Hot off the presses: Our Fahrenheit 2013 Flickr set. Contains many dupes, so bear with us as our staff adds more and edits it up right! Or browse it on Flickr
Owen Wolter and Windsorite.ca have a great Flickr set of the burn! Also here
Artcite Inc., Windsor’s only non-profit, Artist-Run Centre for the Contemporary Arts, and the LaSalle KinClub proudly present our:
“9th FAHRENHEIT FESTIVAL OF FIRE SCULPTURE”
10 big bold fire sculptures, chosen by our guest jury:
Zeke Moores and Rod Strickland, Professors of Sculpture, University of Windsor School for Arts & Creative Innovation (SACI)
Dennis Bolohan (Cookstown, ON) – “Fire Eater “
Steve Daigle & Matthew Romain (Windsor, ON) – “Sun Rise”
Steve Daigle – (Windsor, ON) – “Monarch”
Dave Hanna (Windsor, ON) – “Nuclear Roulette”
qpaukl a. kimmerly and rEvolution gallery (Kingsville, ON) – “Keyhole”/ “Lucky”
Neda Laketic (Windsor, ON) – “Windmill”
Susan Qu, Ruby Kingsbury, Leah Chang (Toronto, ON) – “Know Your Exits”
Nadia and Richard Trudel (Montreal, PQ) – “Second Sky”
David Yu (Toronto, ON) – “Burning of the Vanities – A Ritual Release”
Prof. Rod Strickland’s Sculpture Fundamentals Class, with student artists: Leticia Ahmadi, Briana Benore, Chantelle Bosmier, Jenara Bravo, Maria DiRisio, Hannah Gerrish, Chelsea Greenwell, Michael MacMaster, Amy Rae, Chloe Scarborough, Jennifer Ymana:
“Seraphim”, featuring musical performances by Erin Armstrong and Anthony Giglio, U of W School of Music (performing the aria from the opera Samson and Delilah, by Camille Saint-Saëns).
What is Fire Sculpture?
“Fire sculpture” harnesses the primal power of fire as a creative, performative act. The beauty of this powerful art form is not limited to the creation of a beautiful object (what is traditionally considered the “art”), but is rather focused on how each unique sculpture burns. Skilled fire artists are able to use a minimum of means to control and shape the tempo, pace and burning pattern of the fire, so that the sculpture doesn’t resemble, or burn, like a bonfire. The public, night-time spectacle of the Fahrenheit “burn” is fleeting, kinetic and encompasses a singular moment that cannot be restaged.
Skilled fire artists are able to use a minimum of means to control and shape the fire, to choke oxygen in order to control tempo and pace, and to manipulate the burning pattern so that the fire sculpture doesn’t resemble, or burn, like a bonfire. The big art “burn” is fleeting, kinetic and encompasses a singular moment that can never be precisely restaged.
The lasting value of the unique art form of “Fire Sculpture” is literally created before–and in–the spectator’s eyes: the final “art work” is only completed when the sculptures are finally torched and witnessed by the crowd.
“What excites me about Fahrenheit is the challenge of working with primitive materials to make spectacular art that is just ‘here for the moment.’ It’s fascinating to just let the elements work with the materials, and see the expected and unexpected things that happen in each sculpture.”
— Ed Janzen, 2008 Fahrenheit Festival participating artist.
Since 2008, this popular, public fundraising event has been held on open parklands at the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Centre in the Town of LaSalle, Ontario (a bedroom community 10 minutes from Windsor and Detroit, MI), and has attracted enthusiastic, all-ages audiences of 2200+ from across Southeastern Ontario and Michigan.
In 2002 Artcite hosted the inaugural “Fahrenheit”. Our 2011 festival was attended by over 1800 guests, even after the threat of a rain-out!. Since 2006, Artcite Inc. and the Control.Burn Collective have held the Fahrenheit Festival of Fire Sculpture in partnership with the Town of LaSalle at the the Vollmer Culture & Recreation Complex.
For 2013, Fahrenheit returned after a hiatus to a significantly improved outdoor venue at the Vollmer Complex’s Ampitheatre, where a crowd of over 2,000 enjoyed an evening of family fun, culminating in the lighting of the fire sculptures..
The FAHRENHEIT FESTIVAL OF FIRE SCULPTURE is presented in co-operation with the LaSalle Kin Club and Control.Burn Collective; a group of artists interested in employing fire in the creation of ephemeral works of art, and is co-sponsored by the Town of LaSalle Culture & Recreation Department. Artcite also acknowledges the additional support of its members and volunteers and the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Windsor.
See highlights of the 2009 Fahrenheit Festival on Youtube
Past Fahrenheit Festivals on our web pages:
http://www.artcite.ca/history/2011.html#fahrenheit2011
http://www.artcite.ca/history/2009.html#fahrenheit2009
http://www.artcite.ca/history/2008.html#fahrenheit2008
http://www.artcite.ca/history/2006.html#fahrenheit2006 and http://www.artcite.ca/fahrenheit/2006/index.html
ORDhttp://www.artcite.ca/history/2005.html#fahrenheit2005
http://www.artcite.ca/history/2004.html#fahrenheit2004 and http://www.artcite.ca/fahrenheit/2004/index.html
http://www.artcite.ca/fahrenheit/2003/index.html
http://www.artcite.ca/fahrenheit/2002/index.html
Artists wishing to propose a work for inclusion in our next event should address correspondance through Artcite to the Control.Burn Collective – a semi-autonomous subcommittee of Artcite’s programming committee.