History
The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she sings as she flies; she brings us glad tidings, and she tells us no lies. She sucks sweet white flowers, to make her voice clear; and the more she sings cuckoo, the summer draws near.
— Old Folk Ballad
Cuckoo Grafik offers Print Design, Web & Consultation services. Julie Lapalme is bilingual web designer with content management experience and teaching expertise in cultural industries. She is also a New Media Artist and lives in Montreal.
Ornithological History of the Cuckoo Bird
The cuculus canorus is a largely grayish brown European
bird that isconsidered a parasite as it is given to laying its eggs in the nests of
other birds which hatch them and rear the offspring. The young cuckoo
chick soon triples the size of its foster parent due to its
voracious appetite and often to the fact that it has literally pushed
its competitors out of the way.
The Cuckoo Bird and Cuckoo Grafik
Although the cuckoo bird has developed somewhat of a bad reputation in ornithology, mythology and folklore, Cuckoo Grafik has adopted the bird as its moniker and mascot: for its voracious (art) appetite, its strong work ethic, its competitive drive and most of all, its unique voice. After all, the cuckoo bird is the harbinger of spring and the usual occupant of the cuckoo clock, faithfully calling out each hour.
The cuckoo bird also refers to Cuckoo Grafik's zany sense of humour. Calling someone 'cuckoo' implies that they are deficient in sense, silly or slightly crack-brained. When brainstorming and designing creative solutions to problemsolving, Cuckoo Grafik's philosophy is that a little sillyness and non-linear thinking can go a long way.
About Julie Lapalme
Julie Lapalme is a new media artist based in Montreal. She holds a MA in Littératures francophones et résonances médiatiques from Concordia University and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Julie has also given new media workshops at several venues across Canada.
Tongue Rug : Tapis à langues, a work in progress, is structured around the traditional tongue rug found in Quebec and in Sweden. It is a virtual sladdakavring, acting both as archive and “writing machine”. Her cyberpitch at the Forum des Nouvelles Écritures : Cyberpitch 2.0 won the Bell Fund prize (ex aequo) at the Festival international du nouveau cinéma et des nouveaux médias.
Julie participated in the Fugues project, a hypermedia adaptation of Piano (René Lapierre, Les Herbes rouges, 2001) and a critical reflexion on the text itself, with the Laboratoire de recherche NT2 (Nouvelles technologies nouvelles textualités) at UQAM.
Orphan Train – Trained Tales, a co-production with the Banff Centre for the Arts, circulated in various exhibitions and festivals in Eastern Canada as well as São Paulo (13º Videobrasil International Electronic Art Festival).
Her computer animated video Embedded was broadcast on the Women’s Television Network and featured at Toronto’s Images Festival of Independent Film & Video, among other venues.
