Mapping the (Un)familiar

Margaret Rodgers and Pam PattersonBowmanville: Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, 1994; 40 pp.Reviewed by Virginia MacDonnell EichhornDirector, V. MacDonnell GalleryToronto, OntarioMAPPING T.H.E. (UN)FAMILIAR is a singular work. It is the record of a journey to artists' studios shared by artists Margaret Rodgers and Pam Patterson. Their reactions are interspersed with images on mylar. narrators' writings are placed side by side on opposite pages, with the images between. Thus while the voices are given equal presentation, one text is obfuscated by the image. Rather than being distracting however, this technique provides a success channel for the other text to stay present in the unconscious mind of the reader. When the mylar page is flipped, the process is reversed. Thus one voice never has superiority over the other. Likewise, the images and the text become an intermingled work, without one dominating the other. They both contribute to the final effect and reinforce the shared but distinct experiences of the authors. Further, the visuals create a pause which allows for the reader's perceptions to be swirled around and savoured before proceeding to the next section.Although the authors have successfully synthesized their experiences, it is almost impossible to speak about the work without separating them. Margaret Rodgers begins her section with a title: The Concept. In it she maps out for the reader the adventure that she and Pam are about to begin. Rodgers becomes, in effect, the director or guide, who acknowledges that, both...bring our own intellectual baggage, and our own ideas about what we might find to the process. She pragmatically describes the events that occur, and only hints at a few things that might be developed later on. Her tone might be described as scientifically empirical - and the nature of the journey is rather an experiment - what will happen when? if? with whom? She reports her observations but doesn't seem to try to guide or interpret for the reader. This is a strength and reinforces the nature of the work: she is a cartographer of experience, without telling the reader what s/he must feel. It is left to us.In particular, when she describes the visits to the artists' studios, Rodgers contextualizes the artists via their locale and their work within art historical terms. There is no criticism or even a feeling of like or dislike. She is giving us information. In the same way she gives us guides or indicators of the artists' personalities without imposing any of her own feelings on them.Pam Patterson's writings, which comprise most of the book, are of a very different tone. She begins her section of the book with Afterward - a counterpoint, no doubt to Rodger's concept, but also a continuation, or the natural step after the concept. Where Rodger's voice is objective, however, Patterson's is unmistakably subjective. She is an artist for whom art and experience are indivisible. Patterson doesn't compartmentalize experiences but often has them overlapping (as seen especially in her visit at Scott and Clint Griffin's studio. …

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