Drawing the Canada-Wide Science Fair : Denton Fredrickson

Drawing the Canada-Wide Science Fair is a collective of sixteen artists who have come together to interpret and play with the spectacle of a national science fair through visual language. By drawing on-site during the Canada-Wide Science Fair, the artists will create and immediately broadcast drawings of selected projects on display. The idea is to expand the notion of drawing around science themes to include the potentials of visual priority, cross-disciplinary work, collaborative drawing, multi-perspectival drawing, non-precious drawing, interactions with people, live tweeting, 5-second-delay blogging, and other unexpected possibilities. Here’s an introduction to Denton Fredrickson, Canada-Wide Science Fair Artist.

©Denton Fredrickson

DENTON FREDRICKSON’s recent art practice explores relationships between sound, objects, technology, and architectural space. His installations have been exhibited across Canada, in the U.S., The Netherlands, France, and Japan. Denton currently works out of Lethbridge, Alberta where he is an Assistant Professor in the Art Department at the University of Lethbridge.

©Denton Fredrickson

What is your experience with science fairs? Second prize in my school in grade 6 for a project investigating illusions (the log book was 100% plagiarized).

©Denton Fredrickson

The scientific method? Due to changing curriculum throughout junior high and high school, I dissected a cow’s eye in four of my science classes.

©Denton Fredrickson

How does the scientific method compare with your method(s)? While the purpose or findings of my art practice often differ from the scientific method, I think there is an overlap in terms of using creative thought to develop and work through a project…experimentation always involves a level of creative production. I am also quite interested in modes of representation that borrow from the diagrammatic and museological.

©Denton Fredrickson

How is drawing part of your practice? It is a small part, but something I have been working on over the last few years. Recently I have been translating collaborative napkin drawings into three-dimensional porcelain objects.