"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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