It’s Really About Nothing At All is a multi-media exhibition that elaborates on the compulsion of looking, from the perspective of a perpetual urban wanderer. A series of discarded soda cup lids with straws photographed in situ depict a kind of obsessive game played by the artist on his rambles through the city, with explicit rules surrounding the circumstances under which each of the found lids are documented. A video installation running continuously on the gallery floor projects footage taken by a rudimentary video cart propelled through the streets by the artist, accompanied by photos of the artist and his cart taken by passersby, at the artist’s invitation. Lewis’s practice is a “reading of the street”, detailing moments/shadows, street level interaction, and simple architectures of space.

Doug Lewis is a Winnipeg-based artist and emerging curator. He received his BFA (Honours) in 1992 from the University of Manitoba. Lewis works in several media including photography, video, audio, drawing, and sculptural installation. His work has been featured several solo exhibitions in Canada including “Saltbath” at Plug In Gallery (Winnipeg, 1998), “Licks” at Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, 2003) and “Ellipsis” at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (Brandon, 2004). He has participated in numerous group exhibitions at galleries in Canada and the US, including the Power Plant (Toronto), Francis Wolfson Gallery (Miami, FL), Confederation Centre (PEI), and Art Gallery of Hamilton.

Image: installation view, PLATFORM, 2005.