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© Sandra Dyck Curator Carleton University Art Gallery Senses and Sensibilities It is a bright winter's day, but the long, lofty gallery space is near dark. The two light fixtures that remain affixed to the ceiling, some 18' above, cast dim pools of light on two sculptures positioned askew on the pristine maple floor. One is a polished steel cone whose top surface is incised with a single image of a flying bat. The other is a rectangular translucent box, whose textured fibreglass exterior is adorned with low-relief sculptures of fluttering moths. Both are plugged in. The cone holds a digital player and speakers, while the box is illuminated from within by fluorescent lighting. Both are equipped with control sensors activated by motion; walking near the box or cone triggers sound or light. From the cone the sounds of a bat cave—flapping wings, chirping bats, whooshing wind, dripping water—fill the room. The box, with its cloudy fibreglass surfaces, is transformed temporarily by light into a radiant, mysterious form. This is EchoSense, a new media installation by Ottawa artist Lynda Cronin. It is a product of her enduring interest in the natural world. It is also her first foray into the world of high-tech art. Cronin's use of new technology in EchoSense is motivated in part by her desire to produce a work of art that could be experienced by individuals who are visually impaired, whether partially or fully. In so doing, she challenges the passive (visual) reception of art. In this traditional scenario, the artist finishes an "old media" work (painting, sculpture, drawing, print), fixing its meaning. The gallery, writes Tom Sherman, then removes such an object "from the world at large," permitting its "aura to be witnessed in a quiet contemplative serenity…"1 The key word here is witness: the experience is always visual, for of the five senses only sight is ever engaged. EchoSense, in contrast, can be touched, heard and seen. It offers each visitor a multi-sensory experience that is dynamic, malleable and specific. 1Tom Sherman, Before and After the I-Bomb: An Artist in the Information Environment, (Banff, Alberta: Banff Centre Press, 2002), 285. |
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