Nova Scotian Conceptual Art at the NGC

David Askevold and Tony Oursler, Two Beasts (2007 -2010). Still, courtesy Oursler studio.

New visual arts contributor Jaenine Parkinson checks out the retrospective of Nova Scotia based conceptual artist David Askevold, opening at the National Gallery of Canada on October 7.

While born and raised in the USA, David Askevold (1940-2008) spent most of his artistic career in Nova Scotia. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the development of conceptual video and photo-based art. The large scale retrospective exhibition David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East contains 39 works from key stages in his career.

The first room of this three-gallery exhibition features photo-text ensembles and a number of film, super 8 and video works. One of the videos, Fill (1970) is, according to curator David Diviney, “quite possibly the first conceptual video art work ever created in Canada.” In this video the artist simply wraps a microphone with aluminum foil until the mass completely fills the screen. The crunching sound of the foil is picked up by the encased live microphone. Once the screen is filled with foil, a pair of hands reverses the process, unwrapping the mic.

This is classic conceptual art. What comes first, and what is most important, is the idea: an
abstract set of rules that describe a process. Wrap a mic with foil. Unwrap it. Conceptual artists, like Askevold, were not about creating fancy objects that showed off technical skill to make money on the art market. The materials they turned to, in reaction to all that, were words, documentary photographs, videos and performances. This is what makes up the bulk of the exhibition, and Askevoldʼs career. Beauty is not the point, although it can be found hiding in the repetitive gestures and loose narratives that characterize these works.

What is most interesting about this retrospective is that it shows how a conceptual approach—favouring ideas, rules and processes—is not a historical novelty. The final room of the exhibition has some of Askevoldʼs experiments with digital technology. Two works really stand out: What is Church? (2001); a digital collage assembled from photographs Askevold took of all the churches over 100 years old in Nova Scotia and PEI, and the video work Two Beasts (2007-2010); a collaboration with Tony Oursler, completed after Askevoldʼs death in 2008. Two Beasts is a grid montage of still and moving images collected by Askvold and Oursler. The images evolved from an unfolding series of instructions like “start at 12am, friday 13th, draw with eyes closed while listening to the movie sound track (Aliens 2), then take photos of objects given to you by family members, later try to shoot short video clips.” Both works bring conceptual processes and critiques into the present, showing their relevance for and influence on contemporary art today.

David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East runs until January 8, 2012. A curatorial tour will take place on Saturday, October 8, at 2pm. For opening hours, ticket prices and more information visit the National Gallery of Canada website.

Published: apartment613 on 6 October 2011 http://www.apt613.ca/2011/10/06/nova-scotian-conceptual-art-at-the-ngc/