Narrating the Space & You
Surveying Space and Building Perception
They may seem interchangeable to many, but the words ‘space’ and ‘place’ are very different terms. It is a difference that Levi Bruce wants you to investigate.
“We all go through spaces day to day, and they transfer into places for us; they become background noise,” said Bruce, the curator of Surveying Space about the focus of his exhibit. “We know them, but we don’t take a look at them.”
The exhibit—which is a collection of two photography pieces, two sculptures and a hybrid sculpture/performance work—focuses on space within art, as a constituting and interactive phenomenon for an audience to narrate.
“With this exhibit I want to take a look back at spaces. This three-dimensional area, prior to the connotations that you apply to it, before a space becomes a place in your consciousness.” Bruce selected various artworks that start a conversation about space and investigate its connection with the user.
What brings these pieces together is attention paid to that dialogue. “They’re talking about [space] through the use of different techniques that bring up the typical views of space related to art,” said the third-year Fine Arts student..
“That conversation about space is at the heart of the exhibit. It’s explored through photography of a minimalistic corner, as in [Jean-Marc Perin’s] ‘These Corners,’ or in juxtaposing banners against ‘found spaces,’ as in [Jordan Loeppky-Kolesnik’s] ‘The Banner Series.’”
“These banners, which [have been] placed in these found spaces, develop [narratives] in these two separate ideas that have come together for a finished composition,” said Bruce. “There’s a dialogue created between the artwork and the viewer.”
“Autonomous Landscapes” plays with vantage points, moving from objects to landscapes depending on where you look at it.
“It challenges the idea of scale. [The piece features] these three woodcarving mounds that, depending on how the viewer looks at them, can change the view.” Bruce founded the idea for Surveying Space after noticing how objects command—and take over—a space.
In selecting the art, and in unraveling the movement of perception, a different angle can be considered in the works.
“I want the viewer to look at the artwork and acknowledge the space before they create a place for themselves. Through that, they can realize the development process.”
Surveying Space / March 2 to March 15 / WWTWO (170 Jean-Talon St. W., #206) / Vernissage / March 8 / 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. more info
