Nathalie Côté, Towards a Poetics of Water, Drawing Field #02:La Chambre Blanche, Quebec 2009
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Review of Drawing Field #02:
La Chambre Blanche, Quebec, Canada 2008/09
Towards a Poetics of Water
Nathalie Côté, special correspondent.
Le Soleil newspaper, Quebec. (Visual Arts section), Published 28, November 2008
In La Chambre Blanche art centre in Quebec City, the Australian artist James Geurts has constructed a series of mini-installations composed of neon lights, video projections, and mirrors, which combine to create drawings in the gallery space. These experiments take as their inspiration the cycles of the waterways and landscapes of Quebec, which Geurts has been exploring since his arrival in the region.
In the gallery, his play with space is also inspired by his observation of the Saint-Charles River, the Saint Lawrence River and the Montmorency waterfall. A thin, transparent tube carries water used by the occupants of the artist-run centre. The lines of water ‘sail’ through to a small basin, “barely larger than a person’s stomach”, the artist tells me. The tube continues, making its way to an external “waterfall” that resembles a miniature fountain. James Geurts’sexperimental project is based on his study of the links between the water in our bodies, and that of the seas; links between the environment and human presence.
This study has given rise to works of an abstract and air-like nature, with a sense of source, delicately discernible. He creates his sculptural drawings using the most everyday of materials: “I use only what I need, and make use of what is available”, he said; a part of his installation work also involves a play on the spectral nature of light. I appreciated his subtle approach to working with simple, common materials. “The installation should be looked at in the same way as transformations in nature”, he advised, having modified the neon lights in the space to slow down the flux of light.
Psychogeography
The director of La Chambre Blanche, François Vallée, underlined the fact that “Many artists who work ‘in-situ’ are interested in psychogeography.” This approach towards geography, according to which each place has its own particular psychology, was expounded upon by the French essayist Guy Debord (1931-1994). Questions relating to the division and control of space remain a focus in critical theory on the subject of urban development. Similarly, the work of this Australian artist raised questions concerning the physical and emotional effects of our environment. The development of James Geurts’s project in the gallery space is coupled with an intervention in an external space in Quebec City (the artist’s practice also includes Land Art). This intervention is a must-see, as it unfolds in the weeks ahead, at the Saint-Roch outdoor public pool, located on the banks of the Saint-Charles River, near Rue du Pont. An important gauge in how his works act as material echoes of an environment that is familiar, and yet, in all probability, one whose effects we continue to underestimate.
Drawing Field #02, by James Geurts at La Chambre Blanche, 2008.
(Translation French- English, Anne-Alise Bataille, 8 August 2009)
