Used/goods

book launch

 

Thursday, September 3, 2009 from 5pm to 7pm

At articule, 262 Fairmount O., Montréal

articule will be hosting the official launch of USED/Goods, a 260-page, full-colour, bilingual book published in association with articule as part of the USED/Goods project

 

USED/Goods was an innovative, large-scale project that took place at the Montreal Salvation Army Thrift Store on Notre Dame Street, West in November 2004. Sponsored by articule’s special project program, twelve artists created artworks directly in, on, or amongst the aisles, walls and shelves of the store. In addition to experiencing the artwork, customers were invited to drop into Talk Show, a series of events and workshops that included classes, presentations and discussions on topics ranging from learning how to draw, recycling, and how to stretch your budget.

 

The project, including the exhibition, events and recently published book was organized to consider important social, cultural and aesthetic concerns, including the complex relationship between art and life; public awareness of Montreal’s working poor; the presentation of art in real world environments where audiences have little or no knowledge of contemporary art; and the social significance of artists’ use of everyday objects.

 

The artists who participated in the project are Serge Murphy, Mindy Yan Miller, Jennifer Gabrys, Christopher Flower, Léopold L. Foulem, Diane Morin, Jo-Anne Balcaen, Daniel Olson and Catherine Sylvain as well as the members of Cut Rate.

 

Essays were written for the book by Sherry Simon, Sandra Buckley, Kim Sawchuk, Jennifer Gabrys and Valerie Rousseau.

 

USED/Goods is a project of Cut Rate Collective (Lorraines Oades, Gisele Amantea and Kim Sawchuk). It has been made possible with the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.