_About
|| Patrick Blenkarn is an artist working at the intersection of performance, game design, and visual art. His research-based practice revolves around the themes of language, labour, and economy, with projects ranging in form from video games and card games to stage plays and books.
His work and collaborations have been featured in performance festivals, galleries, museums, and film festivals, including Festival TransAmériques (Montréal), PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (Vancouver), Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires, the Humboldt Forum (Berlin), Festival of Live Digital Art (Kingston), STAGES Festival (Halifax), Banff Centre for the Arts, Risk/Reward (Portland), SummerWorks (Toronto), rEvolver (Vancouver), RISER Projects (Toronto), and the Festival of Recorded Movement (Vancouver). In 2020, he was nominated for Best Projection Design at Toronto’s Dora Awards. In 2022, his work with Milton Lim, asses.masses, received the National Creation Fund from the National Arts Centre of Canada.
Patrick has frequently been an artist in residence at galleries and theatres around the world, including The Arctic Circle (Svalbard), the Spitsbergen Artist Center (Svalbard), GlogauAIR (Berlin), Fonderie Darling (Montreal), Malaspina Printmakers (Vancouver), Skaftfell Center for Visual Art (Iceland), VIVO Media Arts (Vancouver), and The Theatre Centre (Toronto).
Patrick is also the co-founder of and a key archivist for videocan, Canada’s video archive of performance documentation. He has a degree in philosophy, theatre, and film from the University of King's College and an MFA from Simon Fraser University. His writings on the politics of theatre have been published in Performance Matters, Theatre Research in Canada, GUTS, SpiderWebShow, and Canadian Theatre Review.
He is based out of Vancouver and Los Angeles.
SELECTED WORKS
CALENDAR
tbd
TBD: Publication: culturecapital:dialogues, Playwrights Canada Press
_2025
TBA Exhibition: palmagotchi, Toronto
_2024
Oct 2024 - Feb 2025: Humboldting!, Humboldt Forum, Berlin
Aug 4-17: 2021 development residency, New York City
Jun 20-21: asses.masses, TBA
Jun: Article: “If Not Democratic”, Canadian Theatre Review Special Issue on Participatory Performance
Jun 7: culturecapital:barcelona, Teatre Lliure, Barcelona
May 28: Artist Talk: “Digital Puppetry”, Festival TransAmériques, Montréal
May 25 + Jun 1: asses.masses, Festival TransAmériques, Montréal
May 18-19: asses.masses, Mayfest, Bristol
Apr 13-20: Residency: CAHOOTS, mia & eric, Creston
Jan 30: Podcast Interview: “Ass Power”, Below The Radar, Vancouver
Jan 30: Artist Talk, School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU, Vancouver
Jan 25: Article: “The good and the bad (and everything in between)”, Intermission Magazine
Jan 25: Artist Talk: “Democracy and Theatre”, PuSh Industry Series, Vancouver
Jan 22-24: Pure Research Presentations, Nightswimming, Toronto
Jan 21: Serious Play: A Super Radical Game-a-thon, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver
Jan 20, 27 + Feb 3: asses.masses, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Vancouver
Jan 11-20: 2021, Tarragon Greenhouse Festival, Toronto
_2023
Dec 5: Presentation, Full Indie, Vancouver
Sep 22-24: asses.masses, The Theatre Centre, Toronto
Sep 21: Master class, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto
Sep 20: Master class, University of Toronto BMO Lab, Toronto
Sep 12-16: FARCE, Zones Théâtrales, Ottawa
Sep 8: Master class, Cátedra Bergman, UNAM, Mexico City
Sep 6+9: asses.masses, Festival Internacional de Teatro Universitario, UNAM, Mexico City
Aug 1 - Jan 2024: Residency: Tarragon Greenhouse with Cole Lewis, Toronto
Aug 1 - Jan 2024: Residency: Nightswimming Pure Research with Cole Lewis, Toronto
Jul 10-29: Residency: Devised Performance Lab with Montserrat Videla Samper, Dubrovnik/Hvar
Jun 9: asses.masses, STAGES, Halifax
Jun 8: asses.masses, FOLDA, Kingston
May 5-31: Residency: Spitsbergen Artists Center, with Laure Winants, Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Apr 17 - May 4: Residency: The Arctic Circle, with Laure Winants, Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Mar 28 - Apr 11: Residency: with Milton Lim, São Paulo
Mar 16-27: Residency: with Milton Lim, Recife
Mar 5-15: Residency: with Milton Lim, Buenos Aires
Mar 2-4: asses.masses, Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires (FIBA), Buenos Aires
_2022
Nov 18: culturecapital.workshop, Queen’s University, Kingston
Sep 8 - Oct 8: Residency: Kolaj Institute, Montreal/Online
Aug 15-28: New project development with Guilty by Association, Center for Collaborative Arts and Media, Yale University, New Haven
Jun 5-11: Residency: Humboldting!, Humboldt Forum, Berlin
June 4: Co-authored essay with Milton Lim in Nancy Tam’s …wreckage upon wreckage… digital artist book
May 12-14: asses.masses, Hybrid by Design, The Theatre Centre, Toronto
Apr 7-9: Panel Talk/Participant, Participatory Performance Summit 2022, Online
Mar 9: Artist Talk, National Theatre School of Canada, Montreal/Online
Jan 19: Panel Talk “Process Production Touring”, PuSh Festival, Vancouver
_2021
Nov 17-24: FARCE, CAPACOA Conference
Aug 23 - Sep 12: Residency: The Theatre Centre, Toronto
Aug 23: Spotlight Canada, Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh
Jul 22: Artist Talk, Canadian Association for the Performing Arts (CAPACOA)
Jul 8: videocan @ PACT Town Hall
Jul 1-31: Residency: asses.masses + arcade.asinus, VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver
Jun 26: videocan Report 2021, videocan @ CATR 2021
Jun 18: Artist Talk, LMDA 2021, Mexico City
Jun 15: Artist Talk, “Theatre (and) Time”, Director’s Lab North
Jun 14-17: Director’s Lab North 2021 Participant
Jun 1: “Dramaturgy—from the Bottom Up: exploring strategies for bridging videos games and live performance in asses.masses”, LMDA 2021, Mexico City
May 17-24: Virtual Showings, The Theatre Centre, Toronto
May 7: Artist Talk, National Theatre School of Canada, Montreal/Online
May 6: videocommentary Episode 4: Cinerama, videocan
May 1: Artist Talk, BC DramaFest
Apr 1 - 30: palmagotchi development with asmaa al-issa
Mar 2-4: asses.masses, Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires (FIBA), Buenos Aires
Feb 27: “Who’s Afraid of Video Documentation? Geographies of Rights and Restrictions”, videocan @ FOOT 2021
Feb 12 - Apr 8: Digital Intimacies Research Group with Mammalian Diving Reflex
Jan 16: videocommentary Episode 3: What Happened to the Seeker, videocan
_2020
Dec 18-19: Open Studios, GlogauAIR, Berlin
Nov 18-24: Showcase Exhibition, GlogauAIR, Berlin
Oct 27: culturecapital:online Match 4, HowlRound.tv
Oct 26: videocommentary Episode 2: Pop-Up Love Party, videocan
Oct 5 - Dec 31: Residency: GlogauAIR, with Montserrat Videla Samper, Berlin
Sep 30: culturecapital:online Match 3, HowlRound.tv
Sep 2: culturecapital:online Match 2, HowlRound.tv
Sep 1-30: palmagotchi development with asmaa al-issa
Aug 7: “Video Could: Building an Online Video Archive of Canadian Performance” with videocan, CATR/SQET @ Concordia/UQAM, Montreal [online]
Jul 25: videocommentary Episode 1: Cain and Abel, videocan
May 20: culturecapital:online Match 1, National Theatre School of Canada + HowlRound
May 1-2: asses.masses, UNO Festival, Victoria [cancelled]
Feb 28: asses.masses, Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna
Feb 20-21: Preserving Performance in the Pacific Northwest, University of Victoria/Royal BC Museum, Victoria
Feb 9-13: culturecapital, Expanse Festival/Chinook Series, Edmonton
Jan 21: culturecapital.workshop @ Concordia University
Jan 15-16: culturecapital, High Performance Rodeo, Calgary
Jan 9: asses.masses, Fonderie Darling, Montreal
Dec 20 - Jan 20: Residency: Fonderie Darling, Montreal
_2019
Nov 25-30: Residency: Azimuth Theatre, Edmonton/Calgary
Nov 22-24: asses.masses, Digital Summit, Banff
Nov 20: asses.masses, to the AWE #6, Calgary
Nov 1-10: Residency: SummerWorks, Toronto
Aug 12-14: culturecapital, SummerWorks, Toronto
July 31: asses.masses, soft/WALL/studs, Singapore
Jun 28-30: asses.masses, Risk-Reward Festival, Portland
Jun 8 - 9: 1991, In the Soil Festival, St. Catharines
Jun 6: culturecapital, Magnetic North Festival, Vancouver
Jun 3: culturecapital, Canadian Association for Theatre Research 2019 @ UBC, Vancouver
May 22 - Jun 1: 1991, Why Not Theatre’s RISER Project, The Theatre Centre, Toronto
Apr 29: culturecapital, Rumble Theatre’s The Living Room. Vancouver
Feb - Nov: Canada Council Professional Development Grant: lighting design mentorship with Itai Erdal
Feb 26 - March 9: Dramaturge/Assistant director on Bombogenesis, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Jan - Apr: Term Lecturer in Theatre Performance, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
_2018
Nov 26 - Dec 8, 2018: Residency: Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Burnaby
Apr 2018 - Dec 2018: Residency: Malaspina Printmakers, Vancouver
Nov 19-24: Residency: Impulse Theatre’s Peek-Fest, Victoria
Sep 7-8: Work in progress performance of asses.masses at Interplay 2018, Vancouver
Sep 4-5: Workshop presentation #2 of Cole Lewis’ 1991, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver
Aug 31 - Sep 1: Weathervane with asmaa al-issa at Digital Carnival, Richmond World Festival, Richmond
Aug 28: Response to “Reality Augments Theatre”, SpiderWebShow
Aug 27 - Sep 1: culturecapital, Boca del Lupo‘s Micro Performance Residency, Vancouver
Jun 19-22: Festival of live digital Art, SpiderWebShow, Kingston
Jun 16: LAUNCH Festival 2018, 149 Arts Society, Vancouver
Apr 18: Workshop presentation #1 of Cole Lewis’ 1991 at Feminist Fuck It Festival 2018, Toronto
Feb 22: Review: When the Guests Are Not Looking, Audain Gallery Blog
Feb 7-28: Artist-in-residence, Skaftfell Center for Visual Art, Seyðisfjörður, IS
Feb 5: “Biting the Hand that Feeds Us: On Public Funding,” SpiderWebShow.ca
Jan 11-13: Books, Studio D, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver
_2017
Oct 30: “Practice and Research: A Report from the Academy” in Canadian Theatre Review: Artistic Research (Vol. 172). Co-written with Ker Wells and Cole Lewis on interdisciplinary approaches to practice as research at Simon Fraser University
Oct 13-15: 49 translations, presented through The New Gallery (Calgary) at the Vancouver Art Book Fair
Oct 10: SCA Colloquium Artist Talk, SFU Woodwards
Sep 21-24: 49 translations, part of Nautilus, an Or Gallery Bookstore, at Flotilla 2017, Charlottetown
Sep 21-24: Speaking Ocean: Basic Expressions, part of Floating Warren Pavilion radio show at Flotilla 2017, Charlottetown
Sep 9-23: Helmets for a performance to come in SCA MFA Graduating Exhibition 2017, Binding, Breathing, Incorporating, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Sep 2: Speaking Ocean: Basic Expressions in Your Kontinent Digital Carnival, Richmond World Festival, Richmond
Aug 31 - Sep 3: Just _____ Me in group exhibition, Hot Dog, at Parking Spot Projects, Vancouver
Aug 12: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 in Photophobia Contemporary Moving Image Festival, Art Gallery of Hamilton and Hamilton Artists Inc., Hamilton
Aug 5-12: Collaborator/assistant director on These Violent Delights directed by Cole Lewis at SummerWorks 2017, Toronto
Aug 4: Performance of Heart & Soul S13 E1 with Lily Ross-Millard as part of A Living Room Spectacle, Toronto
Jul 26: Guest Lecture on books as/and/in performance in Dr. Peter Dickinson’s “Literature and Performance” course
Jul 3: Philosophical Investigations in Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual 2017, Guadalajara
May 27 - Jun 4: Soliloquy in English in the 2017 rEvolver Festival, Vancouver
May 5-6: Chair of the 3rd Annual Tri-University Colloquium, Performances of the Future—Now, Vancouver
May 4-6: Collaborator and performer in Weather Pattern #1: An Object Opera by Ian McFarlane, part of MFA Spring Show 2017, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Apr 8: In progress performance of Books at On the Boards Open Studio Showcase, Seattle
Apr 6-28: Sects in group exhibition In Circulation, part of the Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver
Mar 29: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 as part of the Film and Media Showcase at Cineworks, Vancouver
Mar 24: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 in the Official Selection at Martinique International Film Festival
Mar 12: Stanley Park object performance with Ian McFarlane, Vancouver
Mar 9-30: Raison Aver Passion in group exhibition, 49 at 74, Works on Paper by Canadian Artists, Marbury, New York, NY
Feb 23 - March 4: Performing in Romeo and Juliet directed by Cole Lewis at SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, Vancouver
Jan 28: In progress performance of Books at PuSh Youth Assembly
Jan 18 - February 4: PuSh Ambassador Program
_2016
Dec 22: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 wins Best Experimental Film at Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival
Dec 7: Reading of A Zoo for Ideas as part of The Spaces of Art: A Critical Conversation, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Nov 18: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 as part of the Official Selection at Experimental Forum 2016, Los Angeles
Nov 7-12: Heart & Soul: S12 E10 as part of Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual 2016, Guadalajara
Oct 14-15: That which doesn’t go away with Dave Biddle as part of Interplay 2016, Vancouver
Aug 5-14: Soliloquy in English as part of SummerWorks Performance Festival, Toronto
Jul 11-13: Panel presentation at the Deleuze Studies Conference 2016, Rome
Jun 17-19: Screening of new short film, Heart & Soul: S12 E10, created with Lily Ross-Millard, at the Festival of Recorded Movement at the Vancity Theatre, Vancouver
May 18: Moderating SFU Philosopher Café at Vancouver Public Library (Firehall Branch)
May 4-15: 49 translations as part of group exhibition No Lost Blips at Audain Gallery and Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
May: “On Failures,” Forum publication in the journal Performance Matters vol. 2.1
Apr 30: Panel presentation on English and commemoration at Tri-University Colloquium on Milestones and [Co]memoration in Theatre, Performance and Film at University of British Columbia, Vancouver