Issue #01 – The premier.

The Webster dictionary describes the word culture as “the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time.” To the art world, culture is source for both inspiration and critique; a group of ideals to be challenge, analyzed, discussed and presented to the public in a new way. Culture can transform art and shift its direction. Likewise, art can transform culture and be a catalyst for change.

Square2 is Prince Edward County’s newest arts and culture publication showcasing some of the community’s best cultural thinkers. Published quarterly, Square2 engages the contemporary arts scene through interviews, essays, profiles and visuals, spanning the ever-changing gamut of artistic practice, and maybe raising a few eyebrows along the way. Square2 strives to present work representative of the creative diversity, here, in our own community, as well as in the Canadian arts culture at large.

We hope the work shown in this issue reflects “culture” in its broadest sense, while illustrating the diversity that becomes apparent whenever we undertake the work of interpreting culture though the arts.

CMYK, interview with Carl Wiens by Chrissy Poitras

A fly with the innards of a machine, an off-registered tricycle and a fresh look at human evolution are the beginnings of a new body of work for artist Carl Wiens. After working for over 20 years as a freelance illustrator, Wiens has taken on the challenge of re-inventing himself as a fine artist.

Don’t be Afraid, by Graham Davies

Life is seeing, even when you don’t look. Seeing is understanding. I see so many people who don’t… see. On public transport, faces buried in blackberries, ears plugged into ipods, texting instead of watching the world they live in.

Sarah Michelle, by Becky Lane

High school student Sarah Michelle is one of Prince Edward County’s up and coming young artists. With an original take on portraiture and a talent for realism, she is making her mark.

The Unicorn & The Shrink, by Melissa Larkin

Sometimes people react to my profession as a singer/songwriter as though I’ve just told them I am a mermaid or a unicorn. They look at me with a glassy-eyed faux-smile that seems to say: “Sure you are honey.”

Ron, a Man, by Andrew McLuhan

You got to know him somewhat through the stories he told: He went to work at a bakery, around age 13. Early hours, long hours. One day off. Eight dollars a week, six to his mother.

A Night at the Regent Theatre, poem by Brandy Gale

A photo spread of the historical Regent Theatre in Prince Edward County accompanied by a poem by Brandy Gale.

I Beast You, by Becky Lane

My first memories of feeling are intertwined with spaces and things. Distinctions between animate and inanimate worlds blurred as I attributed personality and emotions to numbers, walls, stones, and trees. I have always had a visceral desire to bring into clearer focus these swells of emotion in the spaces and things that prompted them. Unfortunately for my parents, this resulted in a great deal of furniture damaged and dismantled in the name of beauty.

Franken Forest, the artwork of Don Maynard by Chrissy Poitras

In the contemporary section of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario a menacing, fabricated urban forest looms. Birds call out and wind blows through the leaves in the looping overhead video of a lush forest canopy. But, the trees in this forest are without leaves. Life has been stripped away, leaving only tall tree trunks to stand as testaments to a bygone era. Franken Forest is the newest installation exhibition by Kingston-based artist Don Maynard.

Travelling: Performing in Virtual Space, by Pam Patterson

I intentionally place my body in the world and energize the site between audience and artist. I bring images of disability, age and gender into public space and affirm the importance that such images, practices, and ideas have in rendering the suppressed visible. The work exists as a highly personal, yet independent, text that invites others to explore and critique my representations and to focus on their own perceptions of self.