Frances Leeming, film still, Genetic Admiration, 2005. Credit: Courtesy of the artist
Exhibitions
Animate/Recombinant: The Media Works of Frances Leeming
Spurred by the release of Frances Leeming's award-winning collage-animation film Genetic Admiration, a sassy critique of reproductive technologies and the seductions of science, this multi-faceted event delved into two decades of Leeming's work in experimental media.
PROGRAM
14 October - 1 November
Union Gallery
Screening: Three of Frances Leeming's short films were featured in the Project Room on a continuous basis. These works - Man Made Life (1985), Orientation Express (1987), and The Untilled Story (1990) - reveal the development of the artist's investigation of the sexual politics of advancing technologies.
18 - 22 October
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Exhibition: A display of collage material from Genetic Admiration gave admirers of Leeming's animation technique a privileged glimpse "behind the scenes" at her image sources, variously culled from Life magazine, books, posters, and the archives of the Canadian National Exhibition.
Friday 21 October, 8 pm
Ellis Auditorium, Queen's University
Screening: Kingston premier of Genetic Admiration, a film that captured the grand prize for Best Canadian Media Artwork at this year's Images Festival in Toronto. A reception for the artist followed at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
Saturday 22 October
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Tour: At 1 pm, Frances Leeming gave a walk-through tour of the exhibition
Forum: From 2 pm, the Genetic Imaginaries forum offered consideration of Leeming's practice as it reflected the intersection of popular culture and advanced bioscience, with feature speakers Samantha King and Kim Sawchuk.
Admission to all events is free.
This project was organized by Jan Allen and Susan Lord, and was presented in collaboration with the Department of Film Studies at Queen's University. Funding for this program was provided by the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Jan Allen