Avery Zhao

Cynthia Hammond - oral history


and her approach to creating work

Ma Stories 2a: riding a bicycle down a mountain

(audio file - click to download and listen!)

Keep a tally

Cup of tea for each character consulted

warehouses, shipping, cardboard boxes

fashion design industry, garment and manufacturing in Canada


Chabanel streets in Montreal are .... "still considered the centre of the fashion industry in Canada"

classical and contemporary instrumental music, musicians, compositions


dancers and choreography

sources of inspiration

Sketchbook for the process and steps leading up to my social sculpture

"Tales of Work and Glory" are in this PDF :

Brainstorming - the beginnings of shaping the process for social

sculpture: 

Previous work around a 'lexicon' or painted language: 

https://www.averyzhaodjokic.com/?page_id=329

writing...

setting up..

random other sources are inspirations: 
- epic paintings, epic tapestries
- motion capture from body sensors, bionics
- notation systems in composition, musical composition language

Project #2:

Inspirations

- inspirations from working on the Banquet des Refusés (Institute for Urban Futures)
Photos and description: https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/research/urban-futures/events/banquet-refuses.html
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsOhWRAGsZ8&feature=emb_logo

- inspiration from the movie The Hours, the first time I thought about a dinner party as an obsession, a statement, a way of life, meaning of life for some.
- history or weight behind the dinner party, for example the epic feminist piece by Judy Chicago
- in paintings the setting of people around a dinner table is often epic, monumental in a way



What I want to express through my piece: 'The Dinner Guests"
Now during the pandemic, artists have been placed at the far ends of the table.
This moving tableau is to show their place, and their angst during this time.
The idea of place settings, a seat at the table, loosely related to the idea of pedestals and who is being highlighted, and when.
No hierarchy of arts or status at this table
Expression of the guests without words
The roving pedestal, the flat stage, the exploded stage, the need for rotational monuments rather than one single permanent one.

Project #2: