WORKS IN-PROGRESS and NEWS: SUSAN COOLEN / VISUAL ARTIST

NEWS 2018

Spring and Fall 2018

Three new books have been designed and produced thanks to a Region of Waterloo Arts Fund Grant. Titled 'A Companion Library of COLLECTIONS' for '(an incomplete) Museum (of categories) for the Future', these books feature three initial nature specimen categories; birds, animals and plants. They have been placed in the Ayr Library holdings and the Kitchener Library [along with the original 4-book series '(an incomplete) Museum (of categories) for the Future'].

Currently there are an additional 14 'collections' books now added to the project and these have been produced as artist proofs [soft-cover series]. Images below feature selected covers and pages from three of the books.

To see updates on project progress:

twitter@museumforfuture

NEWS 2017

November 2-4th, 2017
NIGHT/SHIFT 2017

Pop up art & performance crawl in
downtown Kitchener, ON

Featuring

P.U.D.D.L.E.S.
from the ongoing project
'PUDDLE / PUDDLES / POOL' [follow on twitter]

Online interview [available from artist]
Night\Shift artist chat: Susan Coolen P.U.D.D.L.E.S.

IN-PROGRESS

Susan Coolen was awarded a Waterloo Region Arts Fund grant to produce three new artist books for her 2016 Ayr Library artist-in-residence works: 'A Companion Library' for '(an incomplete) Museum (of categories) for the Future' series. These new books ... 'A Book of Collections ...' will feature three of her specimen categories; birds, animals and plants. These books will be added to the 'A Companion Library' series at Ayr Library, and a set [including the '(an incomplete) Museum (of categories) for the Future' series] will go to the Kitchener Library.

Susan Coolen was the 2016 ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE at the AYR PUBLIC LIBRARY

The residency was based on the project (an incomplete) MUSEUM (of categories) for the FUTURE.

An 8-set series of books titled 'A Companion Library' (web pages are being updated) were produced at the end of the residency and will be included in the Ayr Library's collections.

The books include an overview of the residency, a 4-book series on the twitter timeline for the 100 time-capsues of (an incomplete) MUSEUM (of categories) for the FUTURE and art books on the various projects initiated during the residency.

(an incomplete) MUSEUM (of categories) for the FUTURE is a is an ongoing long-term project developed out of years of gathering various specimens from urban and rural environments [including my own bone yards]. The project to-date has been a process of documenting my specimens as small groupings, and then packaging them up for eventual burial as time-capsules for a perceived but unknown 'future'.

The project has been documented on a twitter-site, and one can view contents of the packets as they were prepared, in a time-line that began in the Spring of 2015. As of this Fall 2016 all 100 packages have been buried in public places, or incorporated into waste management sites as future time-capsules. Drawings of the specimens from the 100 time-capsules are in production and being worked on for continued book works for the 'Companion Library' for (an incomplete) MUSEUM (of categories) for the Future.

twitter@museumforfuture

NEWS 2015-2016

PRESS / June 23, 2016:
D'Amato: Art from dead animals is where repulsion and fascination meet

Susan Coolen's 'Parlance No. 6' will be included in the Waterloo Region Grand River Transit exhibition: 'Art That Moves You'
Visual artwork and poetry displayed on ixpress buses [2016-2017]

Susan Coolen was awarded a 2014 Region of Waterloo Arts Fund Grant for her 'A LITTER-ARTI LIBRARY'. This funded project has culminated in the printing of a 50-set graphic art books series and 3 companion books from The LITTER-ARTI Project [2013 City of Kitchener A.I.R.] These completed book sets are being placed in 4 public institutions in Kitchener-Waterloo [a press release is available].

Susan Coolen gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.