Ephemeral Art

The  idea of ephemeral art excites me.  Back in art school, I remember learning about the importance of archival processes in photography and painting.  Throughout history, artists have gone to great lengths to preserve work and ensure longevity.  Art historians, gallery owners and art collectors are particularly interested in the preservation of art work.  The idea of  art being ephemeral laughs in the face of the double fixative, fibre-based photo paper that I was instructed to use to make my images last forever in art school. (Digital photography killed all that too.)

This year, I have challenged all of my Grade Eleven students to create an Ephemeral work of art. (I shouldn't be surprised at how many of them want to blow things up or ignite their artwork, should I?  Students have responded with some exciting projects. I have been  impressed with the thoughtfulness, planning and the conceptual strength of these projects.  Because the students are completing the IB Diploma Programme, it is essential that their work be documented as they need a final digital record of all of their pieces.  If this wasn't an essential part of the course, I would ask students to decide independently if they wished to document the work or not.  There is of course an irony in the documentation of an ephemeral art piece and this was not lost on many of my students.

As the work progressed, students used twitter as a format to share the process.  Below, Rachel advertises her ephemeral performance that happened in the school.  Dealing with body image, she used make-up on flesh and srubbed it off during the performance.  This was a provocative piece  that resonated with members of the all-female audience.

In 2004, I was introduced to  the Experimental School of Visual Art in Havana, Cuba. I was accompanying a group of Art Education students from Simon Fraser University who had short teaching  practicums at the school.  The staff of the Experimental School opened the big wooden doors of the school and their hearts to us.  It was a wonderful experience for my students and myself and one that we will never forget.  I learned about an annual show that was organized by the school, The Havana Ephemeral Art Show (Festival Nacional De Escultura Fimer).  Artists from all over Cuba sent in proposals & created ephemeral art every July for a number of years . http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/17977


The event happened in a local park in Havana annually and the work was innovative.  Over the years, I have shared stories about the Ephemeral Art Show in Cuba and photos of the Experimental Art School with my students here in Asia.  The show was an inspiration.  Art materials were diverse and included the human body, fire, water and butter that melted quickly in the Cuban heat.  The fascinating thing about this ephemeral art show is that (because of government constraints on the internet in Cuba) I can't find any documentation of these wonderful pieces...truly ephemeral and living on only in memory and stories passed down to the students.