A Terrible Joy
Carolyn Wren
June 1 – June 19, 2012
Using old images from 19th century etchings, Wren plays with the ideas of veneration of the landscape and art itself. Like all museum experiences, the viewer enters and is hushed by the reverence and reverie of art. Similarly, the same charged visual experience is felt when looking at a luminous vista. This conflation of landscape, art, and spirituality is not new; it is borrowed from philosophers and artists who have been studying this phenomenon for centuries. Yet Wren adds a new dimension to the mix. She subtly introduces the human element through her choice of material. The pattern pieces used for sewing are the base on which she draws and prints. The landscape, at first glance, appears to be untouched; nature stands alone, wild, and untamed in all its glory. Upon closer observation, the trace of the body is revealed, folded into the landscape through the use of the contour lines in the pattern pieces. In the sublime, humanity stands in the centre of the landscape to observe nature’s beauty and horror. Without the body (and its brain), there would be nature; the sublime exists only in the observer. In Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment of 1790, he states, “when we speak of the sublime in nature we speak improperly; properly speaking, sublimity can be attributed merely to our way of thinking…” Through the omission of the figure, Wren underscores the power of the landscape in all its beauty and terror. In some of her pieces the viewer responds by yearning for days gone by or hoping for a better future – actions of the past or future.
CRAM International presents:
and all watched over by machines of loving grace
Donna Szoke and Ricarda McDonald
April 28 to May 22, 2012
and all watched over by machines of loving grace is an interactive video installation using a computer, software, large monitors and a sensor. Two large monitors display human eyes. As the viewer walks past the monitor, the eyes follow their motion. The screens “watch” the viewer, and track their motions. In an adjacent area, a video loop plays of an extreme close-up of an eye that blinks in slow motion. This aspect of the installation emphasizes the human element of surveillance—a blink—that implies an inherent failure if compared to machine surveillance. The title comes from a 1967 Richard Brautigan poem, and suggests a loving, caring gaze that watches over humanity, as opposed to the current state of surveillance that is concerned with property crime and consumerism.
Donna Szoke is a Canadian media artist whose practice includes video, animation, writing, installation, and collaboration. Her work has shown in Canada, US, France, Germany, Hungary, Croatia and Turkey. Her work exhibits in public art, interactive video installation, outdoor site-specific video installation, film festivals, theatre and dance. She has received numerous research awards and grants for her work, including SSHRC, BCAC, OAC and Canada Council for the Arts. She holds a BA, BFA and MFA and is currently a Visiting Artist / Assistant Professor at Brock University in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
Ricarda McDonald is a Canadian artist whose practice includes computer-manipulated photography, video, sound, light and computer-mediated installations and collaboration. In 2011, Ricarda built a theremin and became one of the founding members of the Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra (VETO). VETO performed at Xenakis: Vancouver New Music Festival 2011 and at the Interactive Futures ’11: Animal Influence Conference held at ECUAD. She holds a BFA from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, a BMATH from the University of Waterloo and is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada.
craminternational.ca/donna-szoke
www.donnaszoke.com
