The Grace of a Gesture Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Angelica Mesiti EM15
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Already Fifty Years! The Grace of a Gesture Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Angelica Mesiti EM15 • BIAN Ryoji Ikeda Artur Zmijewski Printemps du MAC Nocturnes Magazine of the contemporain Musée d’art de Montréal Volume 25, Number 1 — Summer 25, 2014 Volume editorial | 1 In his classic work The Gift, French anthropologist Marcel Mauss theorizes and reflects upon the giver, the gift and the recipient: “The objects are never completely separated from the men who exchange them,” he writes tellingly. An indissoluble link between the giver and the gift— the gift being a part of the giver—makes the act of giving not as innocent a transaction as it might seem. Indeed, it creates a social bond and an obligation to reciprocate on the part of the recipient. It creates relationships. Reciprocity and exchange are the basis of friendship, perhaps also of just and prosperous societies. Ultimately, reciprocity promotes a better way of living. Photo: George Fok © 2013 The month of June marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Musée d’art con- temporain, a museum that grew out of the wishes, the enterprise and, perhaps most impor- tantly, the donations of collectors and artists. The Musée’s very inception is the result of the kindness of givers. The Grace of a Gesture is our sprawling homage to the builders and makers of the MAC, a celebratory exhibition comprising some 200 artworks donated over the last fifty years—a formal act of reciprocity, in the form of an exhibition, for the generosity of the museum’s many donors and supporters. Two smaller but equally important exhibitions are also on view this summer. In her first solo North American outing, Paris-based Australian artist Angelica Mesiti presents two music- themed works: her mesmerizing video installation Citizens Band, an intimate and moving Cover study of music and migrant culture, and Prepared Piano for Movers (Haussmann), which improb- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer ably creates an avant-garde score from everyday labour. As well, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s rela- Pulse Room, 2006 tional, interactive masterwork Pulse Room, a major recent addition to the Musée Collection, 300 incandescent light bulbs, voltage controllers, heart rate sensors, will be seen in his home city for the first time. A vast and spectacular installation, at the centre computer and metal sculpture of which the beat of your very own heart, added to that of thousands of others, is signalled 1 / 1 across some 300 pulsing light bulbs. Gift Collection of the Musée d’art Beginning in May, the museum will be scene of an astonishing convergence of digital contemporain de Montréal culture. The great poet of our current age of exploration, Japanese artist, composer and per- View of the installation at Fábrica former Ryoji Ikeda, navigating the baffling space between 1 and 0, kicks off the proceedings La Constancia, as part of the Plataforma 4 project, Puebla, Mexico, in 2006 with his majestic film C I. We also celebrate another birthday, that of both Elektra and Photo: Alejandro Biasquez MUTEK—each now fifteen years old—merged in a unified, single anniversary event, EM15. We’re thrilled to be hosting these two ground-breaking cultural institutions, coming together for the very first time, with dozens of artists, concerts and installations at the museum and elsewhere, within and alongside the International Digital Arts Biennial (BIAN). The summer program ends with the seemingly impossible and invisible: a stunning film by Polish artist Artur Zmijewski that forcefully documents the attempts of several unsighted people to visualize the appearance of the world by painting portraits, landscapes, animals or their own image, while struggling to recall or imagine for the first time. A grimly beautiful film, full of failures and misplaced movements, sadness and spillage, a film about the condition of seeing and being seen, an attempt to say the unsayable: an essay on blind faith in art. Jean-Paul Riopelle John Zeppetelli, Director and Chief Curator La Joute, 1974 Bronze 3.8 m (height) x 12.40 m (diameter) (approximate dimensions) Collective gift of doctors Michel Bovo, Champlain Charest, Simon Charlebois, Hubert Grégoire, Michel Lafortune, André G. Légaré, Henri Martin, Halim Mheir, Pierre C. Millette, Alexis Pagacz and Claude Vallée Collection of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay Magazine of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is published three times a year. ISSN 1916-8675 (print) ISSN 1927-8195 (online) Editor: Chantal Charbonneau. English translation and proofreading: Susan Le Pan. Design: Fugazi. Printing: Croze Inc. The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. The Musée receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts. Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. 185, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Montréal (Québec) H2X 3X5. Tel.: 514 847-6226. www.macm.org Visit us! www.macm.org Exhibitions Art Videos Art Videos The Grace of a Gesture Gazoduc-TQM Room June 17 to 29, 2014 Fifty Years of Gifts to the Musée Free admission Vivre avec l’art… Un art de vivre d’Art Contemporain de Montréal Tuesday: 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Producer/Director: Anne-Marie Tougas. June 19 to September 7, 2014 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 11:30 a.m., Montréal: Tougam, 2010 (52 min). In French. 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Saturday, Sunday: 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and July 1 to 13, 2014 Pulse Room 3:30 p.m. June 19 to September 7, 2014 The Collector: Allan Stone’s Life in Art Friday Nocturnes, May 23 and June 20, 2014: Producer/Director: Olympia Stone. [N. p.]: Floating Angelica Mesiti: Citizens Band 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Stone Productions, 2007 (62 min). In English. June 19 to September 7, 2014 April 29 to May 11, 2014 July 15 to 27, 2014 Make Me Think: Bruce Nauman Giuseppe Panza di Biumo Multimedia Events Producer/Director: Heinz Peter Schwerfel Director: Giampaolo Penco. Prosecco: Videoest, (Art Council, WDR-Arte and Centre Pompidou 2007 (55 min). In Italian and English with Projections Series 4 co-production). Köln: Artcore film GmbH, c1997, English subtitles. Ryoji Ikeda: C I 2004 (70 min). In English. May 6 to June 18, 2014 Egidio Marzona: Art Collector May 13 to 18, 2014 Director: Giampaolo Penco. Prosecco: Videoest, International Digital Arts Biennial 1996 (31 min). In German with English subtitles. Physical/ité, The New Alliance, Picture Start [featuring Jeff Wall, Hedonistika Montréal Ian Wallace and Rodney Graham] July 29 to August 10, 2014 May 23 to June 1, 2014 Producer: Ric Beairsto; Director: Harry Killas. Herb & Dorothy: You Don’t Have Vancouver: Laughing Mountain To Be A Rockefeller To Collect Art EM15 Communications, 2011 (48 min). In English. May 27 to June 1, 2014 Producer/Director: Megumi Sasaki. New York: Fine Line Media; Muse Film and Television, 2008 Projections Series May 20 to 25, 2014 (87 min). In English. Artur Zmijewski: Blindly “Krzysztof Wodiczko” / excerpt July 16 to September 28, 2014 from Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First August 12 to September 7, 2014 Century, Season Three The Next Big Thing [Alexandria, VA]: Art21, Inc.: Distributed by Director: Frank van den Engel. [Amsterdam]: Festivals PBS Home Video, 2005 (14 min). In English. Zeppers Film & TV, 2013 (70 min). In English and Dutch with English subtitles. Festival International de Jazz Krzysztof Wodiczko: Projections de Montréal Producers: Derek May and Jacques Vallée; Director: Derek May. Montréal: National Film L’Orchestre d’hommes-orchestres: Board of Canada, 1992 (53 min). In French. SéminArts Cabaret Brise-Jour Based on the music of Kurt Weill May 27 to 30, and June 1, 2014 SéminArts hors série – Spring 2014 June 27 to 30 and July 1, 2014 To extend the SéminArts expérience, the hors Aesthetic Machinery: Works série get-togethers will give you an opportunity Boundary by Don Ritter to exchange ideas with art specialists on a theme July 2, 2014 Director: Don Ritter. [N. p.]: Don Ritter, 2013 related to collecting contemporary art. (50 min approx.). In English. Chassol Three sessions on Wednesday evenings July 3 and 4, 2014 Incidences May 14 to June 11, 2014 [Producer]: Perte de Signal; Project Manager: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Esmerine Myriam Bessette. [Montréal]: Perte de Signal, Cost: $120, tax included, for the series of three July 5 and 6, 2014 2005 (20 min). Sound only. $50, tax included, for a single session In French and English June 3 to 15, 2014 Registration now open Women Art Revolution For information and registration: 514 847-6244 Director: Lynn Hershman Leeson. New York: [email protected] Zeitgeist Films, 2010 (83 min). In English. program 2 | 3 Join the MAC Nocturnes Art Workshops Practical Information Friday, May 23, 2014 Family Sundays Hours Friday, June 20, 2014 For all, with family or friends, every Sunday at Monday: Closed to the general public; open to 1:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. school groups by reservation To provide inspiration before you start creating, Tuesday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Summer Combo a 30-minute tour is given prior to the workshop Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. activity. Saturday, Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two is better than one! Free for children under 12 (must be accompanied Includes workshop and tour of the exhibition. by an adult). No reservation necessary. Admission Intended for day camps and daycares (age 5 and up). No Family Sundays June 22 to $14 adults One adult per 10 children; free for accompanying September 7, 2014 inclusive.