B u rrard Inlet, C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . Vacant Lot, 100 Block West Pender Street, C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . Dominion Building (1908-10) 207 West Hastings Street; J . S . Heyler & Son, a r c h i t e c t s ; and Flack Block (1899) 163 West Hastings Street; William Blackmore, a r c h i t e c t, C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . Arni Haraldsson Post Script is a new initiative of Artspeak,designed ARTSPEAK Up & Down:Downtown Eastside Architecture to encourage the development of innovative an artist run centre curated by Clint Burnham critical writing about the visual arts by Vancouver 233 Carrall Street writers, to provide critical feedback to emerging Vancouver British Columbia March 15 to April 19, 2003 and mid-career artists and to further enhance Canada V6B 2J2 cross fertilization of ideas between the visual art POST and writing community. T (604) 688-0051 F (604) 685-1912 All works courtesy of the artist and Catriona Information about this exhibition is available E [email protected] Jeffries Galler y,Vancouver. on-line at www.artspeak.ca W www.artspeak.ca Artspeak is a member of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres (PAARC). Artspeak gratefully SCRIP acknowledges the support of The Canada Council for the Arts,the Government of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council, the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Foundation,The BC Gaming Commission,Heritage Canada, our 7 Andrew Sharpe and volunteers and members. 21/03/03 Kyla Mallett on Arni Haraldsson T Up & Down: Downtown Eastside Architecture Ar tspeak grat e f u l l y acknowledges the support of the Hamber Fou n d a t i o n for this project. Ar tspeak would like to extend our sincere thanks to Michael Au d a i n for his support of this project. R egal Place Hotel (1909) 144-46 West Hastings Street; Gardiner & Mercer, Day For Night, A l l e y, 100 Block West Hastings Street, C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . G a s t own w/ Hotel Europe (1908-09) 43 Powell Street; Pa rr & Fee, a r c h i t e c t s, D ow n t own East w/ Wo o d wards Department Store (1908) 101 West Hastings a r c h i t e c t s, C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . S t r e e t ;G e o rge H. Wenyon & others, a r c h i t e c t s, ( d i p t y c h ) ,C - p ri n t ,2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 3 . I move through A rni Hara l d s s o n ’s exhibit: U p seems to be Burn h a m ’s fear of prox i m i t y, a I t ’s a familiar scene: m ovie trucks and genera t o rs in this exhibition register as cityscape scenes in and Dow n : D ow n t own Eastside A r c h i t e c t u r e a t view many in the DES see daily, far remove d are centered around that landmark tri a n g u l a r a fi l m , l i ke the opening shots leading up to a A rtspeak Gallery, with a strange sense of from Robson Street, n e ver seeing building building on the corner of Powell and A l e x a n d e r. d e fining filmic moment. They are like backdrops d i s l o c a t i o n . The exhibit shines on DES t o p s , skylines or mountains as their eyes are I t ’s nighttime, so they’re using those giant mov i e waiting to be filled with dramatic action – a r c h i t e c t u ral art i f a c t s : Edwardian buildings once t rained dow n w a r d , a lw ays searching…searching. lights that are used to make the indoors look perhaps a robb e ry, a drug bu s t , a shopping spree the pride of Va n c o u ve r, treasures such as the As a result this photo is Burn h a m ’s tunnel of l i ke it’s day t i m e. That bu i l d i n g , which has been or a romantic encounter. H a raldsson shows the E u r o p e, the Dominion, the Wo o d w a r d ’s bu i l d i n g , d e s i r e, a Baudrillardian glimpse into Hell, a used in countless fi l m s , is the Hotel Europe that g e n e ri c i zed views of the Dow n t own Eastside and the Regal. H a ra l d s s o n ’s eye has an uncanny p o rtal to society’s ills, and an entrance to the H a raldsson figures prominently in one of the that have become perhaps the most marke t a bl e knack for stopping time, as we see past and dance of the damned. wo rks in the exhibition, G a s t own w/ Hotel commodity this city has to offe r, while re- present at the same moment: d e c ay and E u r o p e. In Hara l d s s o n ’s photogra p h , t h e locating them back within the social economy r e g e n e ra t i o n , demolition and grow t h , l a n d s c a p e s A n d rew Sharpe building sits unadorned by film crews, p o i s e d . and history of Va n c o u ve r. void of move m e n t . The installation reminds us 2 1 / 0 3 / 0 3 of where we are situated, and how architecture A rni Hara l d s s o n ’s exhibition Up and Dow n : Kyla Mallett records our eve ry move m e n t , our collective D ow n t own Eastside A r c h i t e c t u r e ( c u rated by Clint 2 1 / 0 3 / 0 3 economic conscious. A post-modern narra t i ve B u rnham for the 100th A n n i ve rs a ry of the by Clint Burnham situates the exhibit C a rnegie Centre) at A rt s p e a k , right on the c h r o n o l o g i c a l ly. B u rnham reminds us of the border between the gentri fied touri s t c o n t radictions ever apparent in an urban neighbourhood of Gastown and the “ d own and l a n d s c a p e : c ri m e, c o n d o s , and crack houses; a n d , o u t ” D ow n t own Eastside, is both of and in this somewhat more subtly, the encroaching pension ve rsatile area which is more often than not funds of the gentry, e ver seeking inve s t m e n t t a ken over by bright and noisy film sets. p o t e n t i a l . I feel stra n g e ly move d , also know i n g that the people who move through the room While Haraldsson uses the familiarity of these are seeing the views from my window at the urban views, he also allows the specifics of the R e g a l , cocktail voye u rs in my bedroom. city of Va n c o u ver to emerg e : the eve r- p r e s e n t H a ra l d s s o n ’s exhibit offe rs two planes: Up and backdrop of the mountains, BC Place, D ow n, yet all shots are from above save one, Harbourfront Centre, and The Pa n - Pa c i fic Sails. f rame seve n , Day For Night. This one photo L i ke the Hotel Europe photo, the other images.