|
|
|
TITLE : Madonnas
DATE : 2007-2008
MATERIAL : washing machine, photographies on acrylic, mirror,
lighting, motion sensor.
DIMENSION : 74 cm X 140 cm X 66cm
|
|
|
|
VIDEO |
|
|
|
_____
2010
2009
2008
_____
|
|
______________________________________________________________________________
- Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Costa Mesa, CA
- MSVU Art Gallery, Halifax (Nova Scotia)
- Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston (Ontario)
- Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga (Ontario)
- The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa (Ontario)
- Musée d'art de Joliette (Quebec)
- GNO, galerie du nouvel-ontario, Sudbury (Ontario)
- Manif d'art 4, Québec City Biennial, Manifestation Internationale d'Art de Québec, (Québec)
______________________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
To read the essay written for the exhibition at Blackwood Gallery :
ESSAY What Comes Out in the Wash by Alison Syme |
|
|
 |
|
|
In the first version of the Madonnas project, I have used only a single washing machine. Contrary to its usual place, the washing machine is at a distance from the wall, inviting the viewer to walk around it. It is positioned in the space as if it were a massive chair that was already occupied; indeed, as soon as we see this piece of furniture, there is a woman watching us. If the space of the artwork is unoccupied for a while, the portrait seems to be alert, waiting; but as soon as it is approached, it springs to life by making a repetitive head movement. I have used a motion detector to create moments of inactivity and also to provoke a surprised reaction when the washing machine is approached. The “animated” portrait is grafted onto the top of the agitator, which bears a dozen mirrors corresponding to the 12 frames. The animated effect of the portrait is produced directly by the movement of the machine's agitator. The photographic disk that enables the animation of the female face is directly inspired by an “optical toy” called the praxinoscope. The disk, which consists of 12 portraits of the same woman in 12 different positions, is lit like a bright box, with the basin of the machine serving as a container for the fluorescent lighting. The pure white light gives a mysterious aura to the machine. The work shows the transformed banal machine without concealing its simplicity. My project seeks to use the washing machine in its entirety and I have modified it as little as possible so that it is instantly recognizable. Our memory is thus shaken by this uncommon recognition.
A litany of sound, created by the machine, accompanies the repeated affirmation, like those banal gestures repeated a thousand times to satisfy the essential needs of the family. Homage and hymn to the work of women all over the world, Madonnas evokes both the wastewater of daily life that slips away and disappears, and likewise the waters of motherhood, the loss of waters that are erased after their hidden existence. The work traditionally assigned to women changed with industrialization, but remains just as mind-numbing and poorly paid. This woman's portrait is close to life-size; she acquiesces generously and without letting up.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|