Until The Cops Showed Up / Anju Singh / Installation
Fence, razor wire, video, collage of City of Vancouver by-law and development applications (projection surface), found objects (metal, broken records, tape), paper tags for testimonials (from research and visitor additions through the exhibition period), sound collage
Nov 29, 30, Dec 1 – Work in Progress exhibition: 10′ W x 10′ L x 6′ H
Ideal Exhibition Dimensions: 10′ W x 10-20′ L x 8-10′ H
A reflection on decades of experimental and underground art in Vancouver that thrived amidst red tape, institutional rigidity, bureaucracy of hostile city regulation, by-laws, internal policing amongst artists and in their communities – all of which have attempted to permeate artist spaces and psyche.
Circumventing barriers, obstacles, and pressing beyond physical, socially constructed or institutionally imposed fences that increasingly encroach on meaningful survival and expression, underground artists in the city persist in the sharing of outsider art in renegade illegal venues, makeshift presentation spaces and through the repurposing and occupation of public space.
Conflating past, present, and future.
Both the authentic and fabricated intertwined.
Footage, artifacts, and anecdotes from experience, blurry memory, dreamspace and testimony.
Until the Cops Showed Up is the artist’s response to a series of interviews and research started with the UnderCurrents study group that is tasked with resurfacing and documenting 50 years (1970-2020) of experimental art history in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, BC.
Special thanks to AO Roberts, Josh Rose, Paul Wong, Brian Comeau, Graham Christofferson, Kaila Bhullar and Jack Goodison for critique, feedback and/or installation support.