Deidre Logue, video still, Per Se, 2005
Exhibitions
Conversation Pieces
Etherington House
12 January 2008 - 10 February
Conversation Pieces is an exhibition of new media work exploring acts of communication. United by their basis in forms of conversation found in daily social interaction, the works allude to both private and public spheres of life. Drawing on popular culture and critically manipulating structures of verbal communication, they raise questions regarding forms of conversation and our efforts to forge connections, make meaning and gain understanding. Their juxtaposition-in the Art Centre's historic Etherington House-exposes the naturalized status of assorted modes of communication.
The show includes pieces by Canadian artists Linda Duvall, Germaine Koh, Deirdre Logue, Matt Rogalsky and Laurel Woodcock. Their installations in audio, video and multimedia formats populate the grand domestic setting of Etherington House with verbal exchanges, allowing the viewer to contemplate and participate in several forms of dialogue. Germaine Koh's Call, for example, entails a social experiment connecting strangers, and, in Linda Duvall's Lament, visitors contribute their voices to an installation based on public expressions of grief in the Canadian media.
Exhibition curator Sarah E. K. Smith presented an on-air component of the exhibition on Queen's University's CFRC radio at 101.9 FM. The program aired Monday 14 January at 4 pm, and can be downloaded at the CFRC Archives
Jan Allen
Conversation Pieces has been curated by Sarah E. K. Smith under the supervision of Jan Allen as part of a practicum course in the graduate program of the Department of Art at Queen's University.