2022 season opener edition of the forward-thinking, artist-driven quarterly event series Pique, produced by Debaser.
The Pique spring edition, happening March 19th in-person at the Arts Court and online at thisispique.com, will feature music, art, video and performance by ground-breaking Canadian and international artists. Entry to the building-wide all ages party is pay-what-you-can. For more info visit thisispique.com featuring... Music/Sound: Ah-Mer-Ah-Su Sook-Yin Lee Ouri Casey MQ KAR33M NOVEMBER Kelly Ruth Slayverii
Art / Screenings / Virtual: Liquid Bytes by Ajeeb Sir Donna Haraway wrote as the very last line in her groundbreaking essay “A Cyborg Manifesto” that she would rather be a cyborg than a goddess, favoring the postmodern technologized figure of techno-human over the reclamation of a racialized, matriarchal body (Haraway, 1991). Liquid Bytes is a web artwork that explores this theme. The project aims to investigate and the push the boundaries of collaboration between the artist and technology in order to uncover the present and the future dynamics of the body. It is an embodiment of the reciprocity between the computer and the artist and how they each feed each other artistically and evolve. Experimental and deeply personal, the work is reminiscent of a 90’s retro-futurist aesthetic paying homage to a vision of union between technology and spirituality.
Faceless by Z This project is called ‘Faceless’ and was driven by feelings I’ve always had about anything I do as a Black trans person not being seen or really mattering. It’s very easy to feel invisible in a time where everything is online and seems to depend on the amount of people who choose to see you. That, on top of the isolation that comes with a pandemic, lead to me feeling alone and ‘Faceless’.
A vivid coalition by Mesoma Onyeagba An installation featuring the vibrant abstract fibre works of local artist Mesoma Onyeagba, inspired by her love of colour, patterns, and Nigerian culture.
Screening: Shortbus (2006, Dir. John Cameron Mitchell) followed by Q&A with Sook-Yin Lee. Co-presented with IFFO Set in a post-9/11 New York dreamscape, John Cameron Mitchell’s raunchy, sweet, and sexy dramedy about keeping alive in dangerous times has just been re-released for its 25th anniversary, and we are proud to co-present its Ottawa re-premiere with our partners at IFFO.
Pique is produced in partnership with the Arts Court, the Ottawa Art Gallery, SAW, Artengine, DAÏMÔN, Digital Arts Resource Centre, IFFO, Ottawa Fringe, Ottawa Dance Directive, Firegrove Studio, Wall Sound, Le Seltzer, Dominion City Brewing Co, Also Cool, CKCU FM, CHUO FM, and Apt613. Pique is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Canadian Heritage, FACTOR, the Government of Canada, City of Ottawa, SOCAN Foundation.
