LA BIENNALE DE MONTRÉAL
At the former École des beaux-arts at Montréal
Open daily from noon to 6 pm, Thursday extended until 9 pm.
May 1-31 2011.
Artists
John Bock
John Bock works in sculpture, installations, performance and film. His burlesque, delirious world is strewed with an odd type of humor. Since 2002, video has played an increasingly important role in his work. The artist features himself and orchestrates stories in which the characters often become live sculptures.
Reference: Galerie Attitudes, Genève
« Les œuvres de John Bock sont généralement le résultat d'une performance effectuée de manière privée quelques jours avant l'ouverture de l'exposition. Lui-même qualifie « d’actions » ses interventions aussi dérangeantes que drôles (…) mélange de commentaires scientifiques, sociaux ou politiques, le monde de John Bock télescope différents objets et éléments dramatiques de manière souvent brutale »
Source: 8ème Biennale de Lyon, 2005
Photo: Jan Windszus
Project
John Bock's site-specific piece for the Biennale evokes feelings of alienation, entrapment, and the daily routine. Arranged as a kind of office-cum-living space, Bock's installation, entitled Monsieur et Monsieur has visitors encountering floors and walls at strange angles, rotting food and eerie lighting in a way that disorients and bombards the viewer. Metal grilled walls, a hamster wheel and even a dead mouse elicit feelings of being a caged animal, endlessly participating in a rat race between work and home; the merger of professional and personal space in this installation, coupled with the putrid state of its rooms, leads one to believe that the occupant of such a place would be mad, yet the only "occupants" are the visitors. The interaction of the bodies of visitors in relation to the space is important, as the artist often considers the bodies of the visitors to be living sculptures themselves.
During the Biennale, John Bock has directed a film within his installation.
Monsieur et Monsieur, 2011
General plan of the space created with Autocad
Credits: BNL MTL 2011 / Clara Louppe
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ed Kostiner
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ludovic Beillard
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ludovic Beillard
Monsieur et Monsieur (detail), 2011
Arrangements in existing space
Variable dimensions. Scenic decor of 77,5 square meter.
Photo: BNL MTL 2011 / Ludovic Beillard
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