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Contemporary Art Gallery

555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, Canada
Admission always free

Today's hours
12 pm - 6 pm
ArchiveExhibition
9 Sep 05until30 Oct 05

Daniel Olson

Twenty Minutes' Sleep

Alvin Balkind Gallery and CAG Façade

An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson. A steel-made grey working desk and a black leather-covered office chair are placed on the floor. The desk is covered with various objects, including a typewriter, a desk lamp, and a cigarette case.

Daniel Olson uses performance as a means to ignite his material production. The Montreal-based artist transforms existing objects, creating small and somewhat discrete interventions, at times enhancing or exaggerating their use value. For example, he adds a bell to a wooden walking stick, which can be rung with the simple flick of the thumb; he adheres a magnifying glass to a music box, exposing its inner workings; or melds a fan to a music-maker so both operate simultaneously. For Twenty Minutes' Sleep the artist will revisit earlier installations where he combined objects, sound, video, photographs, and performance, to create an office space that sets the stage for a shifting cast of characters. The most fitting occupant for this room is the cliched hard boiled detective, but dif­ferent characters surface in the smallest of ges­tures. Olson amplifies these with his performances where he morphs from himself to his father to the artist to the mysterious stranger.