Gary Kirkham: Artist in Residence

There is always a trickery in film... maybe in all art. That is what Gary Kirkham is exploring in his residency. By using “old school” film techniques and live projections, he hopes to trick at least a few eyes.

I have always been fascinated by special effects before the digital revolution, where worlds were created using miniatures, painted glass and various optical illusions. I love the tactile authenticity which digital effects cannot replicate. And rather than recording them and projecting on a screen, I plan to create them live and project on 3D objects, floors, and bodies so that, at some point, the audience does not know whether what they are looking at is real, a projection or both.

As a theatre artist, I have used projection but always in service to a story. This residency allows me to explore projections for their own qualities. And the story (if there is one) serves those projections.

I am interested in beginning with the effects and not recording them but performing them. Collaboration is a major component of my artistic journey, so as part of my residency I have invited other artists (dancers, painters and musicians) to explore fusing their artistry with the projections. 

- Gary Kirkham

Gary Kirkham is an artist and playwright. His art installations include Transformed Through Touch (Cambridge Art Galleries), Libby Hague's Experiment for a Closing (Idea Exchange), Blue Memos (Numus/InterArts Matrix Theatre David Earle). He has created video installations for CAFKA, UnSilent Night, The MT Space, Summerworks, Nightshift, Randolph Academy (Belgium), and Greenlight Arts. Gary is an award-winning playwright, his plays include Falling: A Wake, Queen Milli of Galt, Pearl Gidley, Rage Against Violence (with Dwight Storring), and Pocket Rocket (with Lea Daniel). He in an artistic associate with the MT Space and has worked in collaboration with the company on several shows including Amal, Body 13, Seasons of Immigration, and the critically acclaimed The Last 15 Seconds. He has written several adaptations including Radio Leacock, Easter (by August Strindberg), and Bottom and the Mechanicals. His plays have been produced by over 80 theatre companies across Canada and internationally. His scripts have be translated in French, Italian, and Arabic. Gary was the Playwright in Residence e at the Blyth Fesitval in 2008