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Indepth Arts News:
"Peau d'e: Valerie Lamontagne"
2005-02-19 until 2005-03-02
InterAccess Media Arts Centre
Toronto, ON,
CA Canada
In the Charles Perrault fairy tale Peau dAne, a young
princess, whose familys riches are dependent on a gold-excreting
donkey, orders impossible wedding gifts from her father in order to
avoid marrying him: three dresses made of immaterial materials. The first is to be made of the sky and should be as light and airy as the clouds. The second is to be made of moonbeams and should reflect the same lyrical intensity as the moon at night. The third, and last, is to be made of sunlight and should be as blinding and warm as the sun above.
InterAccess Gallery
will be transformed into an artist studio in order for Lamontagne to
develop one of three wearables projects based on the famous Charles
Perrault folk tale. Visitors are welcome to drop by during gallery
hours to meet and talk with the artist about Peau dAne and
any of her previous performance and electronic artwork.
The aim of Peau dAne is to incarnate the impossible dresses
from the story to material form through the amalgamation of Art
Nouveau modes and embedded circuitry. The three dresses, with an
anticipated completion date of late 2005, will be used to translate
the natural qualities of the sky, moon and sun within various
geographical locations at all times of the day.
Each dress as a networked costume aims to hybridize notions of
computer interfacing and fashion. The patterns on the interactive
material of the dress will morph according to information transmitted
from a wireless weathervane to a computer chip implanted in the
fabric. Utilizing wireless and solar-powered energy sources, Peau
de goes beyond making something out of nothing and becomes
a functional article marking another step in our aspiration to build
truly ubiquitous objects.
Progress Presentations:
Saturday, February 19, 2005; 3 - 5pm Saturday, February 26, 2005; 3
- 5pm
Lamontagne will also be presenting her work at the inaugural
dorkbot-toronto event on February 24, 2005. For more information,
visit http://www.dorkbot.org/dorkbottoronto
Valerie Lamontagne is a Montreal-based artist, freelance art
critic and curator. She received her BFA (1993) and MFA (2001) from
Concordia University (Montreal) where she is presently teaching in
the Digital Image/Sound & Fine Arts program. Valerie has been
exhibiting in and curating shows across Canada since 1997. Her
website is at http://www.mobilegaze.com/valerie/ InterAccess is a centre for electronic media arts that enables
artists and the general public to explore the intersections of art
and technology. It is Ontarios only gallery and production facility
devoted exclusively to electronic and new media art.
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