Rear Window Cinema: Letters from Isolation is an urban media art exhibition and screening taking place through the months of October and December. Rear Window Cinema transforms artists’ private windows (domestic and studio spaces) into ephemeral screens for rear-window projections that are externally visible to passersby on the street. What can a community-focused, location-specific media exhibition look like during a pandemic? How can social gatherings that have always been part of artists’ cinema adapt to the context of physical distancing?
Between the months of October and December, animation artists will display animated letters to their neighbourhoods, using their windows as the creative point of departure and eventual surface for projection. Instead of inviting spectators or visitors, Rear Window Cinema: Letters From Isolation, invites local residents and passersby, who may chance upon these personal, animated window poems on a walk through the neighbourhood.
The project unfolds in a cascading series of waves, with three different screenings where each group of artists will pass along experience and their insight to the next group.
Wave 1: October 30th - November 5th
Wave 2: November 20th - November 27th
Wave 3: December 11th - December 18th
Each round will screen for approximately one week nightly from 5:30 - 7:30pm. The locations for each screening will be posted here and on Instagram @rear_windowcinema. If you find yourself in those neighbourhoods, go for an evening walk and experience the window as a private-public urban display surface.
Rear Window Cinema is a partnership project between Emily Carr University, VIVO Media Arts, and flavourcel animation collective with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Running daily from December 11–18th at 5:20–7:30pm, you can find works by Lana Connors, Gil Goletski, Cam Kletke, Kunsang Kyirong, Karla Monterrosa, Laurel Pucker, Julia Song and Tina Zhang.
If you find yourself in any of these neighbourhoods, go for an evening walk and experience the window as a private-public urban display surface. See something neat? Tag @rear_windowcinema and share on Instagram.
Running daily from November 20–November 27 at 5:30–7:30pm, you can find works by flavourcel animation collective members Alia Hijaab, Chris Strickler, Chhaya Naranand Harlo Martens. The screening will be located at:
Running daily from October 30–November 5 at 7–7:30pm, you can find works by flavourcel animation collective members Kat Morris and Josh Neu. The screening will be located at:
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.