Impulse
Marbella Carlos and Chris Mandseth
February 20 - March 28, 2009
Chris Manseth is a media artist in his senior years as a BFA undergraduate at the University of Calgary. Born and raised in Edmonton, his work has been shown locally in Alberta as well as nationally in Toronto. He is currently undertaking collaborative, project-based research investigating digital media creation with artists from Vancouver, Montreal and London, England.
Marbella Carlos was born in Manila, Philippines. Since making the move to Canada with her family as a child in 1989; she has been living and growing in Calgary, Alberta. Currently attending the University of Calgary, Carlos is enrolled in the Department of Art working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Studies with a Studio Concentration and intends to graduate in the winter of 2010.
Impulse
Marbella Carlos and Chris Mandseth
Discomfort is often characterized by the duality between seemingly opposing forces: the contradictory link between pleasure and pain, fascination and disgust, love and loss, scratch and stroke. There is an uneasy connection formed by repetitive acts with ambiguous intentions, particularly when one considers the ritualistic plucking of hairs or the jerky act of excessive scratching.
While Marbella Carlos’s Of Love and Loss and Chris Mandseth’s Itch, share the common element of gentle repetitive self-mutilation, they also share a similar fascination with the process of soothing discomfort. Both itching and losing hair are normal parts of day-to-day life; however, when these seemingly ordinary events become controlled and obsessive they appear strange and unnatural. Through a voyeuristic desire to watch, the viewer becomes part of this process, even if only through physical empathy.
The role of the viewer-participant is taken a step further by Mandseth’s Hello, which directly solicits the viewer to become, willing or not, an object of display. By putting the viewer in a position both of uncertainty and control Mandseth invites the audience to place themselves in an uncomfortable position, while simultaneously allowing for the contradictions inherent in accepting such an invitation.
Impulse invites viewers to experience the work both as audience members and potential collaborators. This combination allows the viewer a great awareness both of the self and the experience of the artist. Through direct self-portraiture and repetitious commonplace actions, Carlos and Mandseth evoke discomfort using the unlimited potential of interactive new media technologies. - Caitlind Brown
Caitlind Brown is an installation artist, photographer and filmmaker in her final year at the Alberta College of Art and Design. A native Calgarian, she volunteers for the Calgary International Film Festival, is an occasional writer for FFWD magazine and a radio co-host on Film Clips, a weekly program on CJSW 90.9fm. As a first-time curator, she hopes to emphasize the importance of experimental mediums and interactive art forms.
While Marbella Carlos’s Of Love and Loss and Chris Mandseth’s Itch, share the common element of gentle repetitive self-mutilation, they also share a similar fascination with the process of soothing discomfort. Both itching and losing hair are normal parts of day-to-day life; however, when these seemingly ordinary events become controlled and obsessive they appear strange and unnatural. Through a voyeuristic desire to watch, the viewer becomes part of this process, even if only through physical empathy.
The role of the viewer-participant is taken a step further by Mandseth’s Hello, which directly solicits the viewer to become, willing or not, an object of display. By putting the viewer in a position both of uncertainty and control Mandseth invites the audience to place themselves in an uncomfortable position, while simultaneously allowing for the contradictions inherent in accepting such an invitation.
Impulse invites viewers to experience the work both as audience members and potential collaborators. This combination allows the viewer a great awareness both of the self and the experience of the artist. Through direct self-portraiture and repetitious commonplace actions, Carlos and Mandseth evoke discomfort using the unlimited potential of interactive new media technologies. - Caitlind Brown
Caitlind Brown is an installation artist, photographer and filmmaker in her final year at the Alberta College of Art and Design. A native Calgarian, she volunteers for the Calgary International Film Festival, is an occasional writer for FFWD magazine and a radio co-host on Film Clips, a weekly program on CJSW 90.9fm. As a first-time curator, she hopes to emphasize the importance of experimental mediums and interactive art forms.