Dressés contre le sol, exposition duo avec Andrée-Anne Carrier à Espace Cercle Carré, Janvier 2015-----Set Against the Ground, duo exhibition with Andrée-Anne Carrier at Espace Cercle Carré, January 2015

Detail of ''What Consumes us'' (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Détail de ''Ce qui nous consomme'' (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

January 17th-January 31th, 2015

Vernissage on January 17th, 5-8pm 

Finissage on January 30th, 5-8pm

http://cerclecarre.coop/site/espace/?page_id=4159

https://www.facebook.com/events/817740784930142/?ref=br_tf

http://montreal.murmitoyen.com/detail/564521-dresses-contre-le-sol

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17-31 janvier 2015

vernissage le 17 janvier de 17-20h

finissage le 30 janvier de 17-20h

http://cerclecarre.coop/site/espace/?page_id=4159

https://www.facebook.com/events/817740784930142/?ref=br_tf

http://montreal.murmitoyen.com/detail/564521-dresses-contre-le-sol


Very special thanks to Casey Woodfine (and Johnny Deck), Betino Assa, Andrée-Anne Carrier, Guillaume Adjutor-Provost, the crew at Espace Cercle Carré, Melanie Couture, and my work crew at Avenue des Arts; also, thanks to Judy Garfin and Hideki Kawashima.

Statement for the work in Dressés contre le sol

I collect objects from the city to give them new life. These fragments of consumer society -a sort of “collective unconscious” of the metropole- offer insight into the daily life of others, and become material for my artistic re-articulation.  

An excerpt from Michel Serres’ Genesis, entitled “The Dream”, triggered me to use the model of the tower as a means to relate contemporary issues with ancient myths and stories. Using a variety of objects collected over the years, I constructed different sizes of tower-like shapes and molded them. “The Tower” is a sculpture that is made from vacuum-formed plastic featuring relief elements that resemble glyphs. Vaguely reminiscent of the Tower of Babel, it gives the illusion of substance, with its car-like seductive red surface and molded structure; but alas, it is but a shell. On a metaphorical  level, I view it as an allusion to our capitalistic system and how it makes its impression on all of our lives. 

The other towers, seen in “The Dream”, “What Consumes Us” and “Shipwrecked”, are a series of sculptures made from foodstuffs and other non-permanent materials. I have chosen these materials to speak to the fact that the structures we build as testimony to power, and that we insist on replicating to support cultural paradigms, are in truth ephemeral and ever-changing. The entire process of my art production challenges the notion of a copy. The “original” is continually destroyed or modified to generate, rather than copies, unique variations that then deteriorate. 

In “What Consumes Us”, a long table is covered with a large blueprint and presents tower-shaped food sculptures on painted stands. During the vernissage and finissage of the exhibition, the public is encouraged to eat the sculptures, and in the process they become participants in the exhibit, consuming my transformation of the leftovers of consumption from the city. During the remainder of the exhibit, the table presents the aftermath of the communal performance event. 

In “The Fall”, another table is covered with an archival pigment print and a box-book that houses digitally and hand-printed items, some of which fold out and assemble to make tower shapes. These show different moments from the artistic process of building “The Tower”. Under the table, a deck of cards featuring a series of found photographs is assembled into a tower of cards.

''The Dream''; 2013-2015; salt dough sculptures, bread sculpture and found objects (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ ''Le rêve''; 2013-2015; sculptures de pâte de sel, sculpture de pain et objets trouvés (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Detail of ''The Dream''; 2013-2015; salt dough sculptures, bread sculpture and found objects (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Détail de ''Le rêve''; 2013-2015; sculptures de pâte de sel, sculpture de pain et objets trouvés (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Matthew Thomson (right) and Andrée-Anne Carrier posing in front of ''Untitled''; 2013; vacuum-formed plastic, found object and paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Matthew Thomson (droite) et Andrée-Anne Carrier qui posent en avant de ''Sans titre''; 2013; plastique thermoformé, objet trouvé et peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

''Shipwrecked''; 2015; recycled wax sculpture, sand (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ ''Naufragé''; 2015, sculpture faite de cire recyclée, sable (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Detail of ''The Tower''; 2013; vacuum-formed plastic, found objects, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa)∕ Détail de ''La tour''; 2013, plastique thermoformé, objets trouvés, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Installation view of ''The Tower''; 2013; vacuum-formed plastic, found objects, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa)∕ Vue d'installation de ''La tour''; 2013, plastique thermoformé, objets trouvés, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Installation view of ''The Fall''; 2013; archival pigment prints on Epson Smooth Fine Art paper and on archival photo paper, archival chipboard, leather, Japanese paper and rag paper (photo credit: Betino Assa)∕ Vue d'installation de''La chute''; 2013; impressions numériques sur papier Epson Smooth Fine Art et papier photo, carton de qualité d'archives, cuir, papier japonais et papier de coton (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Another installation view of ''The Fall''; 2013; archival pigment prints on Epson Smooth Fine Art paper and on archival photo paper, archival chipboard, leather, Japanese paper and rag paper (photo credit: Betino Assa)∕ Une autre vue d'installation de''La chute''; 2013; impressions numériques sur papier Epson Smooth Fine Art et papier photo, carton de qualité d'archives, cuir, papier japonais et papier de coton (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

A willing participant cutting into the marshmallow tower from ''What Consumes Us''' at the opening on January 17th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Un des participants qui coupe dans la tour de guimauve de ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du vernissage du 17 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

View of the chocolate tower from ''What Consumes Us''' at the opening on January 17th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Vue de la tour de chocolat de ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du vernissage du 17 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Aanchal Malhotra serving herself from the bread tower from ''What Consumes Us''' at the opening on January 17th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Aanchal Malhotra qui se sert de pain dans ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du vernissage du 17 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

''What Consumes Us''' at the opening on January 17th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du vernissage du 17 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Installation view of ''What Consumes Us''' at the opening on January 17th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ Vue d'installation de ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du vernissage du 17 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

(photo credit: Betino Assa) ∕ (crédit photo: Betino Assa)

Unveiling the collapsing cheesecake tower from ''What Consumes Us''' at the ''closing'' on January 30th; 2013-2015; interactive installation with digital print, salt dough sculptures, food colouring, edible sculptures (bread, homemade marshmallow, dark chocolate and cheesecake), condiments, wood, paint (photo credit: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost) ∕ Le dévoilement de la tour de gâteau au fromage prête à s'écrouler de ''Ce qui nous consomme'' lors du ''finissage'' du 30 janvier; 2013-2015; installation participative composée d'une impression numérique, de sculptures de pâte de sel, colorant alimentaire, sculptures comestibles (pain, chocolat noir, guimauve fait-maison et gâteau au fromage), condiments, bois, peinture (crédit photo: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost)

(photo credit: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost) ∕ (crédit photo: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost)

(photo credit: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost) ∕ (crédit photo: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost)

(photo credit: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost) ∕ (crédit photo: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost)

A beautiful and delicious fallen cheesecake tower (photo credit: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost) ∕ Une tour de gâteau de fromage superbe et délicieuse (crédit photo: Guillaume Adjutor-Provost)