In a post-truth world, where deception is gaining ground, proving a fact or explaining reasoning is no longer popular. By taking the path of “illusions”, echoing the title of his 10and editing, Illusions are real, Manif d’art – The Quebec Biennial fully assumes the artifices for which the planet vibrates. Of course, she doesn’t do it without delivering a critical thrust.
A ton of works playing on appearances have been displayed in Quebec by guest curator Steven Matijcio. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) is entitled to the so-called central exhibition (see other text), but what is to be seen elsewhere, including in the open air, carries weight.
Based on magic realism, an umbrella name that encompasses many imaginations, the program is steeped in good intentions. Apart from cases which fall into the evidence of the simulacrum (like the steel beam which is not a simulacrum, the work of Kaz Oshiro), the trick is not limited to deceiving. Showing behind the scenes, revealing (twisted) threads and pointing out dangers tint the biennale.
A truncated moonlight sonata, a clock that is out of order, the invading chaos… There is something to be wary of. In the first case, the active automaton piano at the Avatar center — Earth-Moon-Earthby Katie Paterson — interprets a famous melody, helped in this, or interrupted, by the moon and doubtless by the vagaries of satellite waves.
In the second case, the work — Against the Run, by Alicja Kwade — can go unnoticed as it blends into the Place d’Armes, adjoining the Château Frontenac. It takes a careful look to notice the unusual cadence of the clock. Even the most innocuous daily life, including every insignificant second, plays tricks on us.
Chaos takes place at the House of Literature, in a stunning and seductive installation inscribed on the floor, walls and ceiling — Conspiracy galore (excerpts for MANIF X), by Marc-Antoine K. Phaneuf. In a style all his own — an endless list of references, to make people smile (or run away) — the writer-artist narrates our social drift, born of the amalgamation of things. The illusion here is total thanks to the hypnotic effect of an immersive work worthy of optical art.
Manif d’art 10 gives pride of place to conjurers, masters in the art of making people believe in the most improbable sleight of hand. Jonathan Allen, or his stage alter ego, Tommy Angel, has plastered a poster around town announcing the show (?) of a “magician with a liver attack”. The Briton also unveils, at the Fish Eye center, an impressive collection of fake banknotes, potentially real copies of magicians. Beliefs (faith) and power (money) are questioned here.
In the center Vu takes place a significant and neat proposal — Escamotage of a woman, by Natascha Niederstrass. Sinister, with the presence of dismembered bodies (hands floating), the exhibition comes in photographic and sculptural works. La Montréalaise targets a certain history of magic, based on shows where the central issue (the disappearance of a woman) merely reproduces reality.
Such an approach (exposed lures, attention to detail) paces the 10and Demonstration. Among the other good shots, let’s highlight the false mirror effect of Dgino Cantin (Engram center), the house turned inside out like a glove by Meredith James (Cartier-Brébeuf park, Limoilou) or the sarcastic confessions of Dario Robleto (Fish eye)
Our reporter stayed in Quebec at the invitation of Manif d’art — La biennale de Québec.