‘Mes Dates / Close Friends’ inspired by anonymity on the internet, the power of surnames, and gay porn
The installation comes as the first of three that make up the ‘S’Agiter’ exhibit
Hidden in a Villeray alleyway, there is an art gallery named Hangar 7826. It is a narrow, two-storey cinderblock building. Beyond its glass French doors, art hangs from its white walls. In the far left corner, there is a metal spiral staircase that leads up to a loft. On the second floor, there are two small windows that look onto a row of historic townhouses.
Quebec photographer Gilles Tarabiscuité owns this space. “The idea was to have a representation of a gallery. For work to be displayed in galleries, artists need to apply,” he said. But in this space, Tarabiscuité gives artists the freedom to experiment with their work.
For the next three months, Laurent Vernet is bringing art into this space for his three part exhibit called, S'Agiter. In December, Sayeh Safaraz will showcase her drawings in an installation named Chemin faisant. Michael Patten will present his photography in an installation called #Latergram in January. But throughout November, conceptual artist Emmanuel Galland presents a collection of screenshots from gay porn films that he printed on glossy paper.
According to the show's description the word, S’Agiter, communicates a “deep desire to take action spontaneously.” Vernet chose this name to embody the restlessness of wanting to create and showcase art. The participating artists share this motive—an agitating urge to create.
Other than this common motivator, the artists’ installations do not share many other similarities. They work in different mediums and explore different ideas.
Galland’s installation, Mes Dates / Close Friends, will run until Nov. 28. On the walls of the first floor, there is an avalanche of emboldened, colourful male surnames. Travis, Zack, Bryce, Dean, Eliot, and James are centred in dozens of black screens—the credit scenes of porn films.
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In this project, Galland explores what it means to be anonymous yet accessible. He also wonders what it means for porn actors to conceal their identities through the adoption of new identities.
“The actors pick a pseudonym to do this kind of work. So, Emmanuel wondered: what made them choose these names, and what sort of image do they hope to project?” said Vernet.
Galland is interested in the sociology of names and the impressions they cast on people. He noticed that most of the actors in gay porn assume Anglo-Saxon pseudonyms. The artist believes there is a reason for the popularity of these names. After looking through academic studies about the associations people make with different surnames, Galland concluded that these English names invoke a sense of prestige and wealth.
“Apparently it’s more sexy to have an English name in this type of movie. […] What attracts someone to the movie is some social indication. These fake names are eroticized,” said Galland.
On Kawara, a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in New York City was Galland’s inspiration for this project. Starting in the mid-1960s, Kawara created the Today series. On a canvas, he would paint the background black and centre the day's date.
Galland’s collection resembles the way Kawara composed his paintings. Like the Today series, Galland centred the names of the porn stars in the middle of neutral backgrounds.
But Galland did not paint the names of these porn scenes, nor did he showcase them on canvas. Instead, he printed the screenshots onto paper and attached them to the wall from the top of the page, like a sticky note. So every time someone walks by, the papers lift from the wall as if someone sleepily waves a handheld fan.
“What attracts someone to the movie is some social indication. These fake names are eroticized.” — Emmanuel Galland
In this way, the arrangement of the photos resemble a teenager’s bedroom decor. But instead of teenage heartthrobs with glowing skin and perfect hair, the posters include only pseudonyms of porn actors. This leaves the viewer to imagine, or anticipate, how these actors will look.
“The images are just attached to the wall from the top, as if they’re dates, or the phone numbers of guys you might meet. So, sometimes they can fall, or be moved around on the wall, or thrown out,” said Vernet.
The images are arranged in a fluid motion. Their placement imitates the shape of a wave. Galland did this to communicate the randomness of the internet.
“It’s really what I found since 2018. I didn’t categorize the images in a grid—instead, it’s a mess. It makes it three-dimensional,” said Galland. “I want the visitor to feel like they can move things around,” he said.
Unseen forces, or algorithms, take the internet surfer to new places. Also, Galland said that his collection was completely random—he followed the algorithms, and captured what he found.
Up the spiral staircase, Galland shows the first scenes of porn films. These scenes contextualize the movie. One photo shows an empty glass that may have once contained hard liquor. Another one shows a closeup of a hitchhiker’s thumb raised next to a highway. In these images, the faces of the actors are still concealed.
This composition emphasizes temporary pleasure. Like magazine posters, they are meant to be enjoyed for a short time. They are disposable and rarely considered high art. Pornographic films are similar in that they bring temporary enjoyment. Galland seems to emphasize the idea that there is a time limit associated with pleasure. He included time bars at the bottom of some photos to emphasize limited enjoyment or fleeting exhilaration.
Access to Galland’s installation is also limited. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, Vernet and the artist welcome visitors to the exhibit.
