Daryl Vocat(Ontario) and Catherine Ross (New York)
Exhibition runs from January 14th - February 25th 2006
OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH 3PM
artist Daryl Vocat in attendance
ARTIST TALK by Daryl Vocat at 7pm, January 17th, coinciding with Art's Birthday.
Daryl Vocat
Practical Associations
Practical Associations contemplates human relationships, through the influence of culture. By
exploring various means of communication, the work examines the way we understand and present
ourselves, and the structures acted out within our relationships.
Culture and social ideologies inform us, while socialization affects the way we understand ourselves.
Although everyone is influenced by culture, it can be unclear how these influences manifest, or why
certain relational dynamics persist despite attempts to work beyond them. Practical Associations is an
act of translation, by using imagery and phrases from literature and popular culture such as Charlotte
Perkins Gilman, Francesca Lia Block, Spider-Man, and David Hockney as starting points. Information
from disparate sources is interpreted and mixed together to create this body of work.
In addition to source imagery, self-portraiture plays an important role in this work. The self-portrait
or "double" is an attempt to record a history, or to leave a trace. Within a poetic and social framework,
a persona is created, and its potential is explored.
Each print in this series is either 22 x 30 inches (55 x 75 cm) or 30 x 42 inches (75 x 105 cm) and is
screen printed on Stonehenge paper. All images are part of a small edition of 10 or less. This body of
work, was created in 2004.
Catherine Ross
Fingering and Footing
My work looks around the spectacle to find lively unconscious activity, performances of uncontrolled
(though often rhythmic) gestures in the reactions of everyday people. Without the direction of
technique, movement reveals an inherent awkwardness, a humor that echoes our own vulnerabilities.
In my work, I point to these moments by juxtaposing the refined gestures of actors and by
collaborating with musicians who create improvisatory reactions to my recorded material. For every
project I put myself in the shoes of my subject matter. The creation of "Fingering and Footing"
included six attempts to become a contestant on the Price is Right game show. Although I failed to
appear on stage, my participation ensured that contestants are not actors, but fanatically committed
everyday people with truly unconscious reactions. The original music was improvised, using vocal
vibrations to translate the waves of physical excitement and implied screaming into its conscious
equivalent.
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