Launch updates

How are you doing this week?

I wrote this from mid-air between Vancouver and Frankfurt with a few updates / knots to untangle re: book launch.

1. Art Met

Dallas should be able to speak to us when they get back to Toronto in a couple of days. We should probably speak before that to have a conversation about the contract, and to amend the list of who gets how many copies, etc. I would especially like to speak with Dallas about planning and scheduling book launches.

2. ARCA

In a recent communication with M.A. (that was about the CARFAC project), they wrote to let me know that the CARFAC staged reading will not happen at the ARCA conference, because the space that they were planning to use is booked. That’s fine with me. But when I asked about the residency that was supposed to frame / coincide with my visit, they said that they preferred to reserve the residency for ARCA guests. Which then begs the question as to whether or not our presentation is an ARCA event. I have not received any response to my request for letters of invitation. I wrote to M.A. again asking for clarification on these points, and will let you know. In any case, I would like to also reach out to the CCA to ask about strategizing for travel grants for the launch. This might mean that we will need to stay at your friend’s place in Ottawa.

3. Jonathan Middleton

I ran into Jonathan in Vancouver and we got together for a coffee to talk about ARCA and The Employee. He could absolutely see the benefit of launching the project at ARCA. I’m glad that I told him about it because I feel like things with M.A. are not transparent, and having Jonathan on the inside will help us to have someone else negotiating for this to happen. He also mentioned that he has access to the CCA portal for ARCCO (the Ontario version of ARCA), through which it might make sense to apply for funding… but I’m not entirely sure how that would work, aside from ARCCO representing the interests of FCG and art met.

4. ARCA launch contributors

Once we have somewhat of a clear idea of when the launches will take place, I think it would make sense to reach out to all contributors to let them know our plans and to ask if they would be interested in contributing and / or submitting travel grants to join us. I can do this next week, if that sounds amenable to you. I’m going to build a spreadsheet to organize this better and can share it with you.

5. Vancouver

In the event that M.A. does not offer me accommodations at Axenéo7 during the conference and through the first part of June, I was thinking that it might make sense to schedule a launch in Vancouver during that window. This is becauseI’m already planning to go to Sudbury for the last part of May and early June for a different project, and if I don’t have a place to go after that it could possibly work to fly to Vancouver before the ARCA launch to involve Mariane and Bopha and the community in Vancouver, since it doesn’t look like either of them will be able to come to ARCA. What are your thoughts on this?

All of this is still in the air because I don’t have information from M.A., CCA, or Art Met, but with a bit more patience and directed communication, hopefully this will change.

Sorry for the essay, and hope all is going well on your end,

Josh