Gallery Lausberg specializes in abstract German sculpture.  Of particular interest to me were the works of Regine Schumann and Klaus Staudt.

Schumann’s work revolves around sculptural acrylic forms illuminated by black light:

Staudt’s work explores form and perspective through a variety of pieces built from patterns of 3D objects suspended in space (through the use of coloured and transparent acrylic):

[ deep stuff after the break ]

At Le Gallery, we discovered the work of Toronto local, Kal Mansur, who uses acrylic both as a canvas for his paintings, as well as a sculptural medium (photo by TK):

Le Gallery proprietor, Will Kucey, sent us over the Kal’s gallery, Median Contemporary, where we had a chance to meet Kal, who was kind enough to entertain us w/ a lengthy conversation about working w/ acrylic and the contemporary art scene in general.

Talking w/ Kal, and seeing his, Staudt’s, and Schumann’s work cemented my intersest in having acrylic feature heavily in my light works to come.

The discussion w/ Kal also touched on the use of technology in art versus the public’s huge expectations from technology.  He held up an iPod Nano and said, “this is what people expect from technology!”  His point being that people aren’t easily impressed with technology (in art) for the sake of technology since people are becoming increasingly surrounded by finely fabricated techno gadgets.  He stressed that since technology is so ubiquitos, artists should focus on what they do w/ the technology moreso than the technology itself.  He then countered with reference to Peter Todd’s work, suggesting that it might be interesting for audiences if artists bring the technology/circuitry of electronic art to the forefront, to not hide the circuit at all.  Unlike most commercial electronics, Todd’s work doesn’t prioritize a reduction in size and cost, but instead puts a focus on the circuit’s aesthetic:

So, on one hand, it’s all about the content, and on the other, it’s all about the packaging, or lack thereof, or some middle ground between the two?

Interesting food for thought . . . Please share yours in the comments!

On Friday evening, Artengine’s new media Nite Ride exhibition opened, and I got to enjoy the first ride of the night, listening to Tim Hecker’s custom 5.1 channel surround soundtrack to a drive through the Gatineau Hills.

Guerilla mag has a great video from opening night that gives you a much better sense of the project than my prose:

Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to go on the next ride for Marla Hlady’s work, but I’ll be back during the week, as Nite Ride runs until Oct. 31.

We had to leave the Nite Ride opening early as Deb and I had to set up for our DJ/VJ performance as The Latest Artists at Lotus Lounge in Ottawa later that night. We were booked by Exposure Fridays for their Halloween-themed party, and were excited to share another bill w/ Kevan Fraser.

With only an hour set time, we went straight to business with dark, rolling, minimal-tech tunes accompanied by synced, abstract and spooky-themed video — our specialty Not sure if we’ll get any documentation from this one, though, but we received lots of great feedback after our set.

Again we had to leave early to prepare for another commitment the next morning:

The Conjunction Collective’s exhibition, Civilization and its Discontents, opening on Saturday eve. in Toronto, for which I still needed to install my light portion of the show.

The organisers gave me free reign of the gallery basement for my lighting work, so I reprogrammed and refurbished a handful of pieces to display in the space.

Installation went really smooth thanks to dedicated assistance from Deb and my good friend, Dan. The opening party was a blast, and I received lots of positive feedback about my lighting work, which was really encouraging to hear from a Toronto crowd since it was my first lighting exhibition there.

Deb got lots of great documentation that I’ll share soon, but in the meantime, I invite you to check out this photo set by co-organiser, Jen Lee.