For this art exhibition, Curators Julie Bélisle and Ariane de Blois gathered works by Nicolas Bernier, Myriam Bessette et Robin Dupuis, Martin Messier, Darsha Hewitt, Samuel St-Aubin, Jonathan Villeneuve, Pavitra Wickramasinghe.
At once a nod and an homage to the first mechanical experiments that gave rise to the birth of sound recording and the cinematograph, among others, the exhibition features digital works whose aesthetics or subjects reveal their underlying mechanical processes. Sometimes making explicit references to historical inventions (such as noise machines, shadow play and the first automata), all the works reflect the discoveries, inventions and processes that have contributed to the development of electronic art so as to better contribute, in turn, to their dissemination.
Through their reinterpretation of current technologies, their sometimes playful formal explorations, and their foregrounding of mechanical processes, the works in Object Mechanics evoke the creative enthusiasm of artists wanting to make their mark in a new and evolving artistic field. The works thus make a link between past and future technical and artistic research, while showcasing the polymorphic and multimedia work of current artists and researchers, whose production goes well beyond the digital sphere with more extensive explorations of materials and instrumentality. From the past to the present, haven’t inanimate objects that slowly come to life always been met with the same wonder? Yet, if the mechanisms of the works were to be meticulously analysed, their poetry would nevertheless remain an intangible component.
Artists & Works
NICOLAS BERNIER :: Frequencies (Frictions), 2015
MYRIAM BESSETTE + ROBIN DUPUIS :: Conciliabules, 2006-2015
MARTIN MESSIER :: Sewing Machine Orchestra, 2012
DARSHA HEWITT :: A Side Man 5000 Adventure, 2015
SAMUEL ST-AUBIN :: Parcours défini, 2015
JONATHAN VILLENEUVE :: Mass Movement, 2010
PAVITRA WICKRAMASINGHE :: Take hold lightly, let go lightly, 2013
perte-de-signal.org/en/object-mechanics-at-kunst-kraft-werk/