7 Lorne Street
DOUBLE TAKE
Screening curated by Jeremy Drummond and David Poolman
Works by: Emily Vey Duke & Cooper Battersby, Jean-Paul Kelly, Dani Leventhal, Johnna MacArthur, Christine Negus, John Orenthlicher, Steve Reinke, Tom Sherman, Deborah Stratman, and Matthew Williamson.
From 2005-2006, artists Jeremy Drummond and David Poolman founded Spark Video Canada, a monthly video series that took place in the back room of the Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario. Adhering to the mandate of the original Spark Video program that Drummond founded in Syracuse, NY in
2000, (which is now entering its 15th year of consecutive programming) we put out a call for submissions and curated monthly screenings that showcased works by local and international, and emerging and established artists. From the outset, our intent was to build a local community around contemporary video art practice that simultaneously extended into a global network of artists working in the medium.
The energy surrounding these screenings was always high – the monthly schedule created urgency for local artists to consistently produce new work and for international artists to keep the Spark mailbox full. Now that a decade has passed, it’s interesting to look back at the Spark Video programs. Artists such as Jim Finn, Jean-Paul Kelly, Dani Leventhal, Christine Negus, and Matthew Williamson have become established within the field and well-known artists such as Duke and Battersby, Steve Reinke, Tom Sherman, and Deborah Stratman continue to produce challenging and highly-acclaimed works on a consistent basis.
While Jeremy Drummond and David Poolman’s individual and collaborative work has continued beyond Spark Video Canada, Double Take revisits the beginning of their collaborative practice. By showcasing current work by artists included in the Spark Video Canada screenings, this program pays homage to a selection of the artists responsible for their initial and ongoing interest in video art.
