Depth of Perception

Depth of Perception OAKVILLE GALLERIES OAKVILLE, ONTARIO JANUARY 18-MARCH 15, 2015 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Addressing the complexities and failures of dominant modes of representation, the group exhibition Depth of Perception included a range of video, installation, and new media works that explore the nuanced and ever-evolving mediation of contemporary experience. In the accompanying exhibition essay, curator Jon Davies argues that, with the current prevalence of mobile screen-based media, we are increasingly attuned to the tactility of the technology that we use, as screens themselves become tangible and require an unprecedented amount of interaction. Many of the works included were similarly focused on their own tactility, considering the strengths, weaknesses, and nuances of the media within which they operate. Judy Radul'S work focused most intently on its own presence and the surroundings within which it was situated. Her body of work titled Object Analysis Spectator Poem (2012) involves both the presentation and representation of a number of objects that are placed in the gallery space and yet found simultaneously in documentation showing them in environments outside the gallery. The objects included a camera, a chair, a conch shell, and a heater. Loosely on top of each object was a colorful copper sheet molded to roughly mimic the object's form. Brought to a parking lot, park, or similar public space, the objects were then photographed using a mirror, with approximately half of the frame showing the reflection and the other half showing the space in front of the camera. While the mirror is disorienting at first, the compounded levels of representation make it clear that the viewer is not looking directly at the object, and indicate that such a direct view is impossible with these, or any, photographs. As with the camera's internal mirrors, one is, in fact, always seeing a reflection. On the gallery wall, viewers first and foremost see a photograph, and not a park, parking lot, or other exterior space. The intent behind the molded copper, however, was less clear. The didactic tags referred to the copper sheet as a flawed rendering of the object, though there seemed to be little attempt at any verisimilitude. There is, of course, an inherent contradiction in referring to any actual verisimilitude, since that which is simulated is, by definition, not the thing itself. It is possible that this was the point. As with the mirrored images, viewers saw only an imperfect representation, rendered in a material that differs greatly from that which it represents. A question that has lingered since viewing the work, however, is: Why copper? Of all the materials that could be molded to loosely form the shape of these assorted objects, why use copper and not a more common sculptural material? Is it because copper has been used for centuries in printmaking, as a solid but workable material that retains printmakers impressions well? Or might it reference the use of copper in mirrors? Early mirrors were often simply polished copper, and even today most consist of layers of copper, silver, and glass, as well as a range of other synthetic materials. Like the loosely draped sheets, however, none of these readings quite fit, and the artist may have chosen the material simply because it is malleable and can hold a distinct color, concealing yet following the contours of the unassuming object beneath. While Radul explores our perception of these everyday objects, Oliver Husain's videos occupy a space between the banal and the fantastical. His video Leona Alone (2009), originally commissioned by the Toronto-based Public Access Collective and EOT. Experiments in Urban Research for the Leona Drive Project (2009), explores a rather unremarkable Toronto neighborhood through the use of autonomous stained-glass windows. The first four minutes consist of a series of shots of streets, buildings, and construction sites, each with a freestanding, ornate stained-glass window positioned within the frame. …

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