Intermedia (artists' association)

{{Short description|Arts organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada}}

Intermedia was a Canadian artists' association active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Intermedia was a loose association of Vancouver artists who worked in a variety of media, collaborated on and staged events. It was founded in 1967 by Jack Shadbolt and Glenn Lewis,

{{cite book

| last1 =den Daas

| first1 =Ron

| last2 =Kenny

| first2 =Kathy

| title =Wild New Territories: portraits of the urban and the wild London Vancouver Berlin

| publisher =Black Dog Publishing Limited

| edition =first

| date =2016

| location =London

| page =92

| language =en

| url =http://www.blackdogonline.com

| isbn =978-1-910433-64-5

}} among others.

At the time of its inception Intermedia aimed to create a centre of community resource in Vancouver where artists, architects, engineers, technologists and educators could come together and explore new models and formats for the purpose of intensifying and expanding the effectiveness of creative sensibility in the community.{{cite report

| author = Westell, Tracy (prepared by)

| title = Intermedia, An Inventory of Their Papers in the Library of the University of British Columbia Special Collections Division

| date = June 1980

| language = en

| location = Vancouver

| url = http://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/uploads/r/university-of-british-columbia-library-rare-books-and-special-collections/6/7/67459/Intermedia.pdf

| access-date = 2017-08-25

| archive-date = 2015-04-06

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150406064249/http://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/uploads/r/university-of-british-columbia-library-rare-books-and-special-collections/6/7/67459/Intermedia.pdf

| url-status = dead

}} Critics believe it was "steeped in the media culture of Marshall McLuhan.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/432401392|last1=Wark |first1=Jayne |title="Conceptual Art in Canada". The Visual Arts in Canada: the Twentieth Century|page=337|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Foss, Brian, Paikowsky, Sandra, Whitelaw, Anne (eds.)|isbn=978-0-19-542125-5|location=Don Mills, Ont.|oclc=432401392 }} As time passed the aims of the group changed to focus on individual artists and small groups:

The purpose/aim of Intermedia is to help the artist realize [their self] and [their] work by providing an umbrella/shelter of cooperatively-structured, contiguous and inter-related functioning artists' groups, often service-oriented.

The Intermedia headquarters was located at 575 Beatty Street in downtown Vancouver.{{Cite news|date=1967-08-04|title=Music drama callboard|pages=83|work=The Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50660417/music-drama-callboard/|access-date=2020-05-10}}

In 1968, the Vancouver Art Gallery hosted Intermedia Nights, a four-day festival of Intermedia works,{{Cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Ann|date=1968-05-21|title=Intermedia comes alive|pages=14|work=The Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50659892/intermedia-comes-alive/|access-date=2020-05-10}} in 1969, the Electrical Connection, and in 1970, the Dome Show.Krista Broeckx, Acquisition Proposal for Joan Balzar’s Spinner #1, accession #47524, Curatorial File, National Gallery of Canada The artists associated with Intermedia explored different techniques, including performance art, experimental film, correspondence art, and other media.{{Cite news|last=Spears|first=James|date=1968-05-17|title=The mysterious Who of Intermedia|pages=58|work=The Province|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50659503/the-mysterious-who-of-intermedia/|access-date=2020-05-10}} In 1970, the Vancouver Art Gallery hosted 12 Intermedia Days.{{Cite news|last=Hesse|first=Jurgen|date=1970-06-05|title=Ah, but it does make sense|pages=84|work=The Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50661076/jurgen-hesse/|access-date=2020-05-10}}

In 1973, Intermedia ceased to function as an organization.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/432401392|last1=Whitelaw |first1=Anne |title="Art Institutions in the Twentieth Century". The Visual Arts in Canada: the Twentieth Century|page=9|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Foss, Brian, Paikowsky, Sandra, Whitelaw, Anne (eds.)|isbn=978-0-19-542125-5|location=Don Mills, Ont.|oclc=432401392 }}