The Echo Game presents work from 12 artists in a playful and charming manner
This year’s edition of Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts Undergraduate Student Exhibition transforms space into a room of whispers and sighs, echoes through space, time and memory.
Appropriately titled The Echo Game, the 2016 exhibit brings together students from multiple disciplines, such as graduate students from the department of design and computational arts and undergraduate students from the department of art history. This collaborative approach to the exhibit is meant to illustrate the quality of creative work from the undergraduate Faculty of Fine Arts students, while playfully exploring work that transcends time. It invites the viewer to take part and engage in the different ways that the featured artists have incorporated the concept of the echo into their respective pieces.
On display are paintings, photographs, sculptures, videos and installations from 12 different artists. The exhibit as a whole pulls you in with its minimalism and ephemeral qualities. Each piece is distinct and stands out in its own way, hauntingly beckoning for you to lean in, immersing yourself in the work as you attempt to tease out the meaning behind it.
One of the particularly noteworthy pieces is Jacinthe Derasp’s video installation Hermes. Derasp’s piece is an exploration of the synchronicity of audio and visual elements. A mysterious, beast-like spiked paper construction writhes and curbs in on itself for the camera, its paper surface crinkling and crackling with every movement. The viewer is pulled in by the flowing movements of the form as well as the symphony of rustling paper. As the video progresses, the form’s movements gradually become more frantic and frenzied.
Another exceptional piece is Annika Steimle and Rihab Essayh’s Home. This sculpture, a re-interpretation of an iconic post-war bungalow, challenges what a home really means. Is it where you live now or where you come from? The two artists’ work, a white form hanging from the ceiling, resembles a ghost, an echo, a memory of a place far away or even not yet found. It makes you stop and think of the different ways people approach the notion of what a home really is and what it means to you.
What stands out the most about the exhibition is how, as a viewer, you catch different snapshots of the artists’ personal reflections in each piece, the world viewed through the eyes of another. These snapshots echo through the gallery, inviting you to learn more and gain a new perspective. These echoes take different forms, ranging from nostalgia of a home far away to the embodiment of past generations.
The works included in the FOFA gallery are mesmerizing and incredibly creative. For further appreciation, pick up a booklet at the front desk in order to better understand the artist’s intentions for their work.
The exhibit runs until Feb. 19 and is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can see the work in the York Corridor Vitrines in EV 1.715 at 1515 Ste. Catherine St. W. Admission is free.
