX in Montreal called Automation and Activism.  The workshops have offered a great introduction to different programs using Linux Operating system and open source softwares.   All the technical assistance will aid in developing my project.

Gotta love grassroots.

I unfortunately missed a bunch of classes in January and February while I was in Florida.  BUT NOW I AM BACK! and I am soaking it up.   

In particular Pure Data with Alexandre Quessy. 

Pure Data is an instrumental part of my installation Primordial Soup and will be integrated with Arduino to create the interactive component of the video.  

A bit intimidating at first staring at that blank white screen! All the Objects and numbers and messages can be a bit confusing.....But when I opened up a prebuilt patch, and discovered the vast community available for help I got pretty excited about all the possibilities. Pure Data is incredibly user friendly and the graphical layout is playful and instinctual to use.

progress is going well, as long as I don't get too distracted with other ideas! 

PRINT MONTH IN MONTREAL

I am currently working on a public art piece that will be displayed in front of Graff Studios on Rachel for the month of May.

This project is made in collaboration with Artist Arthur Desmarteaux. { www. arthuro.ca }

We are commissioned to produce three banners that will hang on the facade of the building during the MONTH OF PRINTS in MONTREAL.

We are using a trick of the eye and create the illusion that there are new windows or holes in the building.

{http://www.graff.ca/ }


Dans le cadre du mois de l'art imprimé en mai 2008, je réaliserai avec Arthur Desmarteaux une intervention sur la façade de la galerie et des ateliers Graff.

In Progress

Primordial Soup
project ongoing_an introduction to my work in progress

I have been slowly laboring away at the intensive research involved in my project Primordial Soup. It all began in 2005 when I traveled to the Galapagos Islands to make a documentary on Evolution. I was already interested in themes of evolution, natural history and the origins of species. Speaking directly with scientists in the Galapagos about their ideas of creation and life further planted the seed for my interest.

So How do we get from pond scum to human civilization.....hmmmm??

After several years of reading scientific texts, I have tried to map out some facts and develop a project that reflects my discoveries.

What most of the scientists could agree upon at the conference in 2005 - "The World Summit on Evolution" - was that evolution was not a theory, as much as gravity could be called a theory. Evolution just is. It is actually happening, and changes in species and life are happening continually all around us.


So I decided to create my own little world, a testing bed to make new species and create life. The world is made of tiny animations, and these animations can be changed and modified by people and weather.

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Ok....so this is the project::


IDEAS: the process of evolution from single celled microbes into increasingly complex organisms and how this development over time is controlled by exterior force such as climate change and species interaction.

EXECUTION: Create an interactive video where by the viewer controls the evolution of my drawing creations through a user interface.

TECHNOLOGY: Flash 8, ActionScript, Pure Data, sensors and microcontrollers

INFLUENCES:
-Charles Darwin “Origin of Species”
-Richard Dawkins “The Blind Watchmaker”
-John Conway’s “Game of Life”
-Richard Leakey’s “Sixth Extinction”
-Renaissance zoology
-The culture of categorization