Christopher Carroll MIDWAY upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark, / For the straightforward pathway had been lost. – Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy Tree Line (summer), 2011, monoprint and inkwash on panel.…
Author: avantika
BLACK
What is it? An abyss beyond the fullness of being, a something which tugs at knowledge and stretches it in all directions beyond itself? Or is it a force for change in politics, art and psychology, an imageless fecundity, or…
Contagious Animism in the artwork of Felix Gonzales-Torres and Dane Mitchell
Christopher Braddock This article discusses two installation artistsāFelix Gonzales-Torres and Dane Mitchellāwhose work explores a dispersion, or residue, of materials in ways that engage audiences in forms of unwitting participation. A unique aspect of the article is that these forms…
Dead Wrestlers
Judith Baumann āThere are people who think that wrestling is an ignoble sport. Wrestling is not sport, it is a spectacle, and it is no more ignoble to attend a wrestled performance of suffering than a performance of the sorrows…
Satellite Fields
Satellite Fields is a series of large-scale land art formations created on the plains of North Dakota. Each piece is composed of hundreds of living trees, planted in stark geometric formations, so that they are visible and āvisitableā by satellite…
The Only Way Around is Through. Artifacts of Memory : Crystal Schenk
Jennifer Rabin Crystal Schenk, Artifacts of Memory, 2012.Ā Magnets, wire, silk flower petals.Ā All images courtesy of Cris Moss. Walking into the Linfield Gallery, where Crystal Schenkās Artifacts of Memory is installed, is a disorienting experience. It is difficult to…
Imaging Lazarus: The Undead in Contemporary Painting
Steve Locke I want to avoid the obvious discussion of painting being dead.Ā Itās not.Ā Rather, painting has been killed several times and has been brought back to life by a certain kind of belief, or faith in it. This faith sustains…
Convergence Zone: The Aesthetics and Politics of the Ocean in Contemporary Art and Photography
Abigail Susik I Gradually over the last century, the ancient symbolic rapport between humanity and the sea has changed and contemporary culture at large is taking notice. The formerly awe-inspiring sublimity of the ocean as a cultural symbol has now…
Zombie Argument
Harrison Higgs I equate the idea of human civilization with that of the supernatural, as a move away from and beyond nature. Technology, language, media, our items of luxury and desire– taken together have become our (collective) primary activity. The…
Preternatural
Preternatural was an exhibition of contemporary art that explored the themes of nature, wonder and the extraordinary. Ā The exhibition featured both Ottawa/Gatineau based and international artists who employ a variety of media including photography, video and sculpture. Curated by Celina…