Exhibition:
November 22, 2013 – January 18, 2014
Reception:
November 22nd @ 7PM
Artist Talk:
November 23rd @ 2PM
At the beginning of the 1970’s, the Canadian government expatriated over three thousand habitants (including many farmers) to build what was intended to be one of the most modern airports in the world. Mirabel airport rose from the most fertile soil in Quebec and covered it with kilometers of cement and bitumen. Less than forty years later, Mirabel is no longer used as a passenger airport, and this modernist black prism is often cited as a perfect example of what a white elephant is.Ironically, the name Mirabel is in itself a travesty: it could be the masculinized version of a sweet yellow prune’s name, Mirabelle.
Although Mirabel is not the literal subject of this exhibition, it hovers above it, somewhere in its hors champ – a notion in itself central to the artist’s work. The exhibition,Feu Mirabel is a poetic exploration of mutations – through reproduction, imitation, and transformation. It combines 3D animation, video, sound, and black + white photography. Reflecting on today’s world, the exhibition combines minimal science fictions and references to actual historical documents. Hamelin questions the idea of progress by situating it as the paradoxical motor that appears to be driving human beings backward.
Please join us on Friday, November 22nd for the opening reception. The artist will be in attendance and refreshments will be served. Also, please join us the following day on Saturday, November 23 at 2PM in the gallery for the artist talk. Both events are free and all are welcome to attend.
Philippe Hamelin explores the connections between special effects and affect. Using video and spatial montage, he creates poetic relationships between humans and technological media, questioning how we enter into and are effected by theses relationships. His work has been presented in art galleries and in several festivals in Quebec, in the Americas (Brazil, Mexico, United States) and in Europe (Germany, France, Spain, UK, Bosnia). Philippe Hamelin holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University and a Film Studies degree from Université de Montréal. He is currently teaching photography and video art at Cégep de L’Outaouais and lives and works in Montréal.
Image: Untitled, Feu Mirabel series, 2013.