For a class trip we took a baby coach bus to the Art Gallery at the University of Waterloo to see Laurel Woodcock's show "Jump Cuts"; a professor at the University of Guelph teaching Extended Practices, and Colleen Wolstenholme's show "Synaesthesiac".
Despite the show not opening until 5:00 that evening we were able to get permission to come early for a sneak peak. We were the first people to see this show. Exciting.
Laurel Woodcock
'Jump Cuts'
Gallery One
Known for her appropriation and translation of everyday subjects and catchphrases into interdisciplinary artworks, this survey exhibition features a selection of artworks that span the last decade of this Toronto artist's conceptual practice. Ranging from recent works such as on a clear day to earlier projects such as wish you were here, the exhibition forms a snapshot of the artist's perceptual investigations into the use and purpose misuse, of language and ideas.
-Ivan Jurakic
(from the gallery wall)
Overview of the Gallery
Overview of the gallery
Left side, Laurel's work
Right side, Colleen's work
These are a few of the artworks that I was able to take a picture of, enjoy
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wish you were here, 2003/2004/2011
(image taken from google)
This piece I found to be very touching with a subtle sense of humor and ambiguity. Laurel constructed a banner (seen in red) that was flown behind a airplane (seen on video) with the words 'wish you were here' trailing behind.
'wish you were here' takes a familiar saying typically found on postcards and enlarges it exponentially. Transferring the sentiment onto a commercial advertising banner trailing behind a chartered plane, Woodcock's aspiration is at once enormous and unattainable. The banner invitingly reads WISH YOU WERE HERE but is at only legible in flight for short one-hour durations. Inside the gallery the large red banner letters hang idly from the wall like so much crumpled drapery. By taking a sentimental slogan and turning it into a Barnumesque spectacle, Woodcock transports the mythical "here" to wherever the show happens to be and suggests a longing that cannot be fulfilled.
-Ivan Jurakic
on a clear day, 2010
This is the first piece you are faced with when you enter the gallery. It's wonderfully simple in nature yet full of thought and meaning.
on a clear day is purposefully incomplete, the anticipated conclusion to the thought being: on a clear day you can see forever. The missing portion of the sentence is paralleled by the negative space left behind by large sans serif letters that have been cut away. The excised text forms an absence, a gap that creates the opportunity for new interpretations. On a clear day you can do lots of things. Walk a dog. Listen to music. Write a letter. Furthermore, the manner in which the four monolithic sky-blue aluminum sheets lean in contrast to the white walls surrounding them suggests the gallery itself as a frame of conceptual horizon.
-Ivan Jurakic
tell me everything/don't tell me, 2010
This piece, although hard to see here, has written 'don't tell me everything'. The neon light however alternates between the words 'don't' and 'everything'. Ergo the sign sometimes reads 'don't tell me' and other times 'tell me everything'.
Interesting play on words and the phrase itself.
...At it's core the artist uses the cliche of heartbreak to suggest denial but perhaps more importantly an imminent breakdown of communication.
-Ivan Jurakic
cloud, 2011
Interestingly humorous. A man-made cloud, silent and somehow divine.
cloud, another work in neon, is seemingly straightforward, the sort of cartoon cloud one might absent-mindedly draw in a sketchbook. More recently, clouds have come to be associated with the cloud-computing platform, a network that shares electronic data, archives and MP3s. Once redolent of daydreaming, clouds have come to represent a vast system of virtual data management and storage.
-Ivan Jurakic
I am unsure of the title to this piece but these darling little Post-it recreations were placed around the gallery in between other works of art or in the center of the room on the pillars. Since I was viewing this show before it's grand opening I assumed these were left by the staff and would later be taken down. To my surprise it was pointed out that these Post-its were actually art works, made from metal, bent, shaped and painted to look like the actual item. It is interesting that something so disposable was made permanent.
untitled (quotation) highlighter orange, 2005
This says everything and nothing at the same time.
untitled (quotation) highlighter orange is one of a series of laser-cut quotation marks. Used to delineate speech as well as proper names and titles, quotes are a grammatical device that frames meaning. The act of placing things in quotations is also an action that many of us perform unconsciously, gesturing with our fingers to place "quotes" around an idea of punchline. The quotations similarly frame the gallery staff that diligently monitors the front desk. Making the staff a part of the artwork suggests that they too share in the process and are an integral part of the exhibition.
-Ivan Jurakic
done, 2008
Clean and simple, yet fun. I don't know why I am so attracted to these kinds of art works. When I see glossy shine and bright colours I automatically think of jungle gyms and children's play equipment.
done is a large red checkmark mounted to the wall, an instantly recognizable symbol familiar to anyone who has ever attended school or been graded on their homework. Yet another exaggeration of syntax and a dig perhaps at Woodcock's employment as an instructor, it succeeds in elevating expectations to such a ridiculous degree that it conversely invokes the potential for a spectacular failure. We all want to do well, but can any of us measure up to this level of excellence?
-Ivan Jurakic
Colleen Wolstenholme
Synaesthesiac
Gallery Two
When venturing over to the conjoining gallery room where Colleen Wolstenholme's work was on display we ran into the CBC? TV news crew who was trying to document the shows and record the artists talking about their work. Since they appeared to be on a time schedule they asked the class if we would mind being on TV. Resultantly, we ended up signing a group release form.
I scrambled to take this picture since the TV crew was rushing us around and I did not want to get in trouble. Colleen is seen on the far right side.
Spill, 2002
The artist talked about her battle with depression and how she was on anti-depression pills.
Spill is a floor based installation consisting of twenty-three pills, each a duplicate of the pharmaceuticals BuSpar and Amitriptyline. Commonly prescribed to women to combat anxiety and depression, the work is a condemnation of the way in which women have traditionally been misdiagnosed and over medicated by a largely patriarchal medical establishment. Furthermore, by reproducing the same shape, proportion and logo of each pill, albeit at a greatly enlarged scale, the artist challenges the multinational drug companies that design and market their products to women, and men, using upbeat slogans and polished ad campaigns.
-Ivan Jurakic
Synaesthesiac
This is Wolstenholme's most recent project,
Synaesthesiac, was developed in collaboration with New York bases artist Gillian McCain. Co-mingling cut-outs of photographs and found images Wolstenholme creates a mural size collage directly on the walls of the gallery.
Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which the stimulation of one sensory pathway can lead to the involuntary stimulation of another sensory of cognitive pathway, resulting in the ability to see sound for instance. Composed out of hundredths of individual images that have been meticulously stitched together, the collage evokes both the complexity and the connectivity of neural pathways and the metadata that can be found in an informational tag cloud. Wolstenholme's seemingly random mapping of images uses free association and a non-hierarchical structure to draw parallel distinction between our perceptions of healthy and traumatized states of mind.
-Ivan Jurakic
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