Laurel  Woodcock, 

*Concrete Language* brings together contemporary artworks that explore visual and spatial relations in language. The project is conceived to examine the visual dynamics of language, creating a contemplative moment that is outside the way we commonly use or view language. Each of the artists in this international group exhibition builds relations between text and visual material that move beyond typical discursive or diagrammatic functions. Instead, the artists meld word and image to locate meaning at the meeting point, leveling the site of impact by creating an overt and immediate interdependence between what is being said and how it is visually perceived. The presentation of language is not used to emphasize meaning, but to create layers of meaning that unfold spatially over time and form a relation between language and space, creating a lull where perception is essential in establishing meaning. 

*Concrete Language* is sponsored by Donovan, Yaletown Contemporary Homes by Cressey.

Essay: “Concrete Language,” Jenifer Papararo and Christina Ritchie

A photograph of a busy city street corner hangs on a white gallery wall. A strip of yellow paint runs down the left side of the photograph. 

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A white neon sign is attached to a white wall. It is attached some feet above the floor. The sign reads “299,792,458 m/s.” White tubes are hanging from both ends of the sign.

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A brown film projector is installed on a pedestal that sits in a gallery space. It projects a coloured moving image to the white wall. In a film, a person reads a book outside a house.

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Large-sized braille is installed on a white wall between CAG’s lobby to one of its gallery spaces. The braille is placed around the height where adults’ hands will be when they stand.

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A text-based artwork is printed on a gallery wall. It reads, “the whole world + the work = the whole world” in black letters. A collection of blue and white paper is placed on the floor near the sign.

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7 times 5 stacks of brochures are placed on the grey gallery floor. The brochures are made of newsprint paper. Repetition of both their shape and blue and white cover image resembles water waves. 

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This is an installation shot of a group exhibition titled Concrete Language. Stacks of brochures are placed on the gallery floor. On a wall behind brochures, a text-based artwork is printed. 

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This is an installation shot of a group exhibition titled Concrete Language. A large-sized photograph is mounted on a wall. On the floor, two round-shaped black sculptures are placed. 

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In a small gallery space, a projector is hanging from the ceiling. It projects a slide to the wall. The phrase that appears in the image reads, “ready to hit the road,” in upper letters.

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In CAG’s lobby, a URL is printed on the grey steel beam that is attached to the wall. The URL is http://www.usask.ca/nativelaw/ddir.html and it appears in yellow letters. 

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A single-channel video work is projected on one of the gallery walls. The video shows a close-up of a person’s face. The person has blue eyes and wears a red toque.

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One of the windows on CAG’s facade displays a text-based artwork. It reads, “transportées d’un climat à un autre pour constituer” in upper letters.

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A blue neon sign is mounted on a gallery wall. The sign is a pair of quotation marks with some space left between each other. White tubes are hanging from both ends of the sign.

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Windows on CAG’s facade display text-based artworks. Some of the phrases and words are in French. Those texts are printed on the top part of each window. 

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A circular-shaped large mirror is mounted on a gallery wall. It reflects another circular mirror attached to the facing wall. There is a text printed on another mirror.

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This is an installation shot of a group exhibition titled Concrete Language. A tall and narrow white paper is mounted on the wall beside the gallery entrance. A neon sign is placed on the other wall. 

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Michael Baers, Fiona Banner, Filipa César, Martin Creed, Antonia Hirsch, Denise Oleksijczuk, Ian Grais, Vibeke Tandberg, Ron Terada, Ian Wallace, Lawrence Weiner, Laurel Woodcock, Cerith Wyn Evans, YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, Elizabeth Zvonar

Laurel Woodcock,

Exhibitions