When you look at the flower, the flower looks at you, you have already become a flower.
- Yumi Fujitani
Artists build deep and complex relationships with the material world through the creation of their works. These intimate exchanges, where subject and object become one, open us up to a greater consciousness whereby we can see the interconnectedness of all things, that every element is in active play on a continual level with each other, a perpetual performance and exchange of energies that are at the source of what we call the “live”.
What happens when we consider that the material world has agency, that we as humans are not the only actors in the scene with apperceptive skills or an ability to determine or change direction? Is this perceptual shift a key to understanding and stimulating approaches not predicated upon constructs of domination and submission, a way towards the awe and respect for the shared living embodiment of all things? Can objects teach us about the fundamentals of presence and about being present?
Sherri Hay will be in residence throughout this exhibition to explore these questions, and the gallery will be her choreographic laboratory where she will conduct experiments with her kinetic sculpture dancers. The public is invited to witness the continual evolution of these live works in process throughout the duration of the exhibition.
The exhibtion ici présente time being is a site of provocation to consider collaborative possibilities with the material world, a site of animation and contemplation for the activation of a culture of peace.