The Contemporary Art Galleries Association (Association des galeries d’art contemporain - AGAC) of Quebec has launched a petition to express its discontent with Hydro-Quebec. The energy company, owned and operated by the Quebec government, has decided to stop acquiring artworks. A petition has been set up. These are the words of the AGAC :

We invite you to sign this petition to encourage Hydro-Québec to maintain its long lasting support of the visual arts community through its acquisition programme. The firms’ annual purchases of $ 200 000 had, until this year, showed a corporate philosophy that believes in the important role of creativity and contemporary art in shaping our society. Help us demonstrate to Hydro-Québec that their support of Quebec contemporary art, started 50 years ago, is of the uttermost importance to the local art market. Your signature will contribute to the development of our artistic milieu and will enrich the cultural wealth shared by all Quebecers.

This petition will be sent to Mr. Thierry Vandal, President and Executive Director of Hydro-Québec, this coming September along with a more detailed letter about our position. If you have any questions about this petition, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@agac.qc.ca.

Thank you for your support,

Jean-François Bélisle
Director
Contemporary Art Galleries Association - AGAC

To sign the petition : http://www.petitions24.net/hydroquebec-art

To consult the accompanying letter that will be sent to Mr Thierry Vandal (French only), please click on the following link: www.agac.qc.ca/lettreHQ

For further information on AGAC, please visit: www.agac.qc.ca

Update

On August 24th, HQ has announced it will maintain its acquisition program. Read the short press release (in French only).

Le Musée de linformatique in Paris on my May 2008 visit. Personal picture.

Le Musée de l'informatique in Paris on my May 2008 visit. Personal picture.

The Louvre pour tous Web site (roughly translated as ‘Louvre for all’) brought my attention to an article published on lesoir.be, a Belgian news site.

Perhaps you know the Musée de l’informatique (’Computer Museum’) in Paris? It is located in the Grande Arche of La Défense.

I should really be writing that it was located there because, since April 2010, the organization has found itself without space following technical problems and the desire expressed by the French Ministry of Ecology for this particular top-notch location. This means that TRS-80s and Apple IIs are stored somewhere in the Paris region.

According to the article, the museum’s director, Philippe Nieuwbourg, has received concrete proposals in relation to the delocalisation of his museum. Visitor statistics is around 250,000 visitors annually. In that sense, the institution should remain in a large city, again according to the director.

Now, Mr. Nieuwbourg says he found interesting places in Brussels and Montreal. The translated quote is this one: “Montreal also has interesting locations.” I wonder what could be the places in Montreal that might host this collection.

Spontaneously, the Montreal Science Centre comes to mind. Its educational mandate and its young audience might be interested by a collection which is technology-oriented and relates to computer games. However, I think that the permanent collections are already well installed and I do not see where this new collection could be inserted.

Less likely, but possible, would be the Museum of waves Emile Berliner. Although the institution is primarily devoted to audio technology, maybe they are considering an expansion of their mission to technology in general as part of their building expansion? I doubt it, but it’s always possible.

Finally, the Museum’s collection of computers might be suitable as an exhibition at the Centre d’exposition de Montréal. The only problem is that this place, where Bodies, artifacts from the Titanic and the world of Narnia were shown, has no permanent collection.

As for attendance, I am strongly questioning the ability of this type of collection to attract visitors on its own. If traffic is impressive, it seems that a large part of the clientele would be composed of proximity visitors, exploring the collection because they are at the top of the Grande Arche. I do not think that the majority of them visited the Grande Arche to explore the museum’s collection.

At least that’s the experience I had when I visited this museum in May 2008. I was completely ignorant of its existence at the time of my visit on top of the Arche. Instead, my goal was to take a look at the long perspective offered by Avenue des Champs-Elysees and its view on the Arc of Triumph. I visited the collection half-amused, half-bored, and visitors were not that many. Without trying to universalize my particular case, it seems clear that any move will significantly affect interest in the collection.

However, these objects are part of heritage and history. The impact of technology on our lives is undeniable, especially since the 1980s. Personal computers have changed society and we still continue to adapt to these technological changes.

These objects are big and bulky. They have not yet passed through the purgatory of time that establishes a remote glance. They are just dated. We do not see them with a view from afar, as can be done with old phones, old radios and, more recently, old televisions.

Are we ready for a computer museum? What for? If an aesthetic look on these objects is not yet possible, what is?

Beside the form, remains the function. Older radios have great design and are now looked at as representative of an era. But in addition, they emitted transmissions that marked their era. One needs only to think of the adaptation of the War of the Worlds novel made by Orson Welles to see that there are two angles by which they can become heritage: tangible and intangible. However, War of the Worlds and radios are part of two different conservation strategies.

I am not an expert on the issue of conservation, but I think a similar phenomenon occurs in the case of computers. The programs that worked on these machines are often evacuated. In other words, the function is separated from the form. This is something that doesn’t seem to be avoided by the Musée de l’informatique. It does focus on video games, but only on game consoles rather than the games themselves.

That is why I think the most probable place for this collection, the Montreal Science Centre, does not even look plausible.

The institution focuses on the interaction with the visitor in its educational approach. Touching and moving the objects create fascination and interest amongst the youngest visitors. In the case of the Musée de l’informatique, the objects are inert and do not work. It seems that, at most, the Centre could wish for the collection to be used, as needed, for illustration.

Therefore, really, there must be other locations in Montreal for Mr. Nieuwbourg’s collection. I am curious to know which ones.

Do not forget to read the comments on the French blog as the Director of the Musée de l’Informatique, Philippe Nieuwbourg clarifies his position.

Marc

What’s new in Quebec City ?

Detail of an unidentified work from Francine Simonin shown at «NOMADE, la Collection Loto-Québec en mouvement»

Detail of an unidentified work from Francine Simonin shown at «NOMADE, la Collection Loto-Québec en mouvement»

* The exhibition NOMADE, la Collection Loto-Québec en mouvement is now in room Jean-Paul Lemieux at the Étienne-Parent Library in Beauport. Admission is free. [details]

* Animal art is featured at Presbytère Saint-Nicolas. A show not to be missed for all of those who seek truer than true art. [details]

* The artist Paolo Angelosanto, who is currently at La Chambre blanche, is asking the population of Quebec for their impressions of modern Italy for a project he’s preparing.
[details]

* Isabel Picard exhibits her works on Cartier Street until October 27th, 2010. [details]

* Pan! Peinture is holding two roundtables on art and creation. Saturday, August 14, 13:00: Contemporary creation and society; Sunday, August 15, 13:00: The image and its challenges. [details]

* AVATAR, the art center devoted to audio art in Complexe Méduse, has announced its programming for fall 2010. Note that there are conferences every month. Also, take note that the email addresses of the staff has changed. [details]

* The contest Vidéastes Recherché*es is now running! If you wish to explore practices in film and video, you have until Sept. 10th to complete the participation form. [details]

* This week marked the launch of carac’terre, the annual ceramic show in Quebec City. It is the twelfth edition. It will be held at Place deL’Université-du-Québec from August 11th until the 29th. Admission is free. [details]

Serge Tousignant, Chroniques dun été dans les Montagnes-vertes, at VU Photo from March 26th until April 25th, 2010

Serge Tousignant, Chroniques d'un été dans les Montagnes-vertes, at VU Photo from March 26th until April 25th, 2010

New posts

  • 100 days without any news from the Cultural Minister Christine Saint-Pierre
    About 100 days ago, the report Le MACM en question was presented to the Quebec Cultural Minister Christine Saint-Pierre. We’re still waiting for some public reaction. It was the result of a brainstorming session where more than 170 persons participated: art historians, curators, artists, art dealers, etc. The question worked on: how could the process of nominating a new director to the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art be improved ?
  • New wing to the Quebec National Gallery : are these examples of the road ahead ?
    Art Institute of Chicago, Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario… These three museums have recently added new wings but, because of poor planning, they either had to cut staff or rise admission fees. Is this what’s in store after the new 90M$ wing is built in Quebec City?

New interviews from my radio show

New information on exhibitions

Other news

* It’s this Wednesday evening that the director of the Museum of Comporary Art of Montréal (MACM), Paulette Gagnon, should deliver her first guidelines for the institution.

* Nudity and Censorship: The sculpture of Ron Mueck, A Girl, cannot be shown in the public transport system of Calgary. A case to follow because it promotes an exhibition organized by the Glenbow Museum, where the Quebec National Gallery will move The Nude in Modern Canadian Art in 2010.

* Lacerte art contemporain will attend the 10th edition of the TIAF (Toronto International Art Fair), starting tomorrow. The works of fifteen artists will be displayed.

* Amnesty International may protest against BODIES during the exhibition’s visit to Montreal.

* Did you know? It is a Montreal specialist, Peter Paul Biro, who was behind the authentication of the recently found drawing by Leonardo and valued at 150 M$.

* La Tribune de l’art talks about the Napoleon collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

* David Altmejd won the Sobey Art Award 2009, where he represented Quebec.

* The situation between the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) continues to be tense. There is a strike at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum since September 21st. Negotiations in front of a mediator failed on October 8th. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is still preparing for the opening of the exhibition Afghanistan - Hidden Treasures while the union say that the museum’s real treasures are its employees. In the mean time, the board turns away employees who wanted to talk directly to board members.

* An exhibition about hockey is grinding a few teeth in Toronto.

* The Met now has a blog that allows users to delve into the exhibits.


* What if LEGOs were used to create a life-size model?

* A drawing by Raphael could set a new sale record in December.


[Rapport du marché de l’art contemporain 2008/2009, p. 70]

* Artprice and the International Fair of Contemporary Art (FIAC) launched their market report for contemporary art for 2008/2009. The 144-page document is available on the artprice.com site. Damien Hirst is in a class by himself. Canadians who attain market success are photographer Jeff Wall (46th), conceptual artist Jack Goldstein (160), sculptor Rodney Graham (337), photographer Robert Polidori (358) and painter Marcel Dzama (461).

* Tate Modern and the British Museum will have the money to build their new wings.

* A spiral crossword in the New York Times to celebrate the anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum.

The National Gallery of Quebec [Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec] offers Emporte-moi / Sweep me off my feet until December 13, 2009. I was privileged to attend the launch yesterday.

My review of the exhibit will be aired on my radio show on Thursday evening. It will also be published on the French version of the blog around the same time.

In the mean time, here are some pictures taken from the show. Enjoy!

[Partial view of the exhibit. We notice works made by Christelle Familiari, Kevin Francis Grey, Sophie Calle, David Altmejd, Eve K. Tremblay and Michel De Broin]


Larger

Robert Smithson is an emblematic figure of Land Art. His name is mentioned in most encyclopedia articles on this art form that blossomed in the 1960s[1]. The work Spiral Jetty (1970) is part of this movement, which calls into question museum production and the value of art as indicated by the market[2].

Built in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, this jetty made a notable appearance in public discourse during the winter of 2008 because of discussions involving the drilling of oil wells in its immediate surroundings. The argument for conservation has been raised on numerous occasions to prevent this development. However, the work having been planned on a philosophy of continuous change - or entropy - it is useful to question the relevance of this argument in the debate.

To achieve this goal, we will analyze the writings of the artist to highlight the complexity of his thought on entropy. Then we will oversee the most common interpretations surrounding this idea and the arguments invoked in the discourse of preservation before concluding.

Primary sources
The link between the writings of Robert Smithson and his art is so important that his texts can be considered part of the same approach. For discussion, we selected seven papers which will help to clarify his philosophy.

In Entropy and the New Monuments (1966), Smithson develops an argument from the observation of the sculpture created by artists such as Donald Judd and Robert Morris[3]. These new monuments enable mankind to forget the future while allowing one to avoid to look to the past. In this sense, they illustrate “inactive history”[4] as named by Flavin or entropy as seen by the physicist. In this text, Smithson traces a parallel with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. According to his interpretation, the energy is more easily lost than obtained and in the future, the universe will be transformed into an unified whole. The role of artists like Judd is therefore to eliminate time as a force of decomposition.

Here, Smithson gives a new role to time. He defines his concepts of entropy and time, and the role of the sculptor. Returning to this article in 1972, he says that it allowed him to focus on the importance of external sites located in the margin, such as craters and mines, on what he calls the landscape entropy [5].

The following year, he returned to the devastated industrial premises from his childhood in New Jersey. Following this visit, he wrote A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, N.J. (1967)[6]. To illustrate entropy, he suggested one should imagine a square of sand divided into two equal parts, in which half would be filled with black sand while the other half would be full of white sand. If a small children made circles in the square, he would mix together the sand grains of the two different colors. If the child was to start running conversely, he would not bring the sand in its initial state. Rather, he would be creating additional chaos. The irreversibility of entropy was explained.

In Conversation made at the turn of 1969, the artist was asked by Denis Wheeler to explain the principle of entropy[7]. Smithson alluded to the entropy of geology and waterways. He clarified his thoughts by comparing it to alluvia carried by rivers. That creates a tension between an initial state and a force that is making new elements, which causes chaos.

The interview with Gregory Müller in 1971, entitled The Earth, Subject to Cataclysm, is a Cruel Master, can clarify the thought of the artist on the destruction of works, its inherent entropy principle[8]. If the project focuses on Broken Circle - Spiral Hill, the similarities with Spiral Jetty are important. For example, both works are made of stone and a mixture of several materials. Broken Circle - Spiral Hill is a piece submitted to the constant action of water, which puts it in a state of flux. When the interviewer asked him to clarify his thinking in regard to these transformations, Smithson replied that his goal was to create a massive work that reacted with its environment. In the same breath, he stressed that ruins are more interesting than structure.

Thus, he takes sides on the natural changes which Spiral Jetty will face. Variations of water level and their impact on the work, whether they are caused by a major snowfall or a drought, have no importance in his mind. In fact, the mass of the art work allows it to handle changes int the weather, while inserting it in these and in other natural disturbances of the environment.

In Spiral Jetty (1972), Smithson went back to the genesis of this work[9]. His choice of the Great Salt Lake is explained. It emphasizes the presence of waste around the work, creating the illusion of a world of modern prehistory[10]. Old oil wells are present, as are pools of black tar. He recognizes that oil drilling has been going on for over forty years in the area. He takes great pleasure in seing these inconsistent structures together. For him, the site is a succession of systems made by human hands, then immersed in their successive abandonments.

He chose the site about one mile north of the oil site. The place made him think of an immobile cyclone and a sleeping earthquake, which created a sensation of motion without moving. The idea of the spiral arose from the concept of the still circle. He signed a lease for a period of 20 years to put this sculpture in place.

Alison Sky conducted the interview Entropy Made Visible in 1973 with Smithson[11]. In this chat conducted two months before his death, the artist talks about his definition of entropy. For him, it is a concept that comes at odds with the mechanistic world. It describes an irreversible condition that moves towards a gradual equilibrium. Accordingly, one should not consider contemporary art as independent of its environment.

He extended the concept of entropy to the entire Earth which he defined as a closed system and where the amount of resources available are limited. In this sense, recycling is seen as an attempt to stem entropy. He recalls his concept of geological and alluvial entropies, which allows systems to move from one state to another. For this reason, we should not talk about evolution. He contrasts environmentalists, who consider the exploitation of planet as something ugly, to minors, who see the planet with a different look that is equally beautiful. For Smithson, the two visions are part of the entropy because they seem irreconcilable, even if they participate in the same system.

Proposal for a Reclamation (1972) is a text describing a project in an abandoned mine in Ohio that allows Smithson to clarify the role of the artist compared to the environmentalist and the industrialist[12]. According to him, these two actors in society and the artist must develop in relation to one another rather than work in isolation.

Some interpretations of entropy
In the article A User’s Guide to Entropy, Rosalind Krauss and Yve-Alain Blois emphasize the idea of purity in the entropy, ie the movement that goes from distinct bodies to a uniform totality[13]. For these authors, entropy is both sublation, ie a new synthesis of figure and ground, and sublimation, ie the space that is purified by eliminating impulses associated with the body.

Accordingly, the model built by Smithson is antivisualist. Its challenge is temporal rather than spatial, which is why he put forward the geological metaphor in his writings. He finds entropy less as a condition related to boundaries located in an area than as a function related to the blind structure.

Therefore, the entropy gesture moves over the field of vision in the absence of the subject, to show automatism of repetition to infinity and the disappearance of the artist to a state without form.

According to this interpretation of the entropy by Krauss and Blois, Smithson is at the heart of a paradox. While his work wants to feel the force of entropy, it always resists it in some way. They cite the example of the project that the artist had to build a platform to see Spiral Jetty if he had known from the outset the Great Salt Lake would completely overwhelm it[14].

The contrasts in the written works of Smithson are also highlighted in the article Entropy and Dialectics: The Signatures of Robert Smithson by Gary Shapiro. For example, shortly before his death, the artist said that he did not want to abandon Spiral Jetty to the rising waters of the Great Salt Lake[13]. In this project, Smithson was split between the pursuit of entropy and the need for preservation.

As these two important texts show, there are contradictions in the approach of entropy by Smithson. At the end of his life, the artist gradually dropped the ideal to devote himself completely to the idea of entropy. In other words, he left the entropy concept to concentrate on the artist’s will. What the artist wanted to preserve was the sense of entropy, not entropy itself.

In addition, they highlight an important gap in the Smithson writings on the subject which concerns us. If the artist is not opposed at first to destruction of his work by the forces of nature, he does not talk about deterioration by human actions. This confusion will therefore be used in the public discourse that attempts to preserve the work of art.

Preserving Spiral Jetty
In an interview with CBC on February 13th, 2008, Robert Smithson’s widow defended the preservation work around Spiral Jetty by invoking the argument of human intervention[16]. Nancy Holt used extensively the inclusion of the work in the surrounding landscape to emphasize the importance of its protection. Moreover, she cited reasons of preservation of the landscape from the crystallization process and protection of the bird population to try to push oil away from the work. She even declared that the work was made to undergo the changes created by nature, and not those done by human hands.

Her speech was widely taken up by organizations opposing the mining actions. The National Trust For Historic Preservation announced its objection[17], just like the Friends of Great Salt Lake[18]. Art publications such as Arts Journal have also mobilized against the project[19]. Their efforts have borne fruit since the permit for oil exploration has been denied to the Pearl Montana Exploration company in August 2008[20].

It must be remembered that the concept of Robert Smithson’s entropy is a complex one. In his writings, he gave an important place to the effect of time. He relied on his understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics to develop the idea that the world goes towards irreversible chaos. Natural forces push separate items in an indistinct mix. He based his arguments on the examples of geological and alluvial entropies.

In this sense, it is clear that Smithson did not object to the geological destruction of his work. On the contrary, he placed Spiral Jetty in a single moment in time. It is even possible that he desired that the work of art had a limited life since the initial lease agreement should have lasted only twenty years. In addition, the inclusion of the work in an industrial environment ravaged by periodic oil drillings was done knowingly. This landscape is an integral part of the work.

He also explicited that the environmentalist position can not be isolated from the group composed of the industrial and artistic positions. Smithson did not seem to give preponderance to one of these actors, but he seemed to wish for an harmonious development - ie an entropic one - of these forces.

For these reasons, it seems misleading to use the thought of Smithson to preserve Spiral Jetty from nearby oil drillings. According to his own logic, the work has entered a slow process of destruction of its uniqueness because it is part of a closed system. In this sense, industrial activity may not be removed from the equation, even if it means an environmental disruption.

Although the artist had already talked about efforts to preserve the work, we are in agreement with the interpretation of Shapiro when he says that, in time, Smithson seems to have fallen in the usual recuperation of the avant-garde artist, initially objecting the system before being eventually included in it[21]. Therefore, if preservation is necessary, the concept of entropy as expressed by Robert Smithson can not be used as an argument for justification.

- NOTES -

  1. See for example the article «Land art » in Encyclopedia Universalis.
  2. Gary Shapiro, « Entropy and Dialectics: The Signatures of Robert Smithson », Arts Magazine, vol. 62 (June 1988), p. 99.
  3. Robert Smithson and Jack Flam (ed.), Robert Smithson : The Collected Writings, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996, p. 10-23.
  4. « inactive history », ibid., p. 10.
  5. Ibid., p. 293.
  6. Ibid., p. 68-74.
  7. Ibid., p. 196-233.
  8. Ibid., p. 253-261.
  9. Ibid., p. 143-153.
  10. « modern prehistory », ibid., p. 146.
  11. Ibid., p. 301-309.
  12. Ibid., p. 379-370.
  13. Yve-Alain Blois and Rosalind Krauss, « A User’s Guide to Entropy », October, vol. 78 (Fall 1996), p. 38-88.
  14. Ibid., p. 58.
  15. Shapiro, loc. cit., p. 101.
  16. Jian Ghomeshi (anim.) and Nancy Holt, Q, Ottawa, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio One, 13 February 2008, 14h00 to 15h30, 13 min 10 sec.
  17. Stephanie Smith, « Utah Considers Permit To Drill Near Smithson’s Spiral Jetty », Preservation Magazine, National Trust For Historic Preservation, update of 26 February 2008
  18. Friends of the Great Salt Lake, « SHORT TERM VICTORY! Decision has been made on Oil Drilling near The Spiral Jetty », update c.7 August 2008.
  19. Taylor Green, « The next step at GSL : Coalition-building, funding », Modern Art Notes, Arts Journal, update 25 September 2008.
  20. Friends of Great Salt Lake, loc. cit.
  21. Shapiro, loc. cit., p. 101.

- BIBLIOGRAPHIE -

  • BEARDSLEY, John. « Traditional Aspects of New Land Art ». Art Journal, vol. 42, no. 3, Eathworks : Past and Present (Fall 1982), p. 226-232. [Online], <http://www.jstor.org/stable/776583>, (page visited on 5 December 2008).
  • BLOIS, Yve-Alain et Rosalind Krauss. « A User’s Guide to Entropy ». October, vol. 78 (Fall 1996), p. 38-88. [Online], < http://www.jstor.org/stable/778906>, (page visited on 5 December 2008).
  • BOUISSET, Maïten. « Land art ». Encyclopedia Universalis. Paris, Encyclopedia Universalis, 2008. [Online], < http://www.universalis-edu.com/article2.php?napp=80294&nref=T300341>, (page visited on 5 December 2008).
  • COOKE, Lynn and Karen Kelly (ed.) Robert Smithson. Spiral Jetty. True Fictions, False Realities. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2005. 208 p.
  • FRIENDS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. « SHORT TERM VICTORY! Decision has been made on Oil Drilling near The Spiral Jetty ». Update c.7 August 2008. [Online], <http://www.fogsl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=5>, (page visited 5 December 2008).
  • GHOMESHI, Jian (anim.) et Nancy HOLT. Q. Ottawa, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio One, 13 February 2008, 14h00 to 15h30, 13 min 10 sec (approx. 14h30 to 14h43). [Online], < http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/qpodcast_20080213_4709.mp3>, (page visited 5 December 2008).
  • GREEN, Taylor. « The next step at GSL : Coalition-building, funding ». Modern Art Notes, Arts Journal, update 25 September 2008. [Online], <http://www.artsjournal.com/man/2008/09/in_early_september_at_the.html>, (page visited 5 Decembre 2008).
  • MUSÉES DE MARSEILLE. Robert Smithson. Une Rétrospective. Le Paysage entropique, 1960-1973. Catalogue of exhibition (Valence, IVAM-Centre Julio Gonzalez, 22 April-13 June 1993; Bruxelles, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 17 June-28 August 1994; Marseille, MAC-Galeries contemporaines des Musées de Marseille, 23 September-11 December 1994). Marseille, Musées de Marseille / Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1994. 332 p.
  • SHAPIRO, Gary. « Entropy and Dialectics: The Signatures of Robert Smithson ». Arts Magazine, vol. 62 (June 1988), p. 99-104.
  • SMITH, Stephanie. « Utah Considers Permit To Drill Near Smithson’s Spiral Jetty ». Preservation Magazine, National Trust For Historic Preservation, update 26 February 2008. [Online], <http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2008/todays-news/utah-considers-permit-to.html>, (page visited 5 December 2008).
  • SMITHSON, Robert and Jack FLAM (ed.) Robert Smithson : The Collected Writings. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996. 389 p.
Marc

Contemporary art in Quebec City

The exhibition It happened in your Neighbourhood. Contemporary Art in Quebec City [C'est arrivé près de chez vous. L'art actuel à Québec] opened its doors this week at the National Gallery of Quebec [Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec]. At the press conference, I managed to capture some videos that translate the experience the visitor experiences when walking through the rooms.

Play with mirrors, collaboration of the the visitor in the work, kinetic movement: all these components come together in Mathieu Valade’s work.

Among the proposed pieces, I draw your attention to the hypnotic effect of the installation by Diana Landry. This play of light is created by using a plastic basket. The artist currently has a show at the Joliette Museum.

The Couture Sisters also work with movement and time going by in their installation that recalls the scene of a car crash.

Finally, Daniel Buren does interventions on the building of the Quebec National Gallery [Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec] . Thus, the lantern of the lobby has been highlighted, reworked as a stained glass window.

My complete review of the show should be complete by shortly. In the meantime, I suggest these pictures that give an overview of the exhibit.

Yesterday, I attended the launch of the new exhibitions at the National Gallery of Quebec [Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec] entitled C’est arrivé près de chez vous. L’art actuel à Québec and Zao Wou-Ki. Hommage à Riopelle et peintures récentes. The first one shows contemporary art peics, while the second one concentrates ont the works by Zao Wou-Ki.

My full review of the exhibits will be published in the coming days. In the meantime, I’m sharing with you some pictures taken on the fly.

Wathc the blog over the weekend since I’ll be posting videos.


General view of a room of the exhibit C’est arrivé près de chez vous. L’art actuel à Québec.


Intervention on the Museum building by Daniel Buren
[Daniel Buren, Géométrie dans l'espace: Transparence, projections, couleurs (volet 2), 2008]


Recycling electoral placards by Giorgia Volpe
[Giorgia Volpe, La Dérive, 2007]


[BGL, Jouet d'adulte, 2003]


[Louis Fortier, Déroutes quotidiennes (Programme long, dit de la reconstruction). Avatars, angles, moules et fuites, 2005-2007]


The visitor who sits on the bench leaves a trace on the video projection
[Caroline Gagné & Patrice Coulombe, ...Les Sentiers battus, 2001-2006]


Reproduction of paintings in the Museum storage room
[Patrick Altman, Les Tableaux, 2001]


Partial view of the exhibition Zao Wou-Ki. Hommage à Riopelle et peintures récentes.

I believe the designer of this Abercrombie & Fitch coat never wore it and must have designed its cap as an aesthetic piece. Who can seriously wear this piece of clothing in Quebec winter?


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