interview with tom rice

Tom Rice is a multi-media artist working in drawing, painting, video and performance. He received a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and a MFA from the University of Georgia. In 2019 he was awarded a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in the Arts and Humanities at the University of Alberta. He has also received fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ox Bow and the Ragdale Foundation. His honors include the Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Creative Work awarded by Kalamazoo College and other prizes. Among his commissioned works are pieces for the Xerox Corporation and the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial. His work has been exhibited at the Fire House Art Center, University of Wisconsin, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Kalamazoo Institute of Art, the Lansing Art Gallery, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and the Kresge Art Museum.

tomriceartist.net

What drew you to the Research-Creation and Social Justice CoLABoratory at the University of Alberta?

The many faculty members at University of Alberta whose research interests intersect with mine were a big draw. My primary contacts at the university were Dr. Natalie Loveless and Sean Caulfield in the department of Art and Design. The Social Justice CoLABoratory was of interest for me because I teach at a small liberal arts college where I often have the opportunity to engage with faculty outside my discipline. Kalamazoo College is the home of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, and I was interested to see how CoLAB approached social justice and research-creation. The powerful prints and installations of Sean Caulfield were also a big attraction for me. Dr. Sheena Wilson’s work on energy justice with Petrocultures Research Group and Just Powers aligned with my interests. Once I arrived, I was introduced to many more wonderful artists working on innovative and important projects. Marilene Oliver’s work on the digital body was thoroughly fascinating. I had the opportunity to take a peek at Jesse Thomas’s paintings one afternoon in his studio. I was also fortunate enough to spend some time with Liz Ingram and Lyndal Osborne while in Edmonton. These unexpected opportunities to meet artists and academics with whom I have an affinity and share common interests was a delightful surprise.

What did you propose as your research while here?

My plan was to research and produce a drawing installation that explored the history and realities of fossil fuel extraction and consumption that connects Canada and the US. The project was to focus on North America’s unsustainable appetite for carbon-based energy sources, and its impact on the environment and global climate change. While in Alberta, I visited the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park, Fort McMurray, and the Athabasca oil sands in Northern Alberta. I also spent time in the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton, and the Glenbow Museum in Calvary examining historical documents and photographs of the region. The University provided me with studio space where I was able to produce a significant amount of work on the installation itself during the 4-month Fulbright period I was in Edmonton.

What were some of the most exciting things about being at the U of a? What are some of the memorable moments that happened while you were here?

It’s hard to say what the most exciting things about being at the University were, but I think they had to do with the intellectual curiosity and incredible intensity with which everyone approached their work. Whether it was their own research or their teaching, everyone I met at the U of A approached their work with intensity, enthusiasm and integrity. They all had such passion for what they were doing that it was truly inspiring.

The most memorable moments definitely had to do with the sense of community and camaraderie that I experienced. Despite their busy schedules, I felt like people made a heartfelt effort to included me in community and social events in and around Edmonton. I was invited to several dinners at faculty homes that were some of the most enjoyable experiences I have had anywhere. The genuine respect and affection the faculty I met have for one another is very unusual and special. I was glad to have had the opportunity to be a part of it for a brief time.

How do you understand research-creation? How do you mobilize it in your work and in your teaching?

My understanding of research-creation, and how I use it in my work are sort of two different things. Research-creation seems to me to be about the process that eventuates an indeterminate product. In other words, the process and findings of the research determines the end result, product, or creation. Process is as important as product, or perhaps more so. The outcome might be a paper, a book, a movie, a display of data, a performance, an event, or whatever best disseminates the research. I think the form the research-creation takes also depends on the community that is involved in the research, and the audience it serves.

Research-creation is mobilized in my work in a down-right traditional way. Typically, I know I’m going to create an art object or performance of some kind from the outset. I use the research to inform the work. That doesn’t mean the research process can’t take unexpected turns and influence the outcome, but I normally have a good idea what form the project will take early on.

I mostly teach disciplined based courses (painting and drawing). I try to create opportunities for students to broaden their understanding of the possibilities for research driven projects, or research-creation. Students face the same push back that faculty experience in regards to validating research-creation when they propose projects that fall between disciplines. All seniors where I teach must complete a Senior Integrated Project (SIP) for graduation, and the project doesn’t have to be tied to their major department. Years ago, there was more collaboration between departments on the types of projects students could propose. Recently, departments have moved to using the (SIP) to prepare students for graduate school, and therefore the types of products departments approve have become much more conservative. The SIP could be a perfect incubator for research-creation.

What are you working on now? How did your time at the u of a contribute to the work you are doing now?

My work on the project that took me to the University of Alberta continues. In short, it addresses North America’s addiction to fossil fuels, and oil in particular. Denial is one of our collective behaviors that is responsible for the continued use of petroleum-based products when there is conclusive evidence that it is clearly killing us and the planet. The oil industry’s ruthless and relentless pursuit of profits without regard to the environmental impact feeds the demand. Deregulation, deception and subterfuge cover up the damage and cost of continued extraction and consumption. My work primarily addresses these problems. The work depicts the signifiers of the petroleum industry and its despoliation of the environment. At first, the imagery is recognizable as the apparatus of refineries and pipelines. Upon closer examination it becomes apparent that the whole story isn’t there – that pieces are missing, or have been redacted. The fossil fuel industry is built upon the myth of an economic model of perpetual growth. It’s unsustainable.

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, in her book titled The Mushroom at the End of Time, states, “restoration requires disturbance… disturbance opens the terrain for transformative encounters.” Tsing provides some hopeful models for restoration of disturbed landscapes. She is not referencing landscapes damaged by the fossil fuel industry specifically, but she provides a model for restoration for disturbed landscapes that are promising and not solely in the hands of humans. I’m planning some projects directed toward speculative futures, and how we might mitigate the environmental disasters that lay ahead. These projects are informed by the time I spent at the University of Alberta, and they will involve color!

Following the 2020-2023 CoLAB Research Theme, Arts, Activism, and Global Crisis, if/ how do situate your work/ practice within art, activism, and social justice at a moment of global crisis?

For the past six years my work has addressed issues related to the environment, fossil fuel dependence and the growing global crisis related to climate change. In a series of drawing installations, I have focused on regions of the world threatened by environmental degradation, drought, erratic weather patterns, risk of flooding and coastal erosion. Climate change affects all key economic sectors including agricultural, infrastructure, transportation, energy, urban settlements, and human health. The problem is so large that it can seem abstract, but my projects seek to make the damage specific and personal, bringing human scale to a planetary catastrophe. The pieces coalesce into environments that mourn, reflect, and document the shifting uncertainties of the world—melting glaciers, eroding coastlines, wildfires, and the causes of refugee populations on the move because of droughts directly linked to climate change. The drawings are executed on light gauge plastic – a nod to how enmeshed petroleum-based products are in our lives and economy.

Research Creation + Social Justice CoLABoratory, University of Alberta

Amiskwacîwâskahikan/ ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ

March 2021