Craig Leonard (Canada)
Residencey June - July - August 2007

Check the link below for a running commentary
on the record-making process and how the Gift for the Screamers progresses
http://giftforthescreamers.blogspot.com


Contact: giftforthescreamers@gmail.com

Two activities are central to my art practice: research and gift-giving. Through loose research within archives, private collections, libraries and other sites, I am interested in recovering lost histories found in the form of overlooked objects or information. My primary objective is to return this material to the individuals and communities that have direct interest in the subject matter. The material I exhibit in art spaces is the documentation and residue from the processes of research and gift preparation.

My recent projects include the formation of a rare seed bank; an underwater investigation of the lost villages of the St. Lawrence Seaway; fieldwork for the Maritime History Archive in search of Resettlement photographs; an examination of the Cuban Independent Library Movement; an archival project on artist-run centres in Ontario; a compilation of obsolete concepts from the Oxford English Dictionary; and a proposal for an anti-canon of Canadian literature. I currently teach Intermedia and Video at NSCAD University, Halifax, Canada.

Project Proposal

PROPOSED PROJECT: "Gift for the Screamers"

While rooting around in the archives, I came across materials from the Center for Experimental Art and Communication (Toronto, 1973-78). CEAC hosted some of the first punk concerts in Canada under the banner "Crash & Burn". Documents from the Crash & Burn events include show posters, photos and a small collection of audio recordings. One of these recordings is a "lost" demo tape from the legendary Los Angeles punk band the Screamers. During their active years (1977-81), the Screamers played several electrifying live shows, but never released an official record.

In a continuation of my research-based gift projects, the aim of "Gift for the Screamers" is to find the former members of the Screamers (Tommy Gear, KK Barrett, Paul Roessler, David Braun, and Jeff McGregor; Tomata du Plenty, RIP [d. 2000]) and give them exclusive copies of the "Crash & Burn Demos" which I will be personally transferring to handmade records.

Biography

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007 1-877-ORAL-ACT, Toll Free phone line across Canada, April 20-June 1
2007 Guitar Pieces: Robin Page/Jimmy Page, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS
2007 Mobile Homes (with the Maritime History Archive), A Space, Toronto, ON
2006 ARChives, Artcite, Windsor, ON
2006 Art + Activism, YYZ, Artists’ Outlet, Toronto, ON.
2005 Castro's Library, University Art Centre [thesis exhibition], University of Toronto.                        
2005 Vie et mort d'Odette Vioget, AXE NÉO7, Hull, QC.
2004 Limited Editions, Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax, NS
2004 Roboutique Press, Artspace, Peterborough, ON
2003 Class of 88, Symposium of Performance Art, struts artist-run centre and Sackville Curling Club, Sackville, NB
2003 Crumbs are also bread, Stauffer Library, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
2002 Reunion, Galerie Display, Prague, Czech Republic
       
FILM/VIDEO SCREENINGS
2007 Art Wicks of Badger's Quay, Spark Video, Syracuse, NY
2007 Art Wicks of Badger's Quay, Mitch & Capp's Living Room, Halifax, NS
2006 Castro’s Library (The Americans), 312 OnScreen, Festival of Contemporary Film & Video, Corner Brook, NL.

VIDEOGRAPHY
Art Wicks of Badger's Quay, 2006
Castro's Library (The Americans), 2005
War of the Gargantuas, 2004
A Kind Jester, 2004
Marseille is Burning, 2003