Uploaded February 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Michael Fernandes is a 2020 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Scott Miller Berry.
Production of the Canada Council for the Arts. Presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit ggarts.ca
****
Transcript:
– [Michael] Hello. My name is Michael Fernandes.
You won’t believe this but last night I went to bed thinking of these socks.
I thought, ‘Today, before my guests arrive, I will remove this line.’
Try to get these off and they were stuck. They’re frozen on here.
And I said, ‘Well, pretty sure these socks [are] going to come in handy someday.’
I’m not so much a maker. I’m more interested when it’s not art and how that can expand on the conversation of art.
I don’t like the word 'practice.' I don’t like rehearsal . . .. as a studio practice, which some people tend to
have, it’s not for me.
The studio is everywhere, it’s right here.
I’ve been living here for 30 years now, [it’s] paradise to me, it’s everything for me.
There’s something here that is rudimentary. Being closer to the elements, it’s more freeing.
I don’t feel self-conscious here.
I’m not known here and that’s fine. I’m not known anywhere. I like that, anonymity.
I seem to be tending everything, whether it’s something I’m making or something I’m finding.
I’m also part time working as a teacher.
I was one of the founding members of Eye Level Gallery, that’s where I cut my teeth.
I couldn’t have been standing here without it.
But these are only parts.
I’m part of this group. I’ve been part of this group for over 30 years.
It’s a band called The Babbies Upstairs. And it’s improvised music.
I’m not a musician by any means but I love it.
Openness and spontaneity and a sense of curiosity.
As an artist, I think it’s not separate, which is important.
It’s an attitude for me that I bring to anything.
Are you still enjoying this? We all are. I look forward to it every day, every time.
And it’s always like, what is this going to be? I have no idea, but I’m going. I’m going for it. That’s it!
I think I’m a model for me, in a way that is unfolding.
Sonny Rollins, in a recent interview, I heard him say when he was asked, ‘Sonny, you’re in your eighties now, are you getting closer to your sound?’
‘I never thought that,’ he said. ‘I feel I would end, if there’s such a thing. Nothing comes to a stop.’
It’s freeing to understand that.
Thank you so much.
Have a safe drive home, people. Cheers!
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Michael Fernandes is a 2020 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Scott Miller Berry.
Production of the Canada Council for the Arts. Presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit ggarts.ca
****
Transcript:
– [Michael] Hello. My name is Michael Fernandes.
You won’t believe this but last night I went to bed thinking of these socks.
I thought, ‘Today, before my guests arrive, I will remove this line.’
Try to get these off and they were stuck. They’re frozen on here.
And I said, ‘Well, pretty sure these socks [are] going to come in handy someday.’
I’m not so much a maker. I’m more interested when it’s not art and how that can expand on the conversation of art.
I don’t like the word 'practice.' I don’t like rehearsal . . .. as a studio practice, which some people tend to
have, it’s not for me.
The studio is everywhere, it’s right here.
I’ve been living here for 30 years now, [it’s] paradise to me, it’s everything for me.
There’s something here that is rudimentary. Being closer to the elements, it’s more freeing.
I don’t feel self-conscious here.
I’m not known here and that’s fine. I’m not known anywhere. I like that, anonymity.
I seem to be tending everything, whether it’s something I’m making or something I’m finding.
I’m also part time working as a teacher.
I was one of the founding members of Eye Level Gallery, that’s where I cut my teeth.
I couldn’t have been standing here without it.
But these are only parts.
I’m part of this group. I’ve been part of this group for over 30 years.
It’s a band called The Babbies Upstairs. And it’s improvised music.
I’m not a musician by any means but I love it.
Openness and spontaneity and a sense of curiosity.
As an artist, I think it’s not separate, which is important.
It’s an attitude for me that I bring to anything.
Are you still enjoying this? We all are. I look forward to it every day, every time.
And it’s always like, what is this going to be? I have no idea, but I’m going. I’m going for it. That’s it!
I think I’m a model for me, in a way that is unfolding.
Sonny Rollins, in a recent interview, I heard him say when he was asked, ‘Sonny, you’re in your eighties now, are you getting closer to your sound?’
‘I never thought that,’ he said. ‘I feel I would end, if there’s such a thing. Nothing comes to a stop.’
It’s freeing to understand that.
Thank you so much.
Have a safe drive home, people. Cheers!
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
