I believe that art is either derivative or provocative. In the case of derivative -we have an imitation of reality -a sort regurgitated food -in the movies and the culture. In this way all differences are made the same -a sort of polished sheet-metal surface. In this way -we redo and recreate what is in it’s former essence -a child of the faceless power. Programming and conditioning is enacted in order to teach conventionalities and artifice. These personalities are stereotypical -shallow and unfinished. So in prose and art -it is a thing of a caricature world. In provocative art -there is a threat and a danger. A grotesque truth is intimated -a thing not accepted by those who preach of realism. The provocative is a sort of funnel into an uncertain land -where risk and adventure hold sway. The truth is told that cannot be swallowed whole by the public. Therefore in this way -commerce and art are contrary to each other -and hardly ever mix. The artist is a questioner -who has no answers.

It’s true that fantasy is not an escape. The actor’s purpose is not to put on masks -but to take them off. It is said that Surrealism is an irrational and illogical thing -apart from conscious reality. But I believe that all reality if indeed immeasurable and absurd in nature. The variations of life -are all indeed unique -there is no unity. All these distorted visions are a thing of uncertainty. We are never sure of the ultimate truth -it is an elusive sense -of an obscure dream. I say -make your art -a thing of all you see -in the ways of the eerie -to delineate the weird corners of being. Beyond the illusions of the appearance -behind the face of bright disguise -there is a darkness. Skin is light -and flesh is night. To take water from the well -you must look into its shadowy depths. Fantasy as apposed to realism -is all about the core of madness -a sort of entranced inspiration -where the artist is caught in his demented point of view. He is unaware of the world -and works unhindered by its moralistic concerns.

Now what is the nature of reality? A book is a thing that holds many souls -and we participate in their lives. They are as real as anything in the material world. If these characters would stand up before us -and speak their names -we would know them. ‘The only reality is the soul.’ so the French poet Baudelaire said. In the realm of pure light -all things are made of that light. The created things are just as literally made -as the mountains and the sea. They live in a world of speculation -and as such are fictions -and roles -of tales and stories. We are like them -we also have been reborn in some way. Heroes and villains are both sleeping in the tomb of the book. They come to pass when they are revealed -by the reader. In this way -all the shapes and forms of the artist are no more than an extension of his mind -like someone from the audience walks up onto the stage -we are participants in the art of the creative man. We look around at the actors and the scenery -and we realize their lies are the same as our lies. We are moved from within -rather than from outside. We recognize and are realized by the fantastic – in this way we look to the flower and not the root.

In every life -we come to a moment of crisis. This is the time -when we must either grow or die. Sometimes it’s a matter of karma or decision. We are bogged down or stranded on a hill. We are then known to have a mental illness -in all the scientific terms. It is said that this is a biological imperative -or a disease of the spirit. One or the either -it’s true that as individuals we experience a change or changes. Sometimes its a transformation that compels us. Other times it’s just a funk or a disappointment -of dashed hopes. But in any case when we take medication -it’s to treat a mysterious set of symptoms -considered to be an incurable schizophrenia or depression. A whole set of terms are enacted to explain something illogical and secretive. All this is really a simplification -of what is really an existential problem. If we believe in God we are healthy -and if we believe in a devil -we are mad in some way. It’s really a matter of flipping a coin -a sort of harmful duality. A young man begins to read Revelations -and he shaves his head -and begins to speak of Good and Evil. What is really a palliative becomes mania and fanaticism.

And so I advise -to bite the devil -is to be without fear. The thing we call -’Evil’ is actually an alien thing to a person’s soul. It comes from without -and enters as a foreign force. It invades the mind and seen to be disease -That is good. If you know it as a cancer or lesion -you understand the importance of medical reasoning. Even so all unbalanced energies are a matter of going too far one way or another. If we are obsessed by an idea -we are involved in its concourse. If we are afraid -we become what we fear. And to fear always leads to disaster -it is destructive and also confused. The only illness of all -is worry and doubt. If we hesitate we are lost. As it says in the Bible -’if you take you lose what you had -if you give -you gain so much more.’ This is a matter of attitude -in that we must be generous in all our ways -not in matters of charity -but in friendship and business. Mental illness is indeed a reluctance to relate to others. No. We cannot force people to be social -such as counsellors do. We can’t fit the round peg in the square hole -but we can encourage freedom.

To bite the devil -we face the countenance of chaos. We neither flinch or linger on it -we stand straight on our two feet -and tell the Truth. We know that we are only vulnerable to persecution -if we believe in it. I have learned through the years -to see it as a state of oppression. The power that comes down from above encourages dependence and submission. I have learned to defeat this power by being entirely contrary to it. I know now that madness is a stratagem to adapt to an impossible world. All mad behaviour is a result of conditioning -and the breaking of its influence. To unlearn what we have learned is a difficult process -we either grow or die. To throw off what weakens us -and to break the power -is to stand back and look -to see what it is. To recognize what hurts you.

So now I know -not to seek an absolute Truth. I do not try to penetrate the fog of mystery. I am not involved with a scientific curiosity. I look to the flower -and not the root. I accept varieties -as perfumes and smells -of spices and tastes. I do not believe in the unity of all life -everything is unique and different. The man who finds himself in the serenity of calmness and contemplation -has not gone far enough. Inside the heart is the secret garden of the soul. We all search the Heavens and Earth for some kind of answer. I say -do not look for the fate -time itself is the creator of disappointment. I often feel that the passing of Time -is itself a obligation I do not accept. All things converge in the moment -that itself is like the shores of a great sea reaching out to infinity. In the present -all past memories and future expectations are nullified in the acid seas. Time is useless and ignorant in that it leads to a fixation on things that do not exist. Our only world is what surrounds us -the people who deserve our attention -the events and ceremonies we take part in. The immediate realm of our senses and our understanding. We bite the devil -by avoiding the things that suffocate us -and choke our voice. We take care of our own souls -and we shape and form our own reality

The next comedy night is Friday February 17th 7pm at Gallery Gachet.  For more details and upcoming events see the calendar

We are looking for a motivated, part-time coordinator for the second phase of The Art Cart Project funded by the City of Vancouver and the Community Arts Council of Vancouver. A contract position will run from January 2012 to April 2012 with work timeline to be determined. (This position may lead to future job opportunities with the Art Cart Project.)

The successful applicant needs to be very familiar with the arts and cultural community of the Downtown Eastside which includes Chinatown, Gastown and Strathcona. Familiarity with the work of Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park would be an asset. The coordinator must be capable of working on his/her own, have excellent communication, computer and admin skills and the ability to encourage and engage community residents. Good organizational skills, knowledge of community art development processes, and some grant writing and report writing are also required.

The Art Cart Project will build an art cart for the communities of Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park for artists to transport and sell their artworks. The cart is a vessel for artists to broaden their audience and increase sales of their work from the gallery and park environments. Working with the Community Liaison Coordinator, Designer, building companies and local community members, the coordinator will help to facilitate the building of the cart, as well as strategise the legitimacy of a potential social enterprise, and identify and assist in grant applications to secure further funding.

The contract is for $3,500 in total (Jan 2012 to April 2012).

Please submit your letter of application and resume to:

Lara Fitzgerald, Programming Director
Gallery Gachet
88 East Cordova Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1K2
hr@gachet.org

Deadline for submission: 5:00 pm, Thurs, December 22^nd, 2011.

Please note: Only those who are selected for interviews will be contacted.
Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park are equal opportunities employers.

We are looking for a motivated, part-time community liaison coordinator for the second phase of The Art Cart Project funded by the City of Vancouver and the Community Arts Council of Vancouver. A contract position will run from January 2012 to April 2012 with work timeline to be determined. (This position may lead to future contracts associated with the Art Cart Project.)

The successful applicant needs to be very familiar with the arts and cultural community of the Downtown Eastside which includes Chinatown, Gastown and Strathcona. Familiarity with the work of Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park would be an asset. The coordinator must be capable of working on their own, have excellent communication and the ability to encourage and engage community residents. Good organizational skills, knowledge of community art development processes specifically in the Downtown Eastside and a long history of working one-on-one with artists in the local community, as well as being a resident of the Downtown Eastside would be an asset.

The Art Cart Project will build an art cart for the communities of Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park for artists to transport and sell their artworks. The cart is a vessel for artists to broaden their audience and increase sales of their work from the gallery and park environments. Working with the Project Coordinator, Designer, building companies and local community members, the coordinator will help to facilitate the building of the cart with crucial input from cart artists, as well as research the legitimacy of a potential social enterprise, and give support in grant applications to secure further funding.

The contract is for $750 in total (Jan 2012 to April 2012).

Please submit your letter of application and resume to:

Lara Fitzgerald, Programming Director
Gallery Gachet
88 East Cordova Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1K2
hr@gachet.org

Deadline for submission: 5:00 pm, Thurs, December 22^nd, 2011.

Please note: Only those who are selected for interviews will be contacted.
Gallery Gachet and Oppenheimer Park are equal opportunities employers.

Gallery Gachet will offer for sale an exclusive selection of artworks generously donated by emerging and established artists from the Lower Mainland and beyond to support the gallery in its effort to raise much needed funds for its programming and to support its mandate.

Artworks from Rosemary Burden, Enda Bardell, Vasan Sitthiket, Margaret M. Mah, Debra Sloan, Phyllis Schwartz, Monica Deac and Mandara Lebovitz will be for sale, representing a diverse range of mediums, from drawing to ceramics; and varying styles, from figurative to abstract.

Many of the artists whose works are in the auction boast impressive international exhibition acclaim. Enda Bardell’s hard-edge metaphysical abstract paintings are in the permanent collection of the KUMU National Art Museum of Estonia in Tallinn and were included in the Estonian Art in Exile exhibition in 2010. Her donation to the Fundraising Art Auction is representative of the artist’s career as an abstract painter, similar to those held by the KUMU National Art Museum. Debra Sloan’s clay sculptures are in the permanent collection of the International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemet, Hungary and her works are currently on exhibit in Alberta, Ontario and Kecskemet, Hungary. Monica Deac’s abstract paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows in New York and Chicago.Thai artist, Vasan Sitthiket’s works have been acquired for the permanent collections of a number of institutions, including the MOMA (NY), the National Gallery (Bangkok), the Singapore Art Museum and the Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane). He has also won a number of  awards for his work from bodies in Thailand and India.

About Gallery Gachet: Gallery Gachet is a unique collectively managed artist-run centre located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). Gachet is designed to empower participants, the majority of whom are mental health consumers, as artists, administrators and curators. Gallery Gachet is the only venue in Western Canada for artists informed by mental health issues to have their work documented, catalogued, exposed in the gallery and on the web, and to other institutions.

For more information, please contact Lara Fitzgerald, Programming Director, or Gabriella Solti, Fundraising Coordinator on 604 687 2468 or programming@gachet.org.

The function of all art is to provoke. To question the Truth is to strengthen it. In order for the artist to work in freedom – one must allow him to be contrary. In the outward circumference of reality -one is only concerned with power. Art is an inward inflection -and the needs of the status-quo are often at odds with the creative process. Art is a thing that arises out of creative hunger – the ambition of a professional careerist is always involved in sacrifice to a goal. This goal is to make more power and to make more money for men whom you submit to. Therefore you are what they call a team player. You are a member of a body -a cog in a machine. Artists are not able to fit into such a strategy -they can only work alone -to make their dream real. Equality is a law in this way -a moral rule that forces all to fit to command. Art is totally against this -it cannot survive in a locked room. It cannot flourish in a place without windows. Art is vital and regenerative -it encompasses both virtue and accident.

Some people think that a great man is the one who changes things. And he who is great is always the one who is calumniated by the average crowd. In this way prophets are stoned and poets are murdered. The people who say this are called ‘elitists.‘ and they are accused of being irritable and discontented. They do not agree with the myth of the common man. They feel that the worst of us -have always been active in the mob -to raise their voices against difference and uniqueness. Anyone who is strange and essential -is attacked in school and the work for which they were trained. Such ingrates are not able to fit in -the proverbial round peg in the square hole. They who are nonconformists are often those who come up with the great ideas. In order to do this -they face the crowd -and break the law of equality. For this they are severely punished.

Therefore you have a sort of mental illness. It’s not that this is done in an obvious manner. Those who are affected by an ‘idea-virus’ are often sick with their Truth. An idea virus is a thing that moves from person to person -all in a process of causing intemperance and restlessness. An idea virus is a deeply dangerous concept -that burns like a fire from branch to branch. There is one man stamping out the flames on the ground -as above a raging fire burns in the trees. Idea viruses are not trustworthy or harmless -they are always involved in an argument and a conversation. Men who germinate -are those who are able to speak without fear of consequence. In this way they must stand up straight and tall -without hesitation and prudishness. When every man is equal -there is no room for deviation. To be equal is to be dead in some way. The words that are planted in the throat cannot flower. The doubts and suspicions cannot be expressed -when you are caught in the senseless mass. You just go with the grain -and fall asleep -a slow and terrible death ensues. A great artist is one who dares to feel the pain of separation -to look inside from outside -and to see. A great artist is one who causes trouble and confusion. In this way it is our duty to avoid being safe and agreeable. In this way we overturn the tyranny of equality. We hate the wheel of karma that grinds us down.

The internet is a new thing. Who knows where it’s going? It certainly makes the world smaller -and is a microcosm of the outer world. There are opinions here that are sometimes professional and sometimes a matter of common speculation. In every city -in every culture and in every sub-culture -there is what I call the pool. The pool is the internet and its influence on art and culture. The pool is the way people exchange ideas -when they interact on the internet. The pool is the way people discuss things in cafes, bars and gatherings. In this way the pool is the city -every culture and sub-culture. It is not the mass or a faceless, generic point of view. The pool is the ongoing conversation -an intimate sharing -and a starting point to revolution. It is not many things -but one thing -it is the world. A constant reappraisel of truth -a testing and free’ing from ignorance.

Men who are creative and men who are power hungry are like oil and water – of two divergent philosophies. As an artist -I know that my enemy (as Bette Davis once said) is the one who would stand between me and my work. The man who says ‘NO!’ to my ‘Yes.’ Such a voice of denial -is a fear of consequences -and fear is the death of art. One must invest money in the bank of the World or invest money in the bank of the Soul: these are the two opposing viewpoints. Moreover the artist is seen as a weakling by men who have no use for such things -who do not comprehend or see art as a necessity. Men are disturbed by the intensity of the creative force -it is overemotional and irrational. In a country or race -to understand such things is to look at the people who are a part of it. It is they who make up the culture of Man -and the artist knows all their stories.

The brutality of a power hungry criminal is seen in business and also the small time dealers on the streets -they mirror each other. Art is a refutation of this. The dissident voice (unlike what Plato said in the Republic) is the muscle of society. Question the Truth and it will strengthen. The seeking of knowledge is the process wherebye the consciousness of nations is awakened to new ideas. This is a searching where the man who follows what he loves the most -would gain his power. When we were children we were apart from society -our power was stolen from us. We tried to fit in -to find our place -but could not. We felt like strangers and outcasts. We were angry at ourselves for not being completly happy -like all the others. We began to express ourselves -and to steal back the lost power. We did this through the artistic sense -we remade God -and renewed our lives. Art is the untranslatable language -a foreign tongue from a country faraway. We who feel that we are lost in a world that does not know us – are citizens of this land. An artist is a sailor -who yearns for the sea. Art is a desire and a hunger for something we cannot hope to find. In this way -sometimes wanting is sweeter than having -we are involved in the seeking of new ideas.