For Immediate Release: August 15, 2005
Media Contact: Gwen Kallio 604-215-2345 sisuproductions@telus.net

The Al Neil Project
Part of the LIVE Biennial of Performance Art
October 1 4 - 2 1 at various Vancouver venues
In conjunction with the 4th LIVE Biennial of Performance Art, The Al Neil Project presents 4 evenings of
interdisciplinary work by, and inspired by, Vancouver innovator Al Neil, a seminal force in the multidisciplinary practices that have flourished on the West Coast over the past 50 years.
Al Neil's career as a musician, composer, writer, bricoleur, and performance artist has spanned 60 years.
His influence on Vancouver's artistic communities has been profound and enduring. This project
endeavors to both assess and celebrate Neil's contribution to the development of avant-garde art
practices in Vancouver. LIVE 2005 will feature 4 events celebrating Al Neil's legacy in the community,
including concerts, screenings, readings and performances.
LIVE opens on the 15th of October at Western Front with a tribute to Al Neil featuring documentation,
performance, readings and music. Also featured that evening will be a trio of Kate Hammett Vaughan
vocalizing texts by Neil with Ron Samworth on guitar and Coat Cooke on saxophone. As well, VJ Krista
Lomax will collaborate with Carole Itter on visuals featuring Al's work. Also included is a reading from
Neil's work by Michael Turner and a screening of archival footage collected The Al Neil Project.
On October 21 at the Vancouver Public Library Michael Turner will curate a series of readings from the
Downtown Eastside entitled Under the Influence that looks at Vancouver writers, starting with Malcolm
Lowry and Al Neil, writing about alcohol and drug use. This reading is in conjunction with the Nova Library
Project, a collaboration between grunt gallery, the Vancouver Public Library, the Vancouver Area Network
of Drug Users (VANDU) and the Portland Hotel Society. The Nova Library consists of a reading room
where all the books have been selected by Vancouver's drug addicts communities.
On November 10 New Orchestra Workshop Society and Coastal Jazz and Blues will co-present a concert
featuring Al Neil's ultimate tribute band with legendary Vancouver improvisers Gregg Simpson on drums
Clyde Reed on bass and Vancouver improviser Paul Plimley on piano, plus sampling/electronics artist
Giorgio Magnanensi and performance poet Kederick James. Neil's partner, artist Carole Itter, will
collaborate with VJ Krista Lomax to produce images of Al Neil's collages and assemblages for the event.
On November 25 LIVE ends with an event at the Vancouver Art Gallery focusing on Neil's history in
performance art. Lomax and Itter will use visuals and imagery from Neil's oeuvre of performance art,
accompanied by electronic music by Ben Wilson.
The Al Neil Project is a collaboration of the aforementioned institutions and the Morris and Helen Belkin
Gallery UBC, New Orchestra Workshop Society (NOW), Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, and grunt
gallery. It is funded through support from the Inter Arts Office of the Canada Council for the Arts, The
Spirit of BC and our sponsors Western Front, Vancouver Public Library, Roundhouse Community Centre,
The Vancouver Art Gallery, The Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, Coastal Jazz and Blues, NOW, and
grunt gallery.
Project Team for the Al Neil Project is Glenn Alteen, Kate Hammett Vaughan, Eric Metcalfe, Scott Watson,
Keith Wallace, Gregg Simpson, Al Neil, Carole Itter, Coat Cooke, Ron Samworth, David Rimmer, Jordan
Strom, Kristin Fung, Julie Smith, and Michael Turner.
For full information, stay tuned for the LIVE 2005 website: www.livevancouver.bc.ca