Presenting a city in constant motion through stills and sounds is the goal, and the challenge, of local artists at an upcoming performance of Waterloo Moves. Dubbed a performance-based photography event, it will feature a fusion of art styles, as the city’s photographers are paired with its musicians to create portrait of a living, breathing city, in real time.
The show hopes to turn conventions on their heads, creating new and exciting ways to showcase to the public the talents of the region’s many artists.
“The idea behind it is that it’s taking a traditional art event and turning it around to have a unique twist and to also work with another art form which will basically be translating the visual art,” explains Cathy Farwell, founder of Art$Pay, a local not-for-profit created to support and promote the value of artistic work in the community.
Rather than host a traditional photo gallery, which can be cost prohibitive for the public and artists alike to take part in, Waterloo Moves takes a modern approach that respects the time, and pocketbooks, of all those involved.
“I tend to try not to repeat traditional formats because that’s sort of the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting you’re going to have a different outcome,” says Farwell of the performance’s unique take. “At this event, I really looked at what I was trying to accomplish, which was to provide the artists with an opportunity to exhibit their work without an outlay of cash, in terms of framing [the photos]. To move away from a traditional show.”
The photography of eight artists will be presented in a series of slides to audience members, accompanied by specially created music, with each photographer being paired to a musician.
The theme for the event is Waterloo Moves, and photographers were tasked to bring this broad idea to life through their images. Whether by capturing the physical act of movement and motion itself through the lens of a camera, or by exploring the idea of Waterloo as a changing, evolving and growing city, photographers have a wide latitude to interpret the theme as they see it.
