The New Archive Project

October 5 to November 17, 2012?

The New Archive project is part of:?The Wandering Art Metropole Publications and Ephemera Archive: Part 2 project, co-produced by Project Space and Art Metropole, which brought a selection of Art Metropole’s archive to Vancouver in 2012. Materials were displayed on support structures created by artist Shane Krepakevich. Vancouver-based artists leannej and Spoox Audiozine will interacted with the archive, revealing new interpretations and understandings of the materials.

Background?In 1972, the artist group General Idea launched FILE Megazine, a “cross-Canada art organ, by artists, for artists.” Published from 1972 until1986, FILE approached art publishing with a fun, inclusive, camp sensibility. Unlike the more established art magazines published at the time, FILE did not critique art; instead, the editors approached its content much like a mobile gallery.FILE took its name from the iconic Life Magazine. This approach—reusing popular and mass cultural themes—was typical of the editors and contributors of FILE. Later calling itself “the alternative to the alternative,” FILE used images and texts from popular and mass culture to make new art. It is in this same spirit that artists are asked to participate in this project. Artists are encouraged to use the FILE archive materials as their source documents to create a new “alternative to the alternative.” This new alternative archive will add yet another layer to the already rich history and legacy of FILE Megazine. For more information on FILE’s history, see Diedrich Diederichsen’s enlightening article in Artforum.