More photos on League website

Check out these great shots from last Sunday Germaine posted! 
Thank-you, Germaine! 

http://league-league.org/?p=1338

Tromp L'oeil

While discussing students' proposals and the theme of our exhibition, I get to think of tromp l'oeil a few times. It is basically to create an optical illusion. It could be street art like these below, 

Or Felice Varini's elegant site-specific painting in architectural space. Varini will be a good example for our theme about dimensions and perspectives. 

League workshop by Germaine Koh 2

April 21 League day
On League Sunday, it was sunny, rainy, stormy and then sunny again as we arrived at Elm Park...

In three groups, each developed a new game from existing games with balls, twister, checkers and table tennis.

The first group was thrilled to make up a saturn ball while having some hard time deciding rules at the beginning.

The team of checkers and twister at once works things out very smoothly! 

The second group in development of their new sticky table tennis 

Sticky Tilted Tennis- Started from table tennis, the third group invented a fun and simple game. 

Finale with all playing Ultimate Saturn together.

Is this exercise art? Was this inspiring? Germaine and Bruce finished the workshop by nicely summarising the activity. 

To invent a game together,  it was important to simplify the rules, narrowing down all the ideas. 

I was glad to see all students developing through conversation and no violence was involved... 

 It was also interesting to see how we used everyday materials such as mixing up table tennis and a wrapping tape. This is not different from the process of making art. 

Pay close attention to how your project is being developed this time. And you may come back to this exercise at any time. 

League workshop by Germaine Koh 1

After the presentation, we started to invent new games by mixing existing games or improvising as it goes. 

League workshop by Germaine Koh 1

League Part 1 
April 14 
Vancouver based, internationally renown artist Germaine Koh's project League is a part of Fieldhouse residency program run by Vancouver Park Board. When I learned about League through her presentation at the symposium on community and art last fall at Emily Carr University of Arts, I immediately thought it'll be a great exercise to bring in. 

 "League is an open group of people who gather to play sports and games invented by members of the community. Each game, its equipment, its playing field, and its strategies evolve through trial and improvisation. It’s problem-solving as play."

Germaine and Bruce Emmet, a regular leaguer, artist and a teacher, started with a slide presentation about art and game. As we couldn't see the slides well in the studio due to the skylight, I'm posting them here. 

Some inspiring installation

Installation is a genre on its own, but even when it is not, how you display your work can be a big part of fabrication.

Mark Peter Wright, 30 minutes of listening 

 Ed Ruscha, Blue color Tech-chem 

Drawing and game: Olivia Plender

Many artists have been interested in the topic of game, and here's one example (that is not sporty). Olivia Plender is a London-based artist and was one of my tutors while I was studying there. I'm copying her article on drawing from The Guardian with her meticulous drawing.  

Set Sail for the Levant, 2007, board game, 50 x 50cm. Courtesy of Olivia Plender

I have been drawing since I was a kid. It was my first creative outlet before I discovered the other possible ways of making art. I returned to drawing in a big way about 10 years ago after I first left art school. My practice has evolved in a more complicated direction, involving a lot of historical research, which usually ends up in performances, installations and videos but I find that drawing is still a necessary part of the process.

Drawing is fantastic because it is a cheap and immediate way of making work. All you need is a pencil and a piece of paper. When I first left art school I wanted to make films, but I had neither studio nor money so I made comics instead. In my mind I was making cheap films – I was using a cinematic visual language on the page, exploring narrative, mis-en-scène and how words and images relate to each other.

One of my first influences was the work of Öyvind Fahlström, a Swedish artist who died in the early 1970s. He used comic book imagery, because he wanted to make artwork that everyone could understand. I am interested in this idea – most people do understand the imagery and the basic repertoire of signs and symbols used in comic books. Fahlström also wanted to create an alternative distribution network for art works so that the public would be able to buy them as multiples at a cheap price, in the same way as they would buy a record. I was very keen to find a way to distribute my work outside of museums and galleries, and comics made this a possibility.

• Olivia was born in London in 1977. Her solo exhibition, Adieu Adieu Apa (Goodbye Goodbye Father), will be at the Gasworks Gallery, London, from 25 September 2009 to 15 November 2009.