From the 15th to the 23rd of August, Visual Voice Gallery presents “Wonderwall: The Act is the Art.” Wonderwall is a two-part project: the first was a three-day participatory event in which the viewing public was invited to have their portrait taken in the gallery. Using the phototransfer method and with the instruction of a practicing painter, each subject created a 24 x 24 panel art piece that would be included in the gallery installation.
Covering nearly the entire space of two adjacent walls in the gallery and forming a triptych on the third, the panels — of either natural wood, or silver or mylar — form a checkerboard pattern that seems to formalize the variety of countenances and personalities that animate them. To mitigate the “passport photo effect,” the portraits were selected for their variations of poses and moods, and the dynamism between them as well. Some are in symmetrical relation, their pose or gaze mirroring each other. A man and a woman on the top row lean to the same side with an uncannily similar quiet expression — it’s a beautiful contrast to the laughing older man on their right. Some appear to be looking at or otherwise reacting to their neighbour. The longer you stay with them, the more you feel these personalities both as individuals and as a collective.
A good deal of what we can call “relational aesthetics” in contemporary art involves the artist creating an environment, often devoid of an “art object,” in which subjects are invited to enter and interact with the space and each other. “Wonderwall” contributes to and gently subverts this by not being “by” an artist who can claim credit for the exhibition. Moreover, the subjects’ active participation involved learning a new skill and creating an art object that they could keep after the exhibition closes. In response to Roland Barthes’ infamous “Death of the Author” essay title we could call this event “The Birth of Many”!
The production of the pictures involved cooperation and a looping of efforts and time: often three or four people were required to assist each phototransfer, which took anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to complete. It also became something of a logistical game of relays: the shots were taken with an iPad and emailed to the copy shop, and a bike courier was dispatched to fetch the pictures as they were printed.
Pictures and portraits, as we know, are part of the general flow of digital information that is generated and redirected by us from our various handheld devices and computers. But the multiple steps in phototransfer, as well as the trips to and from the print shop, thwart this current of instantaneity, even if just for an afternoon. And I like that as a visitor to their exhibition I found myself lingering, not thinking about my phone or who I had to message. I felt I was in good company.
Visual Voice Gallery director Bettina Forget and artist Melanie Matthews aim to follow up “Wonderwall” with more public participation art events. Keep an eye out for the next one!
Be sure to stop by for the finissage of “Wonderwall” on August 23rd, from 5-8pm.
Visual Voice Art Gallery, space 421
Melanie Matthews
Wonderwall
August 9 – 23, 2012
www.visualvoicegallery.com
