BLACK HOLES, ELASTIC TIME & UNLIMITED SPACE

The 2009-2010 programming season marks articule’s 30th year of existence. We would like to honour this milestone year with a program that looks critically at modes of dissemination for contemporary art, as well as at the history and the operations of an artist-run centre.

In view of our 30th anniversary, the active membership of articule has met on several occasions to discuss and revisit ways to accomplish our mandate. What are the relationships between the various means of production and the dissemination of art? What is the purpose of an artist-run centre? Inspired by our Special Projects programming channel, which, by its nature, is more flexible and spontaneous than the exhibitions program, articule launched its call for submissions Black Holes, Elastic Time & Unlimited Space, in which we were mainly interested in how artists build relationships with time and space. How do artists consume, manipulate, transform, extend or collapse them in their work? How do artists construct their own time and space? And, how do they share them with other artists and the public? In order to adequately support the artists’ projects, articule proposes to redefine its usual exhibition schedule, as well as the use of its space, by offering an extremely flexible and open structure. In addition to Special Projects, which will continue to take place (most often) outside the gallery space, the 2009-2010 programming will present artists’ projects which not only have variable durations ranging from two weeks to a whole year, but also which occupy the gallery as an exhibition space, a production site, a place for meetings, a ressource centre, even as a habitat. Most of the selected projects have been proposed by two or several artists, which also allows us to examine artistic collaboration as a shared time and space experience.

Finally, to highlight this special year, articule’s various committees have been working collectively on a programme of activities that wants to acknowledge the vital role of members at the centre. A member’s exhibition, a series of critical writings, educational and discursive activities organized by members will complement the projects of the selected artists.