Big Ideas: Watershed +
Something in the water: How Calgary demonstrates a need for artists developing infrastructure Co-written by Andrea Williamson and Steven Cottingham, published in FFWD “What is an artist?” or, “What are artists for?” are uncouth questions with already-negative connotations. Definitions limit movement and freedom by their very nature. They can also be insulting if misleading or prescribed. Surely there is value in keeping terms open-ended so that they can transform and adapt to situations as needed. But, in an exceptional and unprecedented case made in Calgary by a collaborative group of two artists, the Public Art Program, and the Utilities and Environment Protection (UEP) department, the nomination of “artist” has come to receive as much standing, autonomy, and agency as the designations of “civil engineer,” “social geographer,” or “biologist.” Under the umbrella epithet Watershed+, this collaboration is a visionary model for long-term and sustainable collaboration between artists and the city’s water department in order to develop a meaningful relationship between Calgarians and their watershed. Conceived and piloted by artists Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees, who work together under the name Sans façon, this vision started to gain foothold in Calgary just in time for the flood to hit. In a way, this underscored a point they were already trying to make: “[that] the unloved, un-imagined, and unknown water infrastructures could, and should, have a role in encouraging a sustainable and creative relationship between people and place.” Indeed, the flood illustrated that we are dangerously out of touch with the connection between what the pair call our city’s “function, efficiency, and economy” and the “culverted and hidden” watershed we depend on. Sans façon’s creative and constructive presence in the UEP department was facilitated by the Public Art Program – a municipal body that is also concerned with the geography (political and physical) of the city. And, according to the artists, this facilitation was miraculous in its happenstance. Outside of England’s “Artist Placement Group” of the ’60s – which removed artists from their hermetic institutions and inserted them into real business environments – an artist achieving a vital role within such contexts is unmatched; especially at the scale reached within the City of Calgary’s Public Art Program and UEP. Coming out of simultaneous 20th century “definitions” of artists as radical, unbound, and disruptive individuals and industry as efficient, goal-oriented, and streamlined, it becomes clear why the worlds of creative disorder and productive order are often segregated. It would be expected that trial by error or naïve points of view are undesirable traits in the workforce. Indeed, Surtees stresses that they do not feel a need to know the final product before beginning, as engineers or developers might. Blanc echoes that some of their initiatives with Watershed+ such as the artist residency program have “no direct purpose,” that is, no predetermined destination. So why are Calgarians with city budgets and occupations vital to the city’s daily operations jumping at these so-called unproductive traits of the artist? The answer came as a welcome surprise to both sides. Calgary’s unique position as a rapidly expanding but still-young city means that it can examine and re-imagine the precedents for dealing with even basic infrastructural challenges. Setting rather than following precedents, Calgary attracts those who boast a risk-taking nature or “pioneer” mentality. The businesses and government employees working here understand that risk is a necessity – not least of all because a “safe” or “proven” way has yet to been found. Artists, who specifically seek out and thrive in unexplored realms, feel comfortably uncomfortable working in this manner. In more ways than one, this pairing makes a perfect match. Sans façon’s socially responsible leanings are mirrored amongst the environmentally concerned and forward-thinking staff at the public facility. The artists note that the staff at the UEP are some of the most humble and hardworking people they’ve ever met. They are, after all, responsible for creating Canada’s largest manmade stormwater treatment wetland – no small feat. Another accomplishment unrecognized by most Calgarians is that their tap water ranks among the cleanest in Canada. Naturally, it makes sense that “environmental artists” would be invested in the development and implementation of sustainable infrastructure. Luckily, Calgary, unlike every other city receiving their proposal, took a risk and gave them the opportunity to really do something about it. As Heather Aitken with the Public Art Program said, “We weren’t really sure what to expect when we began this pilot. [But] it has been an amazing experience to see artists, engineers, educators, and field staff working together.” In addition to promoting the common goals of eco-friendly waste-management and wetland protection, this unlikely placement of artists within civic engineering allows the development of a new collaborative model for cross-pollination of skills and specialties. An environment of trust is created as bureaucratic structures are expanded and unrecognized possibilities for change are brought forth. Participants with different sets of expertise recognize specialized languages outside of their own ken and probe in search of a shared understanding. Alternative ways of thinking are enmeshed within one another, producing a relationship capable of enormous ingenuity. Within this democratic model where everyone is valued for what they bring to the table, an expectation is maintained that everyone must pull their weight. This expectation of the resident artists to contribute a great deal of labour and input is as much a sign of respect for their craft as that of giving them space and autonomy to do things their own way. One benefit to giving Watershed+ artists adequate freedom is that they are best suited to the task of visually representing what is abstract or hidden. Surtees and Blanc are concerned with the “social utility” of water processing systems, proposing that their public presence does not need to be diminished to fulfill their public service. Instead, by revealing these hidden systems, “[they] have an essential potential to … raise awareness of the complexity and fragility of our environment,” says the duo. One of Sans façon’s forthcoming public art projects that in fact led directly to the development of the Watershed+ program features a large “vanishing pond” situated in NW Calgary that represents the otherwise invisible processing of stormwater. As the neighbourhood’s incoming water is delegated, the pond’s water level rises and falls to mimic the act of breathing. The project elicits a visceral response where the landscape is an extension of our own bodies, resulting in both a poignant representation of the city’s working infrastructure and an emotional connection to our land. Sans façon identifies artists as those who ask questions: not looking for prescribed answers or venturing activist commentary, but attempting to promote curiosity as invisible processes are revealed. In addition to their desire to uncover the hidden and reveal the alchemical “magic” of how waste turns to water (not unlike lead turning into gold), the artist’s ability to imagine within and without constraints is also key. For instance, particular infrastructural assignments such as creating outfall alterations or highlighting catchbasins have inherent functional and design-based controls. But the perceptive creative individual can propose unforeseen potential options for such scenarios. Sometimes it takes an outsider to identify solutions. Through these defining moments wherein artists become key players in project development, the Watershed+ team is altering approaches to waste management just as much as they are changing how public art and the social function of artists is defined. They demonstrate that art can be a fluid process just as much as it can be a static sculpture. Unlike other politically concerned artists, Sans façon has a unique opportunity to do more than point and critique. They are facilitating conversation within the municipality rather than falling back on the avant-garde notion of the subversive or irreverent artist. This project demonstrates that artists are individuals who can find purpose out of the initial “purposeless” wanderings of their imaginations, who believe in a collaborative amalgamation of varied knowledges, and who can visualize the invisible. In a truly innovative and unprecedented way, Calgary has demonstrated that artists are instrumental to the development of cities.
