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Under Pressure: Where Roots Take Hold

Celebration & Fundraiser

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 at the CCDT (509 Parliament, Toronto, ON), 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

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I cannot thank each of you enough for the wonderful evening that we shared last Wednesday at our celebration, Under Pressure: Where Roots Take Hold.

 

Thanks to all who attended. It was a hug fest, where new roots definitely took hold at perhaps our last lbs/sq” event at CCDT. There is nothing that I like more than seeing brilliant artists of various forms getting the chance to meet and plan some new joint visions. Cooperation between differences that were once at a distance and isolated collides into a kind of ecotone of incubating innovation.

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I am so excited by the Gravity film we pre-screened — and how we discussed it afterward (thanks William Yong and Jason George). It is a powerful testament to the depth of repeated collaboration!

 

Thank you to Michael Mortley for filming us, and for your work on the Buyoyancy film and overall glorious party presence. To Board members, thank you for rocking it out with the food - Lisa Sommers and drink - Jen Hum and Brodie Stevenson. And to Loud Army Kimani Peter, thank you for introducing us to the amazing artist, KynRose. We missed you Lina Ottaviano but thank you for all your planning.

 

Dear James Kendal, who ran the whole show – you are a miracle and to Oriana Pagnotta for your great guidance before, during and afterwards. Thanks to all the lbs staff: Martina Payette, Matt Eger, Sienna Pandya-James, and Karen Bennedsen for making this year a dedication to resilience and for your generous participation.

 

To Marisa Caruso and Megan Rakeepile, thank you for your divine performances and all the help that evening. And to Sylvie Bouchard (and Learie Mc Nicolls) for their virtual impact and dedication to the project over years.

 

Thank you ALL for creating such a beautiful gathering of friend artists and artist friends to make such a rich evening..

 

Cheers all, till we meet again,

 

Gerry Trentham

Founder and Artistic Director

lbs/sq” envisions cooperation as the essential ecological structure that counters entropy.

 

*Entropy: the gradual decline into disorder, the degree of disorder of uncertainty in a system. 

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Cooperation focuses energy efficiently, nurtures divergent outcomes, encourages adaptability, and accesses broader support. Elsewhere in nature and in the co-conscious creative collaboration of our lbs/sq” art, we see joint landscapes that embrace and value ecotones where difference meets. 

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*Ecotones: Where diverse landscapes meet to create an artistic - shore- between ocean and land; a rich creative environment for new ideas to arise. 

 

Can cultivating these same ecotones in our community enhance innovation and adaptability through cooperation, creating a more resilient and dynamic arts ecosystem? 

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What happens if we re-orient our artistic practice toward bonding artists and rebalancing cooperative and competitive intents? 

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The New Fulcrum Project, or NFP, is a research project aimed at examining how solo-driven artists/art companies can create networks of connection that can be sustained through the creation of artistic work. Throughout this research, the NFP will facilitate a personal and psychological journey for participants to engage in cooperative creation. Participants will divide themselves into two pods, each with the freedom to create an artistic offering. The NFP will track the creation of each project and will engage with participants to understand why solo art entities tend to avoid artistic cooperation. 

 

We are searching for 8 individuals willing to participate in this research project over the course of several months. Participants should be at a point in their career where their art creations are established to some degree, and are looking to expand their administrative capacity in order to advance the scope and impact of their art.

 

This project will require: 

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  • Artists who are able to dedicate themselves to the timeline of this project, and who are able to invest their energy into their cohort, making this project a priority

  • Artists who are willing to self-report their experiences in this project to the research team. The research team commits to honoring the artist’s privacy and confidentiality

  • Artists who have the time and the capacity to create with others 

  • Artists whose body of work is established to the extent that they understand their creative practices are able to articulate them 

  • Artists who are available for co-creation from May - June 2025. The research period consists of a mandatory gathering in May (May 2-3 and May 9-10), time to collaborate with the research cohort in May and June (scheduled collaboratively by the research cohort), with two weeks of intense, full-time work in June that culminates in an audience engagement event titled Artistic Encounters on June 21st, 2025. Please reserve June 22nd, 2025 in case of inclement weather or other circumstances..

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*All artists will be compensated for their time spent on the project. Participation fees will be $35/hours to a maximum of 70 hours. 8 artists will be chosen to participate in this research project. 

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Timeline of The New Fulcrum Project 

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March 2025 

 

A cohort of 8 artists will be selected to participate in this project as Fulcrum Artists (FA). 

 

The lbs/sq” Selection Committee consists of Senior Fulcrum Associates: dance artist Michael Caldwell, theatre director and cultural animator Diane Roberts, and visual artist Kearsten Covin Woodruff. These artists have been artistic associates of lbs/sq" for over 15 years and compromised the original Fulcrum Project initiated to help share knowledge between generations. 

 

The selection committee will consider applications from this open call that encourages diversity across a broad spectrum of experiences. 

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Applications are due March 21st.

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Applicants will be informed about their participation by April 7th. 

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May 2025 

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Participants must be available for the following dates: May 2nd-3rd, and May 9th-10th.

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The cohort will gather over the course of a two-day sharing circle, and Gerry Trentham, founder and artistic director of lbs/sq" , in collaboration with associates, will provide a space for the FA team to equitably share their artistic and career/life journeys. 

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Through facilitated writing, voice/body practice and preparatory co-conscious collaboration, the team will be led to a place where they can share visions and test connections of care.

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By the end of the weekend, the FA team will decide who will sit on two pods of four members. 

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May 10th - June 16th 2025 

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From May 10th till June 16th, the two pods will arrange to work on their co-creation and each pod will plan these times internally. Artists must have reasonable availability to participate (approximately 30-40 hours to dedicate from mid-May until June). 

 

The self-directed pods will meet online or in person to identify their current artistic visions, and to cooperatively develop strategies to co-create a shared, implementable project. 

 

FAs will be asked to carve out time to work within their pods to create a tangible practice of cooperation. The final project will be an artistic offering that reflects the Pod’s shared values and unique vision. 

 

Each Pod negotiates processes and protocols to create together a final project that takes on the form of a public encounter. 

 

Each Pod will document their experience, noting challenges and successes in the cooperative environment. The FAs will also document their own personal experiences interacting with the group, to be shared only with the Production Team. 

 

There will also be 2 meetings with the entire cohort, facilitated by Gerry Trentham, over this 2 month period. 

 

June 16th - June 22nd 2025 

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FAs will be in creation full-time from June 16th to June 21st, 2025 (show date), and will reserve June 22nd, 2025 in the case of inclement weather or other circumstances. 

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September 2025 

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After the final project is completed, the FAs will be given a survey to evaluate their sustained participation in the Pod. Do artists continue to build that network, or return to their individual artistic practices, and why (or why not)? This is the essential question that we hope to answer throughout this research project.

 

Selection Criteria: 

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You will be asked to provide: 

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  • Name 

  • Preferred pronouns 

  • Email 

  • Website 

  • Selection of dates: May 2nd-3rd, and May 9th-10th. Ideally, you will be available for all dates. 

 

Application Questions: 

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*We encourage you to explore new language to describe your artistic interests at this time. 

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You may find that your answers fall somewhere between 100-300 words, or a video of 2-3 minutes. Let it discover you. 

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  1. In the world of art-making, where do you fit? 

  2. What of yourself do you wish to bring into this project? 

  3. What is the crux of the difficulty in making your art at this time? 

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Artistic Materials 

 

Please send your Bio, CV/Resume, Headshot, and a link to your artistic work and/or your video application (if you choose to apply with video/audio) via email to Shivani Joshi, the lbs/sq" Producer and Lead Researcher at shivanijoshi113@gmail.com. 

 

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact Shivani Joshi, the lbs/sq" Producer and Lead Researcher at shivanijoshi113@gmail.com. 

 

Applications are due on March 21st!

 

Applicants will hear back regarding their application on April 7th.

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Thank you for your application!

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