April 16 - May 14, 2005

Time to Pause (The Program) is Poor Al's most recent foray into the imaginary future of the Earth-Mart Armed Forces and Civil Services.  New works in his Magical Mechanical Garden series were presented as well as a large scale, site specific wall piece.

Artist's Statement - Growing up in Southern California, near Disneyland, Poor Al was deeply affected by the animatronics animals and plants (Tiki Room, etc…). The Magical Mechanical Garden is also a commentary on the lack of patience most of society exhibits these days. People want the beauty of a garden, but they aren't willing to work and wait as long as it takes to grow a real one. The robots of Earth-Mart fall in love, perform yoga, and build flowers in the garden, but they fail to grasp all of the spiritual elements of a real garden. The plants in the garden are primarily influenced from the streets of Vancouver and my own garden in my backyard.  I found inspiration for the series' name in a young girl who was visiting my next-door neighbor.  She looked around my back yard, curious about the pond, flowers, insects, and all the "life".  As I left one day to go out to my car she said, “your garden is just ‘magical’!!”  It was at that point that I realized the value of "real" nature in children’s lives and how adults maintain the wonderment of "childhood" by maintaining a garden.