Description

Uncovering Space
20 SEPT, 14H00-16H00
Presented by matralab in collaboration with Pop Montréal

Curated by Jen Reimer

In the 12th century, architects and composers would work closely together to create a sacred space: the listener and the viewer’s experience were considered when building these environments. The space itself was an integrated experience: there was no separation between music and architecture.

Now, many urban spaces are utilitarian and exist as a host for transience: moving cars, buses, trains and people from point A to point B, without consideration of the passer-by or viewer’s experience. Many of these spaces are vast and resonant, almost like cathedrals in themselves. Can these spaces be re-imagined in a way to become more integrated and experiential? How can the space itself become a memorable experience for those passing through?

As the city grows and expands technologically, there are more distractions pulling us further away from the physical world – our sense of community and the spaces we inhabit. Perhaps it is the responsibility of the artist to redirect people’s gaze and draw them closer to the space they are in: through creating a new narrative that takes into consideration the viewer and the listener – perhaps we will all experience the space in a new way.

How can artistic interventions create new awareness of urban spaces? Uncovering Space is a presentation and discussion  that explores the aesthetic re-framing and re-imagining of built space.

Andrew Emond (http://undermontreal.com/) is a Canadian photographer who often explores the built environment. He is the author of Under Montréal, a resource established in 2009 to document Montréal’s underground infrastructures.

Jen Reimer & Max Stein (http://reimerstein.com/) are Montreal-based sound artists who share a fascination with resonant spaces, the urban soundscape and site-specific performance and installation.

Exploring the relationship between sound and the built landscape, Douglas Moffat (http://builtsound.org/) creates spaces built for listening.

Will Straw (http://willstraw.com/) is Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and Professor within the Department of Art History and Communications Studies at McGill University in Montreal.

Moderated by Sandeep Bhagwati (http://matralab.hexagram.ca/). Professor Bhagwati is a composer, theatre director and media artist. As Canada Research Chair for Inter-X Arts at Concordia University Montréal since 2006 he currently directs matralab, a research/creation centre for intercultural and interdisciplinary arts.