11/1/2008
Pascal Dufaux
Oboro, Montreal
"A panoramic image of a landscape is the kinetic moment which takes place when I turn around with my gaze pointed towards the periphery, while the panoptic portrait is the other kinetic moment when I turn around my subject, with my gaze pointed towards its centre". (P.Dufaux)
Radiant ou l’origine du regard - large gallery
It begins with a repeated observation. At night I walk along
a canal. On the other side are lights. I see their reflections
stretching out across the surface of the black water. As I walk I
notice that, no matter where I am on the bank of the canal, the
rays of light on the water follow me.
This makes me realise that a radiance unites my gaze with the
visual effect of the reflections and the surrounding reality. The
image I see is a moment of this radiance. There are as many
radiating realities as there are points of view and images. This
radiating projects images along a vector of depth that runs
from there to here.
I then had the idea that the two poles of my representation of
the world are located at the two ends of this line, running from
infinity to immediacy: the image of a landscape and the image
of a face. A panoramic image of a landscape is therefore the
kinetic moment which takes place when I turn around with my
gaze pointed towards the periphery, while the panoptic portrait
is the other kinetic moment when I turn around my subject, with
my gaze pointed towards its centre.
Whether centripetal or centrifugal, it seems to me that all images
are beams of light sweeping across space, with the intimacy of
the gaze at their source. [P.D.]
Autour de vous - small gallery
Capturing the 360° radiation of the visual substance of the
human body. Twelve images chosen from the catalogue of
panoptic portraits of 88 people created for Atlas, an audio and
video project carried out in collaboration with the composer
Christian Calon.
After studying stage design and visual arts at Concordia
University, Pascal Dufaux worked on a number of set designs,
including L’Espace Shruthi, L’Orchestre-vélo and L’Ensemble
Karel. Since 2001, he has created an installation that is a 2D
and 3D hybrid, the Projet Pléthore at the Centre d’exposition
du Vieux-Palais. He has created Des mesures dévastées at the
Maison de la culture Plateau-Mont-Royal; phénomènes / formes
intermédiaires at Espacios de arte and Substance verte > ce
qui se tient sous le vert at Action Art Actuel. He created the
video Substance verte at OBORO’s New Media Lab in 2005.
Among his designs are the set for the opera Alternate Visions,
produced by Chants Libres in 2007. In 2007-08 Autour de vous
and Alzheimer are exhibited at VU in Quebec City and the Joyce
Yahouda gallery in Montreal.
Opening: Saturday, January 12, 2008, at 5 pm
Oboro
rue Berri, local 30, Montreal (Quebec)
Free admission