Stan Douglas

Stan Douglas’ most recent (2001) video work takes its name from two movies, one a 1974 remake starring Vincent Price which was filmed in Vancouver. Douglas’ work stages an antagonistic exchange between a woman and a man in a cyclical, ever maturing loop, a formal device characteristic of Douglas’ recent practice. Set on a container ship, the work examines the 1970s as a historical moment of flux between internationalism and globalism, to which the ship acts as a stage and metaphor. The DVD is accompanied by a suite of photographs of Vancouver set locations, including Douglas’ sixteen foot long depiction of a building on 100 West Hastings. This work, *Every Building on 100 West Hastings*, will be the subject of a monographic publication that will examine this image of the most derelict corner of downtown Vancouver through the frameworks of social history and urban geography. 

The exhibition was realized with the generous cooperation of the Vancouver Art Gallery.


Essay: "Introduction," Reid Shier

A CTR TV is placed on a white table in a darkened gallery space. A single-channel video is played on the TV. The video shows the head of a person talking directly to the camera. 

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Four framed photographs are mounted on the gallery walls. One of them is the aerial view of a parking lot surrounded by autumn leaves. Others show the architecture in a city. 

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Two photographs are mounted on the gallery walls. The one mounted on the right-hand side wall is a panorama view of a street taken at night. The other one depicts an aerial view of a port city. 

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Several photographs are mounted on the gallery walls. The one mounted on the left-hand side wall is a panorama view of a street taken at night. Two smaller photographs are mounted on the other wall.

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Journey into Fear

Stan Douglas’ most recent video work, *T.V. Spots*, examines television conventions through tiny narratives depicting commonplace or habitual situations. The spots number twelve in total and run between fifteen and thirty-seven seconds in length. In the gallery they are presented on a video monitor and are shown mixed in with familiar commercial fare. By reserving content, *T.V. Spots* allow the viewer to choose a response — no product, no message is indicated in the exchange. The gallery is currently negotiating with several local television stations in an effort to broadcast *T.V. Spots*. 

*Marnie*, comprising a set of studies for a future film work, is composed of a series of photographs and accompanying scenario text. The project is based on Hitchcock’s 1964 film classic *Marnie*.


Essay: “Habeas Corpus: Stan Douglas’ Television Spots,” Miriam Nicols

A still image from a film on a small screen. The photo is a closeup, the grainy texture of the film is visible. The scene shown is an empty outdoor parking lot at night, with a person at the pay booth.

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The corner of a gallery. One wall is white and shows 6 black and white images of architectural spaces, referencing the Hitchcock film, Marnie. The other wall is pale green and shows a sheet of text.

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A closeup of a film playing on a small, curved screen. The image shows a person in a red t-shirt and shorts at a spray station in a public park. The image on the screen is grainy from the analog film.

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A gallery space with black walls. The wall shows large text reading "Television Spots" and several white artworks on the walls with black and white images and text. 

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04-StanDouglas-1988.jpeg

T.V. Spots and Marnie

Every Building on 100 West Hastings

This publication was produced to coincide with the exhibition Stan Douglas: Journey Into Fear at the Contemporary Art Gallery, September 12 – November 3, 2002.
This book is based on a monumental-sized print of the south side of 100 West Hastings by Stan Douglas. Douglas created a 66 x 427cm panorama of epic scope, photographing each building and compositing the individual prints to assume a fantastic, impossible perspective. The print is reproduced in the book as a removable full-colour poster. The book is a homage to Ed Ruscha’s fold-out book Every Building on Sunset Strip, 1966.

Includes essays by Denise Blake Oleksijczuk, Neil Smith and Jeff Derksen, Jeff Sommers and Nick Blomley

Stan Douglas

Exhibitions

Publications & Editions