Programming

Parallel to Matthew Biederman’s DAREDx project occupying Cabot Square, DARE-DARE presents the fourth installment in a series of conferences on the hybrid relationship between art and public space. With Pratiques du territoire: occupation - dislocation - mutation, DARE-DARE seeks to unite artists and theorists reflections with the artists of the current programming.

Through these conferences, the artist-run centre proposes multidisciplinary approaches to rethink the way we conceive of and interact with space. The speakers will discuss the results of many experimentations altering notions of performativity as experienced within particular settings, be they social, political or economic.

The four speakers view the relationship between technologies, performativity and public space from multiple angles. On one hand, Matthew Biederman and Steve Bates work questions this relationship through radio airwaves and their possibilities as a public sphere. On the other hand, Dominic Gagnon and Bart Woodstrup consider hi- and lo-technologies either to widen the boundaries of action and discussion, or to encourage people’s own empowerment through performance and intervention.

By treating the question of human social and behavioural ties to power from a performative viewpoint, our guests become unusual social actors. They deal with their problematics at the local level, while also facing their global implications, underscoring the fact that they also grasp the “glocal”.

Lectures at Cabot Square

Dominic Gagnon’s conference is copresented by Centre des arts actuels Skol during the exhibition Attachez vos ceintures pour la plus grande innovation automobile de l’année.

Steve Bates is an artist, musician, audio technician. After noisy adventures with punk bands, Steve became interested in the more experimental forms of sound organization in composed and improvised music, radio and installation projects. He now lives in Montreal and is Sound Coordinator at Hexagram-Concordia University.

Originally from the United States, Matthew Biederman (Montreal) has been performing, arranging and exhibiting works since the mid-1990s. He has recently started working collaboratively and formed an international group called "Simple Whose works focus on social interaction rather than a variety of gadgets.
www.mbiederman.com

Director, installation artist and performer active on the international scene, Dominic Gagnon considers creation as a measurement technique for the unmeasured or as a discipline of chaos. Since 1996, he has been making public representations of moving images, performing sound works, building installations and creating performances in various galleries, festivals and biennials.

Through his work, Bart Woodstrup studies the relationship between environmental issues and new technologies, particularly the cultural integration between these and these technologies. He enjoys diverting solar powered garden lights, designs data visualization software, and dreams about ways to run his electronic gadgets without creating carbon pollution. His work takes various forms: music composition, real-time audio-video performance, multimedia installation, and networking.