#grunt gallery

[ndn-bebop]

If y’all need a good tote bag...that was designed by yours truly...consider this little grunt gallery number, available on our big cartel. there are also t-shirts and tanks for showing off dem guns <3

[walls-to-the-ball]

Image courtesy Tatsuo Kage via Jacqueline Hoàng Nguyễn fantastic project “The Making of an Archive“. 

[bothandvancouver-blog]

An Interview with the Living Archive: Glenn Alteen and grunt gallery

Text by Fiorela Argueta

As a participant of the myriad of discussions partaken on June 13th, 2016 for the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery event Reactivating: Art and Archives, I was able to engage in discussions concerning art, activism, and archives. One of these conversations in particular, invited me to bring forth my experiences with grunt gallery’s archives. My exploration with grunt’s archive has allowed me to challenge the presupposed objectivity of archives, when they should also be regarded as personal spaces. To clarify, the archives are public spaces in their accessibility to those who seek them (physically or digitally), yet it is easily forgotten that they are also about a person who has laboured both consciously and unconsciously on the archive. Such is the case with Glenn Alteen.

My interest with Glenn in relation to grunt’s archival history surfaced when I began to find his documented presence in the archives themselves. At one point while assisting grunt gallery to digitize their archives, I was looking at photo negatives and came across an image of a young man. After a moment, I realized the person I was staring at was a young Glenn with an afro.  

After this initial experience, more historical traces of Glenn were to be found in the archive, they manifested themselves as film negatives or personal letters addressed to Glenn and by Glenn between artists and exhibition collaborators. Through this period at grunt that I realized that archives, despite being seen as objective historical records, are very much a space for personal memories. For instance, I may find a document that does not seem to fit its placement in the archival binder, and I can simply ask Glenn if he remembers how this document came about so I may find a more suitable category. He usually remembers.  

Due to this ability, my friend Dan Pon, who is also the Archives Manager at grunt gallery, jokingly comments to me that he regards Glenn as a “Living Archive.” And so, I decided to have a conversation with Glenn and discuss his presence embedded in the production of the archives.   

FIORELA: When grunt gallery was established, did you have intentions of archiving the artists and their shows?  

GLENN: Yes, from the beginning we decided we wanted an archive, but we had no idea how it would be used.

FIORELA: Was your motivation to begin archiving a means to professionalize the artist-run centre?

GLENN: Not really, for us it sort of just happened... A lot of photographs from performances you see were taken by Merle Addison -- you have probably seen them. We also realized that we were paying for these photographs to be taken but no one was seeing them! It was really not until the mid 90s that we began organizing them into binders.

FIORELA: When you view the archives do you see your life in them?  

GLENN: In some ways, yes. Archives talk different things to different people. What I remember is not always in the archive: dialogues I had with artists are not often reflected. Although, every now and then, there are “snippets” of these conversations that were able to be recorded into the archives. Those letters you have read that were sent back and forth with myself and the artists are examples of these “snippets.”

FIORELA: Whenever Dan and I discuss the history of the archive, he often refers to you as a “living archive.” What do you think of this title?  

GLENN: Hah! I do know for certain Dan likes to call me that! Like I said before, archives recall different things to different people -- there are histories around the archive. Myself and Merle have our own memories about certain events in the archive, and so our relationship with it is different. I do not deny my presence in the archive, and a lot of people look at me as the continuity factor, but I was not alone. grunt values long-term investment and there has been a lot of people who have been active for many years as well. You just don’t see this history on the archive.  

FIORELA: Do you see yourself as a “living archive”?  

GLENN: Do I consider myself a “living archive”? No, I am not precise enough to be a living archive. Memory is selective.  

FIORELA: I hope this does not sound morbid, but what do you think the archives will be like once you are no longer actively involved at grunt?  

GLENN: I think the archive post-Glenn will be bigger! There will be more interest in the archive as a result. Now that we have people, like yourself, digitizing our physical material, there is a wider viewership for it. In a sense, its second life is much wider than its first life… The second life is what the younger generation will see. The shows and the exhibitions will now have a different conversation than when they first occurred and were talked about. There will be clashes of meaning, for example: something that happened 20 years ago will now have more relevance now than before during its time. It’s exciting!  [1]

Glenn’s final answer makes me curious about the boundaries of archives as public space and personal space merge, specially now in the digital realm. Glenn suggests the younger generation will be accessing the archives through its second life in the electronic domain. What are we then supposed to make of from our digital trace? We are all in charge of archiving our lives in digital platforms, whether it is done through Facebook timelines, tumblr blogs, or even our computer files, such as photos and documents, etc. These websites, or classification systems, are now replacing previous modes of archives and function simultaneously as public and private. This new dimension in regards to archives demands research and contestation, but looking back at the personal relationships formed in the documentation of physical archives, such as Glenn with grunt gallery, provides us a framework for us to be self-reflexive with our new ‘second life’ in the digital scheme.  

How do you imagine someone else looking up your archive?  

Fiorela and Both/And would like to thank Glenn Alteen and Dan Pon for their kind assistance.

Sources/Notes

[1] Alteen, Glenn. "An Interview with the Living Archive." Personal interview. 1 October. 2016.

Images

Courtesy of grunt gallery. Glenn Alteen installing at grunt gallery, n.d. grunt gallery’s Activating the Archive and Activation Map. 

Courtesy of grunt gallery. Glenn Alteen’s birthday, 1989. grunt gallery’s Activating the Archive and Activation Map. 

[burningrl]

charcoal & acrylic painting - person with a black halo and golden aura 2015. This work came from a figure drawing and was sold while on display at the grunt gallery.

[gruntarchives]

From the Archives

February 20, 1990

Anna Banana: Bananapost (Twenty Years of Fooling Around with A. Banana)

“A long-time player in the International Mail-Art Network, her current work focuses largely on the stamp as an art form. For this, her 20th anniversary of ‘going bananas,’ she has created a special limited edition stamp sheet and book, Twenty Years of Fooling Around with A. Banana. These publications offer visual highlights and a brief ‘itinerary’ of her activities, year by year, since 1970. A Master’s Degree of Bananaology will be awarded to all ‘graduates’ of her talk and screening sessions, or to contributors of banana anecdotes for her ongoing, work-in-progress, the Encyclopedia Bananica.” (grunt press release,1990)

“Ms. Banana battles the forces of opression as ‘Banana’ is banned on personal license plates in in BC & Saskatchewan, due to its ‘sexual connotations’.” (Twenty Years of Fooling Around with A. Banana, 1990)

[gruntarchives]

From the Archives

February 3rd, 1987

Sammy Sammy: Funkie: The Legend of Hornby Island

“When well-rested and dressed up I have been taken for 40 years old. I am the father of 15 children and have had not strays -- I have been tempted, but I have strong will power. I’ve pulled my own teeth and sewed my own cuts -- as well as a few other people’s cuts.”

“I have been a good axe man and a fair lover. I am not conceited but love to brag the truth and I am considered a good story teller. Will that hold you, dear Reader?”

“As my life has been up and down like a yo-yo, I think you will get a kick out of it. I will try to express the humorous parts as they happened”

(George dePape, Smile Back, 1986)

View the expanding Funkie archive at grunt’s online  archive The Activation Map.

[grunt30th]

David Khang: Vag (Anal) Painting

http://grunt30th.tumblr.com/

ABOUT THE CURATOR: Over the past three years, Alex Pimm has been overseeing the maintenance and archiving of grunt’s collection of video documentation – recordings of performances, installations and various accompanying material that date back to grunt’s first days. A graduate of UBC’s Art History program with an interest in curation, Alex’s work with the gallery has developed along with the ongoing ATA projects at grunt. He has curated this series of videos from the archive to celebrate and remember grunt’s contribution to Vancouver artistic communities over the past 30 years. Other Links: Amelogenesis Imperfecta (How Deep is the Skin of Teeth) http://grunt.ca/exhibitions/amelogenesis-imperfecta-and-beautoxification/ Artist Website: http://www.davidkhang.com/

More info about grunt’s 30th Anniversary: http://grunt.ca/30th-anniversary/about-the-30th/

[gruntarchives]

30th Anniversary videos from grunt’s archive

Long time archives volunteer Alex Pimm has curated a selection of videos from our archive to celebrate grunt’s 30th anniversary. Check out the trailer for Neil Eustache’s Indian Art for Sale below and watch the full videos here:

http://grunt30th.tumblr.com/