other sights

Instant Coffee: Nothing Happens in Good Weather

Fraser Street and 46th Avenue, Van­cou­ver, Canada

Novem­ber 2011 through 2013

Other Sights is pleased to announce the launch of Noth­ing Hap­pens in Good Weather, a short-term pub­lic art project that acti­vates a nar­row empty lot on a busy sec­tion of South Fraser Street. With wide stripes and stri­dent colour, what was once a gap in the streetscape has been trans­formed into an aes­thetic and social space. Inspir­ing the community’s imag­i­na­tion, the space encour­ages impromptu events, per­for­mances, or a place to meet with friends. Artist col­lec­tive Instant Cof­fee will com­plete their instal­la­tion over the course of sev­eral months with the addi­tion of an awning struc­ture to pro­vide pro­tec­tion from the rain and a casual arrange­ment of sculp­tural seating.

“Dur­ing numer­ous research vis­its to South Hill, we found com­mu­nity mem­bers, sit­ting together on makeshift stools made out of milk-crates, stumps and ship­ping palettes on the side­walks and grass ease­ments. For our project, we wanted to encour­age and reflect this infor­mal social­iz­ing by con­vert­ing an under­used space into a bold aes­thetic place where peo­ple can hangout.”

Instant Cof­fee is a ser­vice ori­ented artist col­lec­tive based in Toronto and Van­cou­ver. They have an exten­sive art prac­tice, span­ning over ten years. At present, their most active mem­bers are Cecilia Berkovic, Jin­han Ko, Kelly Lycan, Jenifer Papararo, Kate Monro and Khan Lee. As a col­lec­tive, they have been invested in com­bin­ing the social with the aes­thetic, and as such have worked in pub­lic spaces to engage large audi­ences. They have shown inter­na­tion­ally, have exhib­ited in many promi­nent art insti­tu­tions, and have pro­duced numer­ous projects in pub­lic space.

Cur­rently Instant Cof­fee is work­ing on a sculp­tural wall mural for the City of Edmon­ton and is engaged in a pub­lic com­mis­sion for the City of Rich­mond. As part of the City of Vancouver’s Cul­tural Olympic pro­gramme, the Col­lec­tive opened Light Bar, a full-spectrum light bar instal­la­tion and venue for light ther­apy, light lec­tures, light shows, light read­ing and light rock. In 2009 Instant Cof­fee exhib­ited the Disco Fall­out Shel­ter, at the Toronto Sculp­ture Gar­den, and as part of Sub­vi­sion, Ham­burg; Nooks as part of How Soon is Now, Van­cou­ver Art Gallery; Light Bar as part of Assume Noth­ing, New Social Prac­tice, Art Gallery of Greater Vic­to­ria; Bright Future as part of 88 Blocks Art on Main a Pub­lic Art Com­mis­sion by Translink and Come In: Disco Fall­out Shel­ter as part of LIVE 2009, Van­cou­ver and Instant Cof­fee, Sølyst, Den­mark. Other recent res­i­den­cies and exhi­bi­tions include Light Bar Research and Res­i­dency, Kuen­stler­haeuser Worp­swede, Ger­many and Flaggfabrikken/Bergen Kun­sthall, Bergen, Nor­way; If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now, Henry Art Gallery, Seat­tle; Wish You Were Here, Casa del Encuen­tro MDE07 encuen­tro inter­na­cional, Medellin, Colombia.

This project rep­re­sents a unique part­ner­ship between Other Sights for Artists’ Projects and the South Hill BIA Pub­lic Art Com­mit­tee (active mem­bers rep­re­sent­ing South Hill com­mu­nity groups, orga­ni­za­tions, and busi­nesses), in the com­mis­sion­ing of Instant Cof­fee to pro­duce and present an art­work that addresses the goals and objec­tives of two dif­fer­ent art ini­tia­tives: The South Hill Mural Project curated by Bar­bara Cole, and South Hill Sur­faces coor­di­nated by the South Hill BIA Pub­lic Art Committee.

Other Sights grate­fully acknowl­edges the sup­port of the City of Van­cou­ver 125th Mural Pro­gram. The South Hill BIA Pub­lic Art Com­mit­tee is grate­ful for project assis­tance through a City of Van­cou­ver Com­mu­nity and Neigh­bour­hood Art Devel­op­ment Grant.