Pierre François Ouellette Art contemporainis pleased to present “générique”, an interactive video installation. Shown recently at the Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City, the presentation in Montreal will feature a new sound component.
“générique” is a computer based installation making use of motion detection and footage from image banks. The user is invited to participate by transposing his/her image onto the stream of images. The movement of the user affects the flow of images by changing its source and colours. The footage is taken from commercial image banks that sell ready-made material for consumption by artists. The work attempts to question the generic packaging of nature images and nature inspired digital effects by introducing anomalies into what is intended to be perceived as a seamless experience.
In general terms, nature is often associated with a perfect, pure state of being. Paradoxically, as the technological means of representation becomes more advanced, our choices of images tends to borrow increasingly from an ideal state of nature, as if seeking a lost paradise.
Pierre-François Ouellette Art contemporain will also be presenting photographs by the artist including “Construction” (2001) and works from the series “Le dessin des passions” (1998).
Alexandre Castonguay obtained a bachelor of arts from the University of Ottawa, where he currently teaches. Since 1994, his works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montréal, Rimouski and Ottawa. He is a founding member and director of Artengine. His practice is based in electronic media and photography. Software and the possibilities and restrictions it affords to the viewer and the artist is a recurrent theme in Castonguay's photographs and installations. His works are included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Canada Council Art Bank.
Mathieu Bouchard, programmer, has collaborated with the artist on this work.
Press Review:
Mavrikas, Nicolas. Voir, Alexandre Castonguay à la galerie Pierre-François Ouellette.
Montréal,13 au 19 décembre 2001. P. 50. Alexandre Castonguay, Générique. Espace 59, printemps, 2001. P. 53.