I haven’t seen this multi-media exhibition by University of Regina Visual Arts professor Rachelle Viader Knowles yet, but I definitely plan to before it closes at the Art Gallery of Regina on May 15.
I’m Facebook friends with Rachelle, and know from posts that she made that she spent the 2008-09 academic year on sabbatical. Rachelle’s from Wales originally. And when she was on sabbatical she did a fair bit of traveling. Brazil was one place she visited, I think. And she spent some time in North Carolina doing a residency at an artists’ collective. She did the same in Paris at the Canada Council studio.
As the show’s title implies, the two works that are presented here were both conceived during her time away. At the Paris studio, to be precise.
Life Across Words consists of 24 13″ TVs arranged in a crossword pattern, and was inspired by French writer Georges Perec’s novel Life: A Users Manual.
Bed Time Reading, conversely, was created in response to an experimental text by Perec caled Species of Space. In that work, he locates himself in various countries, communities and homes where he’s lived, and beds specifically where he’s slept. In her installation, which has both visual and sound components, Rachelle recollects some of the beds she’s slept in in the past few years.
I’m looking forward to seeing this.
And if you’re interested, Rachelle’s giving an artist talk May 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the gallery.
