Onsite Gallery's new thought-provoking exhibition, more-than-human, opening on February 1, invites visitors to rethink our relationship with the natural world.
The exhibition presents media artworks at the intersection of art, science, Indigenous worldviews, and technology that aim to rethink the perspective that sees nature as a lifeless resource for exploitation while decentering the human.
"The new exhibition offers a unique experiential tapestry that explores some vital questions of our relationships and responsibilities to the natural world," says Ryan Rice, Executive Director and Curator, Indigenous Art at Onsite Gallery. The gallery's Senior Curator, Lisa Deanne Smith, who coordinated the exhibition says, "We are very pleased to work with guest curator Jane Tingley and feature this caring group of talented artists."
Curated by Jane Tingley, Director of the SLOlab: Sympoietic Living Ontologies Lab and Associate Professor at York University, the group show features the works of six Canadian based artists/artist duos, including OCAD U Assistant Professor Suzanne Morrissette, and two international artists/artist duos.
Many of the artworks use technological and scientific tools as entry points for witnessing and interacting with the more-than-human worlds, as they help visualize phenomena beyond human sensory perception.
more-than-human grew out of a research project that Tingley has been working on since 2018 entitled Foresta-Inclusive. "The related, but wider overarching goal for this research project is to completely unsettle the mental habit of assuming that humans are superior to everything else on the planet," says Tingley. "The exhibition will illustrate that we are participants in a more-than-linguistic dialogue with many parts of a larger more complex ecosystem beyond human sensory capability."
More-than-human is a core exhibition of the CONTACT Photography Festival, featuring artists, Ursula Biemann / Lindsey french / Grace Grothaus / Dolleen Tisawii'ashii Manning + Mary Bunch / Suzanne Morrissette / Joel Ong / Rasa Smite + Raitis Smits / Jane Tingley with Faadhi Fauzi + Ilze [Kavi] Briede.
Free Public Events
The exhibition offers a series of free public events, including an opening reception, artists' panel discussions, a conversation with Jane Tingley and a guided nature and forest therapy walk in High Park.
More-than-human will be featured at Onsite Gallery until May 13, 2023. Learn more about the artists and the free public events and check out the online brochure publication.
Background on Jane Tingley
Jane Tingley is an artist, curator, Director of the SLOlab: Sympoietic Living Ontologies Lab and Associate Professor at York University. Her studio work combines traditional studio practice with new media tools - and spans responsive/interactive installation, performative robotics, and telematically connected distributed sculptures/installations. As a curator her interests lie at the intersection of art, science, and technology with a special interest in collaborative creativity as impetus for innovation and discovery. Recent exhibitions include Hedonistika (2014) at the Musée d'art contemporain (Mtl, CA), INTERACTION (2016) and Agents for Change (2020) at THE MUSEUM (Kitchener, CA).
About Onsite Gallery
Onsite Gallery, OCAD U's flagship professional gallery, presents contemporary, Indigenous, and public art and design to advance knowledge creation and stimulate local and international conversations on the urgent issues of our time.
