PORTFOLIO: The Work of Max Cirka

The following gallery features work by fine artist and graphic and web designer Max Cirka. The work consists of silkscreens, oil paintings and photography. Most of the work was completed within the first two years at Emily Carr University, which Max is currently attending.

The following are websites were designed by Max Cirka:

www.maxcirka.com (personal website)

www.interactive-design.ca/grad2007

www.evanslake.com/

Graffiti of the Week

CRITICAL REVIEW: EDWARD BURTYNSKY

“An Uneasy Beauty”

On Saturday March 21st I packed my notebook and pen and drove out to the Surrey Art Gallery to go see what Edward Burtynsky was all about. I watched Burtynsky’s Manufactured Landscapes and saw the interview he had with George Stroumboulopoulos on The hour. I learned that he came from a Ukranian Background and that his father had worked in a GM factory. When asked about his photographs, Burtynsky does a good job at avoiding sides. According to Burtynsky good art opens up meaning, his images in particular don’t tell you how to think, they have an open narrative.

On my way into the Surrey Art Gallery there was a piece entitled Wirefram by John Wynne. The piece features a dark room in which you enter. When inside the participant is emerged in complete darkness. Small “ticks” can be heard all around and are used to let the viewer visualize a landscape. The ticks grow louder and soon thunderous booms can be heard all around giving the impression of a thunderstorm. The best part of the piece was outside of the room where you can view participants on a screen filmed with a NVD that react to the different sounds and to each other.

The rest of the exhibit was of Edward Burtynksy’s work, which focused on settlements, energy production, resource extrusion, trade and transportation. The first half of the gallery is decorated with photographs of British Columbia’s Interior and Lower mainland, most of which are fairly mundane yet compelling. The next half of the gallery features work that Burtynsky photographed while he was in Alberta. The photographs feature container ports and the oil fields of Fort McMurray which is some of Burtynsky’s finest, most compelling work. Most of the Oil Fields photographs are taken from an arial view, exposing the desolate, lonely yet unsettlingly beautiful landscapes. Burtynsky photographs the lanscape as it is with it’s true colour, leaving the piece to speak for itself without intervention of the artist. The gallery itself seemed to be biased towards the environmental aspect of Burtynsky’s work. To quote the text that is beside the Oil Sands photographs, “the terrors of the industrial sublime have found their greatest expression.” Alberta Oil Sands #6 is one of Burtynsky’s strongest pieces in the gallery, which features baths of sour crude mixed with sulphur, turning the oil a sickly greening yellow. At the scale of the photograph, the patterns in the crude oil are quite beautiful in a unsettling kind of way.

The exhibit also features a video of Burtynsky giving a presentation at the TED awards. In the video Burtynsky speaks of his epiphany he had lost in Pennsylvania photographing the landscape. Burtynsky also speaks of the oil epiphany he had after photographing the disassembly of oil tankers in Bangladesh and the oil field in California. Burtynsky speaks of the three wishes he has, the first being “world changing” in which he uses his images for a “global conversation on sustainability”. Burtynsky introduces the blog www.worldchanging.com in which features countless articles about Burtynsky and his photographs. I was surprised to see an article on my personal favourite artist Shepard Fairey entitled Notes Toward an Affirmative Art. Burtynsky’s next wish he calls “in my world” in which he would use his earnings from the TEDprize to fund a project that would allow kids to invent new ideas on sustainability. His third wish would be to make an imax film which would allow his work to be displayed on the largest scale possible, reaching new audiences in the process.

My Google Map

So I’ve created a google account and decided to upload some pictures using Picasa Web Albums. I haven’t quite finished all of the pictures for the map but you can see what I’ve done so far by clicking on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/maxcirka/TheView/photo#map

So the basis for this project is to document various places throughout Burnaby and hopefully get others out here and experience some of what Burnaby has to offer. The pictures I have up right now are of a pond at Deer Lake, two from inside Forest Lawn Cemetery and one of the Shell oil refinery that I live close by to (about a 10min. drive). My most exciting experience was photographing oil refinery when a police officer showed up to question me. I had to explain to him that I was an Emily Carr student and the photographs were for a project for my Digital Imaging class. He then took a note of my identification and told me that it was not illegal to photograph the refinery, but if it blows up he’ll know who to call.

The pictures havn’t shown up on google maps yet, but I think that takes a while.

Anyway, Enjoy.

- P. Explosive

Public Art Only Google Earth Can See

I’ve found an image by the same artist Kalli had up on her page. This JR guy prints massive images on water-resistant materials and applies them onto rooftops and walls. This image is from one of his latest projects he produced in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. I find his work inspiring yet kind of ironic seeing as a majority, if not all of the people in Kibera probably don’t have access to a computer or the internet to view the whole piece. It is pretty cool how he applied the images of eyes to the train that match up with the mouths beside the tracks when the train rolls by.

Anyway, I find this all very relevant to the project we are doing right now in our DIVA class. It’s nice to see that while I’m over here complaining about how much I’m paying for tuition, there’s an artist out there working in the reality of poverty expressing himself and his surroundings through print and new media. Keep up the good work JR.

- P. Explosive

View the article

The Panther Strikes Again! (not really)

Woa, check it out, a new p. explosive graffic up on a wall!

Well, not really… this is just a mock-up to give me an idea of what this is going to look like, no vandalism needed.

Enjoy guys.

- P. Explosive

Fun With Panoramas

The following images are photos I took one foggy January afternoon with my Canon Powershot G9.

The first is in Forest Lawn Cemetary which is right beside where I live. Lovely is it not? We normally go there for the view but today I wanted to focus on the lack thereof. The emphasis is on the cross in the foreground and the disappearing trees in the background.

The second photograph I shot in Deer Lake, a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife. My focus here is the man-made pond in the foreground. We usually come here for the piece and quite, its funny having such a fine piece of nature in the middle of a busy city.

Welcome to the Panther Den

Whats up guys

If you were ever wondering what a Panther’s den looks like, check out this latest panorama

See if you can spot the panther

- P. Explosive

New Panther Sticker Set

Hello panther lovers,

I’ve uploaded a sticker set for all you kids to print off and take advantage of.

Make sure your printing on tabloid sized (17 x 11) adhesive media.

- P. Explosive

Manifest Hope: DC

MANIFEST HOPE: DC invites you to show your art in Washington, D.C. during the Presidential Inauguration Celebration alongside some of the most celebrated artists today.