Launched in 2012 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection, the SIGHTINGS satellite exhibition program was conceived as an experimental platform to critically reflect upon the possibilities and limitations of the modernist “white cube.”
In 2015, the Gallery introduced a new yearly thematic program for SIGHTINGS. Following a first cycle of projects focused on the question of work/labour, the 2016-2017 edition addresses pedagogy, considered as a critical interface between the university, arts venues and social space. With this in mind, artists and curators are invited to use the spatial and conceptual structure of the SIGHTINGS cube to question the construction of knowledge inside and outside the academic “box.”
SIGHTINGS is located on the ground floor of the Hall Building at 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West.
Tori or “The Theory of Categories”
November 30, 2016 – March 12, 2017
A project by Vincent Routhier
PART 1: THEORETICAL PRESENTATION
November 30, 2016 – January 27, 2017
PART 2: PRACTICAL APPLICATION
January 31 – March 12, 2017
EVENTS
Inauguration
Tuesday January 31, 2017, 5:30 pm
Location: SIGHTINGS Cube
1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Hall Building
Ground floor
The public is invited to the inauguration of the second part of the project Tori or “The Theory of Categories” in the presence of artist Vincent Routhier. A concrete representation in three dimensions of the “energetic potential” (p) contained in the SIGHTINGS cube will be unveiled.
Lecture
What is the “energetic potential” (p)?
Thursday March 9, 2017, 5:45 pm
Location: Amphitheatre VA-323, Visual Arts Building, 1395 René-Lévesque W.
In this lecture, artist Vincent Routhier defines and discusses the concept of “energetic potential,” as it is explored by way of a mathematical approach in his project Tori or “The Theory of Categories.”
The artistic project Tori or “The Theory of Categories” draws on topological methods to find a way to calculate and represent the “energetic potential” of the Sightings cube.
Tori comprises a methodological and empirical study that engages with the different structural aspects of the idea of quantity. It borrows theories from mathematics to analyze and represent models for the duplication of solids and of elementary geometrical figures. This work, at the level of both its theoretical construction and its performative application, focuses specifically on the possibility of deploying these models in different spaces, be they virtual or real – because it is within this deployment that the notion of “energetic potential” appears.
The energetic potential (p) does not correspond to the volume of a cube filled with air translated into joules. Nor is it the energy expended by an artist to create a work of art. It does however require the involvement of humans to exist and of energy if it is to be understood. It is a notion that cannot really be defined but that follows certain precise rules and structured models. As a concept, it cannot be characterized in its entirety; but when we put it into practice, it allows us to measure something. The energetic potential is an item of information that lies outside itself. It resides outside the conflict between yes and no.
Tori instrumentalizes the vocabulary and the general framework of mathematics in order to consider and better understand the notions of finite/infinite, of paradox, and of limit.
Tori or “The Theory of Categories” is a homeomorphous project: it represents itself in different shapes, while always remaining the same.
– Vincent Routhier
Tori is the plural of torus.
Torus: geometric solid that represents a curved tube closed in on itself.
In the hard sciences, the theory of categories is used to examine mathematical structures and the relationships among them (morphisms).
Vincent Routhier, a conceptual artist whose multidisciplinary practice finds its bases in philosophical thinking and a science-based approach, examines the possible complementarity of art and science. Approching his art practice as a pedagogical tool, he develops systems of duplications that find expression in drawings, geometrical figures and mathematical formulas. Vincent Routhier lives and works in Montreal. He recently completed an MFA in Intermedia/Cyber Art at Concordia University. His work has been presented in many galleries and art venues in Quebec and North America, including the Hellen Day Art Center (VT, US), Galerie B-312 (Montreal), the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Montreal), Galerie Simon Blais (Montreal) and La Galerie l’Œuvre de l’Autre (Chicoutimi). He is the recipient of the 2016 Sylvie and Simon Blais Award for Emerging Visual Artists. He also holds the first world record for the greatest number of duplications of the square applied to a sheet of paper.