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14/9/2011

Charles Stankievech

Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop's University, Sherbrooke

curated by Vicky Chainey Gagnon

We are proud to present the Canadian artist, Charles Stankievech and his artworks Dew Project and Ghost Rockets Tour in an exhibition entitled Over the Rainbow, Under the Radar. Charles Stankievech is an artist who creates ̳fieldworks‘: a spatial practice that combines researching, aesthetic experiments, curating, pedagogy and writing in which he reveals latent histories while questioning conventional boundaries. The two sister projects Dew Project and Ghost Rockets Tour present two videos with sculpture and artefacts that comments on the way the military has influenced the history of communications.

The Dew Project explores the existing DEW Line (Distant Early Warning radar system), architecture, questions of sovereignty and the history of media and communications. The construction of the DEW Line was made possible by bilateral agreement between the Canadian and American governments and by an alliance between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Bell system of communication companies. The DEW Line was the northernmost and most capable of three radar lines in Canada. The Cold War might have been a successful negotiation over the frozen landscape of the Arctic, but will the current battle over natural resources and sovereignty in a rapidly melting world share the same quiet fate? Today these same countries (Canada, Russia, US, and Denmark) are again turning their attention towards the North, driven, this time by what could be called the ―Warm War.‖

Featured in the exhibition Over the Rainbow, under the Radar, a video and architectural structure in the form of a geodesic dome is complete with solar powered built-in LED system that glows with colours of the aurora borealis. Stankievech also recorded underwater, electromagnetic and radio phonic sounds that are broadcast in the exhibition space. The combination of these white noise textures (water flow, electromagnetic hum + pulses, and FM noise) gives a sonic portrait of the river‘s dynamic life as it shapes natural landscape and is shaped by culture. A germane topic today, sustainability is not just a question concerning a particular architectural design but the infrastructure and networks between nation states that will determine not only what—but who—is sustained in the future.

The Ghost Rockets Tour is video footage of real explosions that occurred during the year of 2009-10 across various sites around the world. It represents tactical mapping of the history of ballistic development, stretching from early rocketry in Europe; to NASA MIT laboratories; to the US DARPA research stations in the Arctic – all in the form of a rock and roll tour.

Charles Stankievech‘s work has been exhibited in the Palais de Toyko (Paris), International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA2010, Germany), Xth Biennale of Architecture (Venice), Eyebeam + ISSUE Project Room (New York), Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal), Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), and the Atlantic Center for the Arts (Florida). Stankievech holds an MFA in Open Media and BA (hon.) in Philosophy and Literature. His writings have been included in academic journals, such as Leonardo Music Journal and 306090, artist‘s catalogues translated into several languages. Upcoming exhibitions include the Sobey Art Prize 2011 at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in the Fall and Oh, Canada in the Spring at MassMOCA. A founding faculty member of the Yukon School of Visual Arts, Stankievech shares his space time between the Dawson City and Montreal.

Image: Charles Stankievech, The DEW Project (installation view), Confluence of Klondike + Yukon Rivers, Yukon Territory, Canada, 2009

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: Vicky Chainey Gagnon, Director/Curator T-819.822.9600 ext. 2687 or vicky.chaineygagnon@ubishops.ca

Opening reception Thursday, September 15, 2011

Galerie d’art Foreman
2600, rue College - Sherbrooke
Opening: Tuesday to Saturday, from 12 noon to 5:00 pm
(and all evenings of presentation at Centennial Theatre)
Free Entrance

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