12 Hours of Night is a series of photographs created for Culture Days and the Saskatoon “Nuit Blanche” in response to the exhibition Calendar Girls on view at Paved Arts.
Artists Michelle Gagne, Emily M. Kohlert, Samra K. Sheikh and Kyle Zurevinski collaborated on the photographs and chose to represent twelve hours from dusk until dawn. Working in pairs, the artists produced one image each hour in locations throughout the city of Saskatoon including both interior and exterior sites. As a tribute to the video performances of Lisa Birke’s “Calendar Girls” the artists posed themselves in the frame with their faces obscured by bags, masks, bubble wrap, scarves, baskets and even the sunrise. The photographs are therefore not simple portraits or selfies but rather playful, more complex metaphors that highlight the relationship between the viewer and the subject being viewed.
The project was organized by David LaRiviere (PAVED Arts), Professor Jennifer Crane (Department of Art and Art History, University of Saskatchewan) and artist Lisa Birke.
The project was generously funded by the City of Saskatoon as part of Culture Days 2015.
