Cadavre exquis

To the Moon, Laurie Anderson & Hsin-Chien Huang

Cadavre exquis
Contemporary art through alternative lenses

From October 29 to January 19

Phi presents Cadavre exquis, an experience that replaces the sheet of paper with the infinite space of virtual reality.

The new exhibition brings together individual contributions from artists who have chosen the medium of virtual reality as a new means of expression, including Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, Antony Gormley, Paul McCarthy and Laurie Anderson, presenting contemporary art in a different point of view.

Going beyond conventional canons, Cadavre exquis invites viewers, through technology, to enter the creative world of each artist under the premise of the collective artistic game of the same name that was invented by the Surrealists—often resulting in poetic and whimsical compositions that are driven by the unconscious.

Programming:

Laurie Anderson
For the first time in Montreal, fans will be able to explore all three parts of the trilogy of complementary works created by American avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson, in collaboration with Taiwan artist Hsin-Chien Huang.

To the Moon
A work made up of several visuals, To the Moon includes Constellations, featuring endangered life forms; DNA Museum, where dinosaur fossils transform into a Cadillac that’s fed by fossil fuels; Technology Wasteland, where a dystopian Moon has become a dumping ground for plastic objects and nuclear waste; and Snow Mountain, inspired by space adventure films, which inhales the viewer deep into the cosmos.
Chalkroom
Returning to Phi, this popular virtual reality work takes the viewer into an enormous structure made up of words, drawings and stories. The letters sail through the air, fall into dust and reform themselves around the viewer, who’s free to walk around virtually from room to room.
Aloft
The first virtual reality project of the duo, ALOFT sits the viewer down in a plane that takes off and slowly disintegrates over New York. Everyone’s biggest nightmare is quickly transformed into an exploration of space, in which the viewer is caught in a luminous vortex wherein their hands become virtual and can grasp their choice of multiple objects and surrounding debris…

Rising, Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović
Rising
Produced by Acute Art, Rising is Marina Abramović’s first virtual reality piece. In this troubling yet poetic call to action, the artist raises public awareness of climate change by allowing the viewer to observe and “live” through the irreversible effects of rising sea levels.

Olafur Eliasson
Rainbow
Olafur Eliasson has long been interested in the relationship between self and other and between self and surroundings. This reflection has profoundly informed his work Rainbow, an ephemeral rainbow produced by digital means whose multi-participant function is a key feature that paves the way for the creation of new spaces for and of art in virtual reality. In collaboration with Acute Art.

Antony Gormley and Priyamvada Natarajan
Lunatick
The first virtual reality collaboration of Antony Gormley and Priyamvada Natarajan, Lunatick uses data collected by NASA to map a real and interactive journey. In this piece produced by Acute Art, the visitor is invited to leave Earth and travel to outer space by passing through the atmosphere, the stratosphere and the asteroid belt.

Hsin-Chien Huang
Bodyless
A solo work by Laurie Anderson’s long-time accomplice, presented in competition at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Bodyless takes us to Taiwan in the 1960s, when it was under martial law. An old political prisoner passes away, transforming into digital forms and descending into the underworld of the dead. His ghost then returns to the world of the living to haunt places from his past life—but for how long…?

Paul McCarthy
C.S.S.C Coach Stage Stage Coach VR experiment Mary and Eve
This virtual experience created by Paul McCarthy and produced by Khora Contemporary is part of the artist’s long-term project, Coach Stage Stage Coach (or CSSC), and combines a wide range of media, including a film inspired by a John Wayne Western of the same name. The artist imagines a new scene in which two characters—and the spectator—are thrown into a vicious cycle… Revealing the darkness at the core of a dominant culture, McCarthy explores the systems of gender, politics and popular culture that govern our world in ways that are more or less imperceptible. 16 and over.

Koo Jeong A
density
Produced by Acute Art, this first augmented reality project by Korean artist Koo Jeong A features the 2D and 3D pen drawings from her book Nomos Alpha (2018) and her Instagram account. Her ephemeral, poetic and playful sketches come alive before our eyes and take on a whole new dimension thanks to augmented reality. Using a smartphone, viewers are able to activate these geolocated works around the world.

Phi offers a free guided visit of the exhibition in the form of a discussion with a cultural mediator.

Partners
The Cadavre exquis exhibition is presented in collaboration with Bell, Tourisme Montréal, and Hôtel William Gray.

Phi
Phi is a multidisciplinary organization positioned at the intersection of art, film, music, design and technology. Offering a panoramic perspective of radical ideas focused on collective experience, social impact, and audience interactivity, Phi is committed to future generations of art consumption.

Phi provides an experiential-focused programming that includes virtual reality, immersive experiences and performance-based practices. It consists of the Phi Centre, Phi Studio and the Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain. Through eclectic programming and a strong emphasis on content creation, Phi fosters unexpected encounters between artists and audiences.

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