“Art is what makes us human,” says acclaimed Edmonton doctor & artist Gloria Mok. Help us continue to bring the visual arts to our community. Participate in the Dentons Annual Giving Campaign: https://bit.ly/3hY7p4N
#AnnualGiving #SupportArt #SupportLocalArt #KeepArtAlive“Art is what makes us human,” says acclaimed Edmonton doctor & artist Gloria Mok. Help us continue to bring the visual arts to our community. Participate in the Dentons Annual Giving Campaign: https://bit.ly/3hY7p4N
…
Use CTRL+F to find key words if it is a longer transcript.
0:00
[Music]
0:00
foreign
0:00
[Music]
0:11
[Music]
0:14
or the art gallery of Alberta is in a
0:19
very unique position as being the
0:21
premier art gallery in in this province
0:25
it has a lot of opportunities to show
0:29
who we are as Alberta artists and it
0:34
also has
0:36
um
0:36
opportunities to show Arts from other
0:40
places to enrich our minds
0:43
secondly I think the hea can be a great
0:49
community community Builder
0:52
bringing artists writers curators and
0:57
patrons together
0:58
this is to Foster collaboration and
1:02
create new ideas and I think that’s a
1:04
wonderful thing
1:06
and finally I think the AGA has an
1:10
important role in educating the general
1:13
public they are young people and future
1:16
Generations uh the importance of Art and
1:21
art appreciation
1:23
and I feel that this is one of the most
1:27
important roles of the Aga
1:30
[Music]
1:33
yes I will answer the question first in
1:37
the more General uh way and then
1:40
relating to myself specifically
1:43
um I feel that artists are like
1:45
Alchemists that transform ideas into
1:50
some sort of magic that inspires awe and
1:55
curiosity in the viewer
1:58
um as to my own art
2:00
my background is in science and medicine
2:03
and this reflects my my myself and this
2:07
also reflects my art
2:09
some 20 years ago I had a show at the
2:13
hea titled life forms this was a show of
2:18
large photographic Works printed on
2:21
fluorescent paper
2:24
and the idea was that
2:28
um
2:29
uh this would be a a new discovery of
2:34
strange life in some sort of alien
2:37
landscape I wanted the the viewer to be
2:41
engaged to be interested in science and
2:44
interested in nature
2:46
and I would like them to ask questions
2:50
like what kind of Life Is this where is
2:54
this place and how are the photographs
2:57
made
2:58
so more recently had a show titled
3:01
metamorphosis
3:03
uh this is essentially a drawing show
3:06
with a public participation component
3:09
uh I feel that drawing is is is
3:15
an essential
3:16
Act of what we do as humans
3:20
it’s important because it gives
3:23
us insight as to who we are
3:27
and I wanted to to do this for the
3:31
public now the visitor partition
3:34
participation part of the show was a
3:38
wall of butterflies where visitors draw
3:42
a butterfly they cut it out and we
3:45
install it on the wall so the end result
3:49
was two walls of butterflies
3:53
that are each unique in its execution
3:57
unique in this color unique in its uh
4:00
touch yet the whole work resets one work
4:05
of art and I think it was a very
4:07
successful work
4:11
yes I think there are wonderful artists
4:14
in Alberta that the AGA can showcase
4:18
their works
4:19
I particularly enjoy social functions
4:23
that brought artists together
4:26
and perhaps that can include writers
4:28
curators patrons and other organizations
4:33
thinking of other organizations I’ve
4:37
always thought it would be interesting
4:39
to look at the storage rooms at the
4:45
Alberta museum
4:46
of
4:50
Alberta museum right the Royal Alberta
4:53
museum excuse me
4:55
and um
4:57
and then use some of these backroom
5:00
artifacts to present a show that is not
5:07
a museum exhibit but an artist’s first
5:10
artist’s Vision I would say of
5:14
um a museum display
5:20
I think I will address this questions
5:23
from arts for Arts organizations
5:26
specifically I think at a very basic
5:29
level Art Is What Makes Us human
5:33
uh it is important throughout history
5:36
and it reflects
5:38
us as who we are and the times we live
5:43
in
5:45
and for those reasons I think Arts
5:48
should be generously supported by all
5:50
levels of government
5:51
corporations and individuals
5:55
now as to non-profit organizations
6:01
these organizations work be on behalf of
6:05
the people
6:07
and
6:09
it is it is important and it is
6:14
beneficial
6:15
for people in the community to
6:19
participate because they’re working
6:21
towards a worthwhile cause that they
6:25
believe in
6:27
um and it also brings in
6:30
feelings of a community camaraderie
6:34
and Goodwill
6:36
I think you know as a retired physician
6:39
these are all positive emotions uh at an
6:43
individual and a societal level
6:47
and of course you know the number one is
6:51
that this should be generously supported
6:53
by governments and corporations
6:59
[Music]
7:01
um if I can I’ll name three one is is
7:05
very difficult
7:07
um so I have many uh good memories but I
7:12
will um
7:13
name three that are over the years so
7:17
the first uh uh memorable show I saw
7:22
that I can think of was Janet cardiff’s
7:25
uh four Department motet
7:28
and this was a sound exhibition
7:31
and uh I found it memorable because
7:36
it was a different way of producing art
7:39
that I had not considered
7:42
now the next one was some years later
7:45
and it was called River City
7:48
and it was a very big show and it
7:51
brought many artists who worked in
7:55
different ways
7:56
and different approaches to this subject
7:59
together
8:00
and I remember the opening where there
8:03
were lots of people and that was an
8:06
enjoyable show
8:07
now the third one is a more recent
8:11
um uh
8:13
art exhibition and it was a film by
8:18
International artist named John acumfer
8:21
and it was called vertical C
8:24
and it was um
8:26
it was a film that I felt was a visual
8:30
poetry and at the same time it touched
8:33
me emotionally and expressed a lot of
8:36
contemporary issues I’ll end there
8:40
foreign
No results found