Yesterday was once tomorrow (or, a brick is a tool): magazines by artists in canada during the 1990s

Edited by Kegan McFadden

Published by Plug In Editions (Winnipeg) with Publication Studio (Vancouver) • Translation provided by Artexte (Montreal) • Foreword by Gwen L. Allen

Drawing on a methodology of exhibition-as-research, this publication extends a process of investigation by artist, writer, and curator Kegan McFadden. As an exhibition, Yesterday was Once Tomorrow (or, A Brick is a Tool) acts as a historical look at magazines by artists in Canada that were established and terminated in the 1990s. Specifically focusing on Texts (Calgary, 1989-1993), Flower (Toronto, 1992-1996), Talking Stick First Nations Arts Magazine (Regina, 1993-1994), Boo (Vancouver, 1994-1998), The Harold (Winnipeg, 1995-1997), and Cube (Montreal, 1996-1998), Yesterday was Once Tomorrow (or, A Brick is a Tool), debuted at Plug In ICA (2015), and toured to Artexte (2016) and The Banff Centre (2017). The archival impulse is continued in book form, efficiently capturing an under-explored moment in Canadian art history, situated critically within the global technological context of pre-Internet desktop publishing.

Included, in English and French, is a central essay by McFadden reflecting on his curatorial approach and methodology while the main body of the book operates in a similar manner to the exhibition, consolidating the magazines as content and material. Brief recollections from those involved with each of the six magazines coincide with an index chronicling their output, while covers of every issue are scanned and reproduced for posterity. A prescient essay about the state of art criticism in Canada by Bruce Grenville is re-printed thirty years after it originally appeared, followed by a newly commissioned response from Jeanne Randolph, in addition to artist projects and other poetic excerpts from each of the publications. Yesterday was Once Tomorrow (or, A Brick is a Tool) concludes with an archival gesture – the cataloguing of works included in each iteration of the exhibition.

Softback
200 pages
1 Color poster insert
16.3 cm x 22.9cm
ISBN: 978-1-927385-48-7

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