Articles for the Eye Level Reading Series

Panu Lehtovuori. 'Artifacts, Oeuvre and Atmosphere: Applying Lefebvre's Spatial Thinking in Urban Design' in OASE 77: Into the open -Accommodating the public. Edited by Tom Avermaete, Klaske Havik and Hans Teerds with contributions by René Boomkens, Abram de Swaan, Hans Teerds, Panu Lehtovuori, Tom Avermaete/Klaske Havik, Ana Luz, Quentin Stevens, Ruth Baumeister, Catharina Gabrielson and Mayslits Kassif Architects. Published by NAI Publishers, Rotterdam 2009

Rufina Wu and Stefan Canham.  'Preface'  Portraits from Above - Hong Kong's Informal Rooftop Communities. Stefan Canham, photographs; Rufina Wu, architectural drawings and texts; Dr Ernest Chui, essay.   Berlin: Peperoni Books, and Hong Kong: MCCM Creations, 2009

Adrian Blackwell. 'Lecture: October 21, 2002'  in Unboxed: Engagements in Social space, Jen Budney and Adrian Blackwell editors. Ottawa: Gallery 101, August 2005.

Eye Level Forum

Eye Level
Adrian Blackwell, Ossi Kajas, Rufina Wu & Stefan Canham
Curated by Tomas Jonsson
February 1 – March 16, 2010

Open Forum Discussion: March 13, 2 - 5 p.m.
Closing Reception: March 13, 5 - 10 p.m.

Pith Gallery
1018 9th Avenue S.E.
Calgary Alberta T2G 0S7
403-269-2022

Gallery Hours: Saturdays 11-5, or by appointment

www.pithgallery.com

Eye Level brings together the work of artists and architects Adrian Blackwell, Stefan Canham, Rufina
Wu and Ossi Kajas. The works in the exhibition use photography to document spaces that have been
adapted through informal (i.e. D.I.Y.) use by their inhabitants.  Evident in all of these works is the
delicate balance of the spaces and users, which is often invisible to conventional urban planning
processes.  By representing these spaces from the ('eye level') perspective of the users, the artists
seek to present new ways of understanding and accommodating these spaces, and their uses within
the larger urban planning framework.
 
Eye Level considers the way that photography is used to create new opportunities for understanding
these spaces beyond conventional planning or development visions, and how local uses and desires
can be represented. What role do these photographs, and their photographers, play in influencing the
degree of precarity or stability of these spaces? How does photography operate as a tool for creating
advocacy and awareness?
Exploring the possibilities of photography as artistic research into informal developments in urban
form, how can photography and other forms of representation articulate the subtle interrelation of
people and the environments they inhabit, and to what aim?
For the open forum discussion, we are pleased to invite artists Ossi Kajas (Helsinki) and Adrian
Blackwell (Toronto) who will talk about their work, and their particular contexts in consideration of the
social and economic impacts of urban development in Calgary.
 
Eye Level is presented through the support of the Exposure Festival of Photography, The Arusha
Centre, The Calgary Foundation, Calgary Dollars, EMMEDIA, Onsite Magazine and Pith Gallery