This exhibition catalogue, co-published by the Contemporary Art Gallery; and Open Space, Victoria in 2003, documents the exhibition, James Carl: *PLOT* at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, March 14 – April 27, 2003, and at Open Space, Victoria. The publication includes an essay by Robin Peck, and Christina Ritchie’s interview with the artist. The publication also includes a text contribution from Margrét H. Blöndal, a biography, and a number of exceptional full-page colour images of the artworks and installations.

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Plot

James Carl

Toronto artist James Carl likes to mix things up — to confound references and test limits and then to step back and watch things get funny. With a title such as *Plot*, the installation that he is preparing for the Contemporary Art Gallery, he could be reciting a cozy bedtime story, alluding to a secret con­spiracy or making a claim to some domestic real estate. Combining sculp­ture with graphic work, *Plot* demonstrates his contrary approach to tradi­tional artistic methods and materials, and the ways these things are both conditioned and altered by expectation and use. 


Interview: James Carl and Christina Ritchie

Seventeen paper-made boxes are installed in a gallery space. Some of them are just black and other boxes' surfaces mimic wood patterns. Some of the boxes are open and most of them are closed. 

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Two small grey desks are placed in a gallery space. The gallery wall behind the tables is covered with a black and white abstract pattern that looks like an enlarged photograph of a TV screen. 

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In the corner of a gallery space, A large black and white shape of a map is printed on a wall. The map is blank and half folded. Two hammer toys are placed on the floor close to the wall. 

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A small grey table is placed in a gallery. Its tabletop looks like that of a ping pong table. The gallery wall is covered with a black and white pattern similar to a wood surface. 

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This is an installation shot of CAG’s building facade. Silhouettes of household objects such as cleaning sprays are printed at the top of the windows. Books are installed inside the window spaces.

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James Carl

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