Intermedia Comes Alive

By ANN ROSENBERG

Beginning today the Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting a four-day festival of presentations by Intermedia, with the emphasis on evening performances.

Installed works , however will be on view each day.

Intermedia, housed on Beatty Street, is a Canada Council-sponsored project that has been quietly encouraging experimentation for a whole year.

Of particular interest to those who have worked out of the Intermedia setup has been the use of technological devices in the making of art and the exploration of the strange and surprising things that happen when various media are used in juxtaposition.

CAREFULLY CONTROLLED

Usually light, sound and art, participant/performer appear together in a marriage that is only partially programmed.

Some of the events which will appear at the Vancouver Art Gallery are carefully controlled to ensure that the viewer will be led through certain experiences.

There are several environments. In the main room is an elegant neon-tube, space modulator designed as the set for Helen Goodwin's THEco dance group.

Off the main room, a collection of brilliantly lit light/sound sculptures by Audrey Doray (Wheel of Fortune). In the small Emily Carr, a luminescent sculpture-complex by John Masciuch(Quasar).

MOST IMPRESSIVE

Downstairs in Studio A, paintings be Joan Balzar have been provided with complimentary light show and sound track by Herb Gilbert.

And finally the most impressive environment in the gallery, Michael Morris' and Gary Lee Nova's PRISMA which although sponsored by the Vancouver Art Gallery is, because of its combination of light, sound and form, included in the roster of Intermedia events.

All these "environments" may be seen daily on ones regular gallery visits. In the evening at a cost of $1.25, or $!.00 for students and members, one can see the environments in action and a few special events.

VISUALLY EXCITING

The first event is a performance by Helen Goodwin's THEco. it will be repeated Saturday evening.

One may expect a visually exciting performance for the framework of 25 carefully-spaced hanging neon tubes designed by architect Tad Young is a stunning luminous grid through which the dancers move.

Brilliant after-images in icy blue flash in space when the gallery is darkened and the light-bars are on.

The dancers move in simple patterns like shades in their Evelyn Roth-designed black and white costumes, coming alive when the hanging neon bars are lighted close to them.