Art / Cultural Studies

0-920159-61-3 

$14.95 CDN / $12.95 US

5.75 x 8.75 - 96 pages - 
30 b&w photos - paper

BISAC: RT009000 -  CAN001000 - SOC022000

Essays by: Kathryn Walter and Kyo Maclear

Order this book from The Banff Centre

Contributors to this book

"Where Private Investigators shines is in making us question whether what we understand to be 'natural' (natural beauty, natural history, natural lifestyles) is, or can ever be, an objective evaluation."
- Heather Fitzgerald, Calgary Straight

July 1997. Eight artists infiltrate the public spaces of one of Canada’s most famous tourist destinations -- Banff, Alberta. Each performer has a disguise and two goals: first, to address the contradictions at work in the national park's townsite -- mountain culture versus tourist Mecca -- and second, to examine the roles people play in conforming to society's expectations.

Performances that include a Lesbian Park Rangers recruitment drive investigate assumptions about identity, masquerade, and tourism with a fresh eye. No expectation, including those of the artists themselves, are left unchallenged. Including the fore mentioned Lesbian Park Rangers recruitment drive, a sound parade down Banff's main avenue and a soap giveaway by two soothsayers, Private Investigators documents the often surprising results when artists move their work to public space.

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