Object Mechanics – October 2015 |

Object Mechanics

Art Director – Candace Goodrich

Artists: Pavitra Wickramasinghe, Nicolas Bernier, Jonathan Villeneuve, Martin Messier, Darsha Hewitt, Samuel St-Aubin, Myriam Bessette + Robin Dupuis

Curators – Julie Belisle und Ariane De Blois

Producer – Perte de Signal

Object Mechanics attests to the conceptual and formal approaches underpinning the work of some members of the Perte de Signal art centre in Montreal. 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 featured digital works whose aesthetics or subjects revealed their underlying mechanical processes. Sometimes making explicit references to historical inventions (such as noise machines, shadow play and the first automata), all the works reflected 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 evoked the creative enthusiasm of artists wanting to make their mark in a new and evolving artistic field. The works thus made 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 analyzed, their poetry would nevertheless remain an intangible component.

Sponsored by the Canadian Council for the Arts and Studio 44 Apartments.