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Art machines >> Quebec artists create a demented science museum by KEITH MARCHAND
And so it is with a heart full of gladness, mirth and a hint of angina that I propose to you, dear reader, a show that might just stave off the doldrums of late summer. At the Maison de la culture Frontenac is a free exhibition called Stimuli. It is a group show featuring seven young Quebec-based artists: David Altmejd, Karilee Fuglem, Diane Landry, Antoliano Nieto, Real Patry, Michel Sevigny and Florent Veilleux. The artists were invited to represent themselves with pieces that are inexorably dependent on electricity, and their mandate was to create works utilizing mechanization. Art machines, if you will. The result is a space that resembles a slightly demented science museum. The visitor can wander about pressing buttons to animate certain objects, while other pieces spring to life unannounced, sometimes in a startling manner. Diane Landry's piece, called "Le Passant," spins tirelessly in the corner of the gallery, beckoning the curious viewer. Landry has created a projector out of a series of fairly mundane objects: a little white figureskate sits in the centre of a transparent cylinder powered by a household fan. On the walls of the cylinder are scenes of Montreal. A store-bought halogen lamp projects the jerry-rigged incorporation onto the wall. The result is a dreamy image of an orbiting, out-of-focus cityscape with a delicate little skate silhouetted in the middle. Around the base of the work lies a scattering of children's rubber boots. One of Antoliano Nieto's two entries is a walnut-stained coffin that lies in the middle of the gallery floor. Called "Cerceuil fractal," it comes equipped with a set of controls built rather expertly into a crucifix. With the flip of a switch, the coffin opens up--more like a Rubik's Cube than a burial vessel. And, of course, what's a coffin without a red velvet interior? One of my favourite pieces in the show is by David Altmejd. Comprised of six Chinese vases sitting atop a sheet of plywood with sawhorse legs and some hidden machinery, Altmejd's "invention" is simple to an extreme. At uneven intervals the table shakes violently enough to rattle the fragile vessels and make a racket, but not enough for any of the unanchored china to fall to the floor. One could not help but whirl around to see if the vases were safe every time the table belched to life. Karilee Fuglem's "Everything Reminds Me of You" consists of a large translucent membrane within a wooden frame. The membrane is puckered and dimpled like magnified bronchioles, and the piece itself "breathes" with the help of a pump. Quietly, the object's constant inhale/exhale activity becomes somehow hypnotic. Noted Quebec folk artist Florent Veilleux's entry is, as usual, show-stopping. Veilleux tirelessly creates massive installations of found objects. By pressing the various buttons surrounding his work, his bizarre creations spring into action. Flashing lights, homemade robots, swirling disks, music and animated dolls are just some of the items that comprise his obsessive and witty works. Stimuli is representative of a growing fascination in the art world with motorized creations. Not slick and seamless machines; rather, expressive contraptions that have more to do with H.G. Wells than Northrop-Grumman. Stimuli is free at the Maison de la culture Frontenac until Aug. 28. 2550 Ontario E., 872-7882
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In late August, most non-commercial galleries close up shop and it can be difficult to find an exhibition that isn't either painfully dull or criminally expensive.