Human Body Exhibition

THE HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION

THE HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION

Introduction by Maimire Mennasemay, Aaron Krishtalka and Andrew Katz Edited by Frank Mulvey

APRIL 25–MAY 9, 2013 Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery Dawson College 4001 de Maisonneuve West Montreal, Canada H3Z 1A4

space.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/exhibits/summary/ the_human_body_then_now_and_in_the_future

This publication is dedicated to the late Dr. Anna Carlevaris of the Fine Arts Department, who worked with S.P.A.C.E. to inspire writers, photographers, engineers, artists, designers and scientists. Anna was a tireless researcher, historian, artist and friend. Her insightful introduction to last year’s Transforming Futures exhibition catalogue can be found in the exhibits section of space.dawsoncollege.qc.ca.

Introduction

The human body: poets sing or decry it; painters and sculptors, photographers and cinematographers catch it in myriad images; dancers shape its movements; athletes defy its limits; fashion designers dress or undress it; scientists and engineers analyze, explore, design replacement parts for it and transport it into space; doctors examine to treat it; surgeons invade it to fix it; lawmakers act to protect it; philosophers and theologians think to assign it its proper place in the moral universe; and lovers revel in its sensations and beauty. Each of us connects with one familiar instance of the Human Body—our own—intimately, in every waking moment of every day. It is at once a whole and a complex of parts, an organism and a mechanism, blossom and decay, ignored and a focus of the mind. It forms a model for how we conceive of our world: communities, organizations, or nations are bodies; Nature is a body; other planets are bodies. Even divinity has a body.

Yet the human body and how we should best conceive of it stays a riddle to us. Our views and our uses of it have shown remarkable plasticity, changing from culture to culture, from one era to another, from one discipline to another, from one profession to another, from one person to the other. Moreover, with growth in knowledge come novel and intriguing ways of imagining and understanding the body. Robotics, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, pharmacology and genetics are challenging the long held divide between Human and Machine, mind and body. While these developments ring their changes upon ancient themes, they seem to promise transformations of the faculties and powers of human beings; they also test our creativity, our understanding of self and our social and natural environment. Transfigured as well are our conceptions of the human body.

This exhibition presents a series of takes or interpretations of the human body through the perspectives of individuals who work in different disciplines. Each piece in the exhibition expresses a vision, intuition or understanding of the

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human body that is personal to the individual or shared by the group that submits it. SPACE invites you to consider the connections and divergences between these many points of view, as well as to explore and share your own perspective on the Human Body.

Maimire Mennasemay, Aaron Krishtalka and Andrew Katz, 2013

David Hoult

3rd year, Illustration & Design Ants In My Pants, 2012 Digital 91.4 cm x 61.0 cm

I am interested in poster design, editorial illustration, and street art. I approached the theme with the hopes of capturing the human body’s versatility, movement, variety, expression and beauty spread across culture, gender and race, in the past, present and future. The illustration is intentionally graphic and simple, but equally complex. Each figure appearing in the image is unique, displaying our collective diversity and transcending boundaries, but adhering closely to a template that demonstrates the idea that we are equal and share a common ground. Can you find Waldo?

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arkĂŠ

janus: conceptus humani corporis, 2013

An idea of a body is not a body An idea of the body is not a body An idea of a body is not the body An idea of the body is not the body The idea of a body is not the body The idea of a body is not a body The idea of the body is not the body The human body is a body An idea of the idea of the body is an idea The body is the body Does the body have ideas Does the body have ideas of itself Is the body something other than an idea of the body What?

Right now, there are a zillion and seven people studying, analyzing, and examining the human body throughout the world, and illustrating/demonstrating their thoughts, data, conclusions, reflections and images in all sorts of formats and situations. I think it is reasonable to ask: apart from all this probing and portraying of the human body, what are they talking about? My edginess about this occurs at the lived level. The body as lived life is not a word, an image or a representation. It is not data or information, although I do sometimes 6

sense it could be the cousin to an experiment, driven from within. Janus seems like an appropriate god to oversee this expression of my quandary.

Constantinos Giannoussis 1st year, Fine Arts

Nothing Unless, 2013 Mixed media on board 55.9 cm x 55.9 cm

Human beings are curious. We want to know and solve everything. For the things that are unsolvable we create our own meanings to pretend they are solved. As science continues to advance, many mysteries are being resolved, the kingdom of heaven is not in our clouds, the earth is not flat nor are there gods on mount Olympus. Things that people once believed in so passionately are now forgotten.

Despite being eager to solve all mysteries it is also important to keep some since it makes life worth living. The human mind will decide 7

how far it is willing to go. Is love but a chemical reaction? This is a self-portrait, most of it is grey and detailed for I know every part of it has been analyzed but what goes on in the heart and brain I would like to keep imaginary.

Devon Kalyniw 2nd year, Fine Arts

Fading; Age, 2013 Charcoal on acrylic stained ground and paper 66.04 cm x 50.8 cm

As old age sets in, it seems that a feeling of fading into obscurity comes with it. In this piece I used a dark charcoal ground with a suggestion of underlying energetic colour. The figure seems to blend and fade into the darkness of the black charcoal. I used the colour in an attempt to convey a distant memory of youth.

The warm/ cold colour contrast was used as a means to convey the sorrows and joys experienced in one’s life and experiences that are being reflected upon in the mind of the figure.

The texture of the wrinkled skin is emphasized

and accentuated by the markings on the charcoal ground. The figure’s facial expression is one of a mournful reminiscence of a life gone by. The colours give this fading figure a sense nostalgic vitality; an everlasting glow of a life once lived.

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Stephane Perez 1st year, Illustration & Design Stardust, 2012 Ink on board 50.8 cm x 38.1 cm

As human beings, we are more connected with the universe than we think. And in truth we are all connected, everything on this earth is connected to each other in astronomical ways.

The atoms that comprise everything we know here on earth are traceable to the massive stars that roam our galaxy. When a star has reached the end of its lifespan, it explodes, scattering its elements across the galaxy. These elements form gas clouds that over time condense and form new planets and solar systems, some of them even containing the ingredients for 9

life. Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson brings up an important point that many of us overlook: “When i look up at the night sky I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, the universe is in us.� I made this piece to signify the message that Dr. Tyson and late astronomer Carl Sagan are trying to spread to the general population.

That we are all connected, that we all share a common origin and that we are all indeed, stardust.

Ariane Arsenault 2nd year, CALL: Literature Her Finger, 2012 Shape poem

A finger Long and Slender Trimmed Into a White And slim Curve Its knuckles Bumpy but Smooth Gripping My wrist Oh how Do I Remember Her finger Warm yet Ice cold Against The sun’s Yellow Fireball Gleam Her love Written All over One limb This is a shape poem called Her Finger, and is written about a finger, which can be looked at as unimportant, yet can be very relevant for the human body. Often, people overlook features of the human body, which is why I decided to write a poem about a finger. People take their fingers for granted, which is a shame.

Perhaps the audience will look at fingers as an individual part of the human body, instead of the whole of a body, after reading this poem.

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Lorraine Doucet Sisto

1st year, Fine Arts

Spleen et Idéal, 2013 Charcoal, graphite and colored pencils on paper 65 cm x 50 cm

A pretty girl sits here musing in the shadows.

We peer at her with prying eyes through a rounded gap. We shouldn't be here. A ghostly glimmer of hope appears to her right but it seems to be fading. She has smeared her red lipstick across her fragile lips and porcelain cheeks. It did not belong on her youthful face.

Her hands clutch her naked knees. Her insecurity lurks and her tar black thoughts linger.

She is no good. She is weak. She is forgotten.

In French, the word ‘Spleen’ expresses a state of pensive gloom or melancholia. The poet Charles Baudelaire popularized the term in his famous book of poems Les Fleurs du Mal. ‘Spleen et Idéal’, the first part of the book, addresses the themes of boredom, debauchery and decay, ugliness and ideals of beauty.

We expect too much out of people. We judge, we ignore and we divide. Strangeness has charm and darkness is enchanting. We are not always beautiful but we could never be ugly.

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Caroline Acoca 2nd year, CALL: Literature Blood, 2012 Shape poem

It Drips and It drops inside Of our unappreciative Bodies although it helps with Each and every choice we make The accidents we tirelessly try to avoid Are aimed at the avoidance of the unpleasant Discovery of what we are repeatedly told rests inside Our bodies. It epitomizes the truth of our existence, our Story which we cry out. The heart which we blame for our Shortcomings, our failures, aches, uncertainties and our creativity That same heart holds the substance which is the essence of our fear And all of our doubts. This, which we do not want to see. Not near those Which we always love and relentlessly care for, although we know it allows Our hearts to hold our incessant love for them through the years. It allows their Existence to remain undisturbed. Though somehow, we know that we remain Disturbed at the immediate thought or direct sight of the unpleasant, terrifying Mention of what we wisely acknowledge lies within us. Though our strength, Our intelligence, our prosperity, and our questionable ease towards life are Dictated by the presence and abundance of this anxiety we define As red, unsettling, opaque, indifferent to our anger. Final eyes In their known age, with their fine lines recognizing Themselves as time ridden, point their power Upon the sight of blood. Blood is cringed At, never truly appreciated for its Visible elegance.

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Jasmine Blais, Isabelle Dufresne-Lienert, Devon Kalyniw, Samantha Laroche, Marieke Denil, Miles Petrella 2nd year, Fine Arts, Applied Techniques II course Printed Skulls, 2013 Photo silkscreen, paper assemblage Each skull 27. 9 cm x 16.5 cm x 21.6 cm

As mixing media has become commonplace, artists have become increasingly drawn to the inherent characteristics of the print in order to attain specific aesthetic and expressive goals.

Concepts of imprinting, multiplicity, reproduction, and printing works in series, in addition to the physically printed forms are now widely used by artists today.

The objective of the printed skull project was threefold, to teach students the photo silkscreen process, to explore the concept of print as a means to create dynamic and repetitive printed surfaces on a form, and to explore the skull as a theme; a symbol for life and death and a framework that protects the brain. Students could map the skull with their knowledge on the human body, thoughts, images of self, hidden emotions, and more. Original photos, 13

drawings, textures, and graphic elements were transferred photo mechanically onto the screen and printed through the silkscreen process.

Claude Arseneault (Faculty, Fine Arts)

J茅r么me Bertrand 3rd year, Professional Photography Ill, 2012 Photographs 9 x (48.6 cm x 33.0 cm)

My on-going work is a fiction series that deals with the mechanization of the human body. I explore the idea that humans rely on science to answer their expectations and hopes of a flawless future. My images question the idea of perfection in technology by translating our current health issues into a cybernetic context.

They are meant to leave the viewer with a question: is progress in technology a real solution?

We are already integrating simple devices such as screws and metal plates into our bodies in order to repair a suffered bone structure. More 14

complex technological gear, such as the pacemaker, could be the genesis of a greater scale of fusion, between technology and biology. But where does that lead humankind?

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Camille Beaudoin 1st year, Illustration & Design Penance, 2012 Pen and China ink 53 cm x 38 cm

Through this piece, I am exploring the theme of the human body from a psychological perspective. I have created an imagery of the conflict between the human body and its moral conscience. The title I have given to the piece, Penance, is defined as ‘a punishment undergone in token of penitence’. The punishment endured by the anonymous character here, is the most agonizing; haunting remorse; regret and anxiety for doing wrong. The incarnation of the devil-like character as the woman's remorse conveys a dark and frightening threat.

Its enlarged size emphasizes the insecurity and helplessness one may feel when facing one’s inner demons. The devil creeping out of the darkness with its hand sneaking up silently behind her shoulder translates the anxiety of our conscience, getting the best of us, in a moment of mental conflict.

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The woman being constructed of one same stream of lines, which are being manipulated by the devil, shows her fragility as she is eaten away by regret. The lines the woman is drawn from seem to be shaken to pieces, as if she were on the edge of breaking down from the weight of her guilty conscience, like a puppet controlled by her angst.

The two contrasting styles of rendering in pen and ink between the fictitious character and the human body communicate a feeling of uneasiness and suggest the inner conflict the woman is facing between good and evil, or right and wrong. This piece leaves us contemplating the severe power the conscience has on every human being, and how we sometimes perceive it as a menace to our sanity when under the pressure of a moral conflict.

Jasmine Blais 2nd year, Fine Arts

Soul, 2012 Acrylic, marker and collage 153 cm x 122 cm

The human body and its many parts can reveal numerous aspects about the people who live within them. When I study the figure, I try to create a discourse between the physical being and myself. I overlaid parts of the human body over a nude figure to suggest that the body can accomplish great things and yet be so fragile.

My imagination takes me beyond the superficial layers that house the individual in order to investigate what is at the center of our being; our soul.

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Marc-André Brière 1st year, Illustration & Design Octonoid, 2012 Pen on board 50.8 cm x 38.1 cm

Octonoid is a general reflection on society’s interactions with individuals whose bodily appearance is unconventional. The first figure is a patient sitting in a wheelchair. His lanky body resembles that of any tall and scrawny man, but on his shoulders sits the head and tentacles of a Dumbo octopus. The second figure is an athletic male nurse who is pushing the wheelchair. Although the scene is taking place in a room without water I chose to give the nurse a sponger’s helmet for two reasons. The first reason is to express his need to somehow isolate himself from his patient by creating a ‘wall’, which in turn isolates the patient as well. The second reason is because sponger helmets have viewing windows in all directions. So even with a clear sight he is consciously making the decision to create isolation. Other symbols are the aquarium’s

coral, and their humanoid hints, that are my way to metaphorically explain the fragility and frailty of the situation. The balance from the plaque on the wall is a way of bringing up the subject of equality. Finally I’d like to bring up the possibility of the sponger’s helmet being used to protect the nurse from a possible ink attack. We do not know more than what is shown in this scene and therefore have no past to compare.

Maybe the patient has violent outbreaks? Maybe we are too quick to judge the nurse or the patient?

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Kaia'tanoron Dumoulin Bush 1st year, Illustration & Design and graduate, Fine Arts Agnus Dei, 2012 Pencils and pastels on gessoed paper 92 cm x 152 cm

Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. ( John 1:29) This piece is best summarized by a quote found in a twelfth century Latin Bestiary.

Antalops ‘Do thus also, O Man of God, thou who dost endeavor to be sober and chaste and to live spiritually! Your two horns are the two Testaments, with which you can prune and saw off all your fleshy vices from yourself, that is to say, adultery, fornication, avarice, envy, pride, homicide, slander, drunkenness, lust and all the pomps of this world. Thus will the angels reward you with the virtues of heaven’. (White) While reading this text, I found that the intimate relationship between man, woman and animal that I sought to portray in a drawing was elegantly expressed in a way that I am unable express in writing (particularly so with the text referring to the Antalops). It seemed that the more I read this text, the more I felt I could slip into the piece. One more little symbol, one more little metaphor. Some of this text is written in the margin of the drawing, and some were passages that fueled the drawing in the wee hours of the morning but simply did not make it to the margin.

(White) White, T.H. The Book of Beasts: Being a Translation From a Latin Bestiary of the Twelfth Century.

(New York: Dover Publications, 1984), pp. 19, 24, 73, 74, 75, 76, and 223.

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Alexandra Carr 1st Year, Illustration & Design Strangers, 2012 Ink on board 50.8 cm x 38.1 cm

This is an ink drawing of two figures, one surrounded by a natural scene and the other in a portal to a futuristic world. The organic and dark atmosphere of the natural scene speaks to the variation and mystery in nature. The nude woman can be seen as our ancient connection to nature, to an image of a human long ago. This figure is at nature’s mercy, naked and defenseless yet adapted to her surroundings. This is a sharp contrast to the futuristic figure in the portal, which has hard lines and inorganic shapes now added on to the human 21

form. These straight lines on the figure mimic the city behind. Will advancements in science and medicine allow us to shape ourselves? Will we have to adapt to our new surroundings?

The two figures peer out at each other, on two ends of human existence. Humans have always questioned where we are going. Once we get there, will we recognize what we were?

Kamila Chemodanova 2nd Year, Illustration & Design

My Daughter’s Home, 2012 Watercolour and colour pencils on paper 45.7 cm x 35.5 cm

I painted this painting two days before my daughter's delivery. All my senses were focused on her, this mysterious being inside me. I didn't know how she would look like, what her character would be like, or what kind of person she would be; but I wanted to love and protect her with all my heart. At that moment my clumsy body with a huge belly and swollen feet didn't matter, the only thing that did was the mystery inside me. My body did not belong to me; it was my daughter’s home.

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Suhyun Choi 2nd year, Fine Arts

The Virgin Mary, 2012 Oil on canvas 122 cm x 61 cm

Partially inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, this piece is a statement on how virginity is viewed in the leading religions of today. Sexuality, in this way, is somewhat restricted because of how people are viewed for their behaviors.

It is unforgiving and shows no mercy: one is either viewed as the Virgin Mary or as Mary Magdalene.

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Ying Ding

1st year, Illustration & Design New Era, 2012 Ink on board 34.3 cm x 45.8 cm

This drawing is dedicated to all the women from the past, present and future who dislike doing household work because it is very energy consuming. In the future, I wish that robots would be invented with bodies that are more suited for this type of job. These robots would have efficient bodies that never get tired; they would obey orders and would never complain.

Beings of flesh and bones would be substituted by machines with durable components.

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Sophie El-Assaad Graduate, Fine Arts

Moving Life, 2010 Graphite, ink and coloured pencil on paper 148.5 cm x 97. 5 cm

With the human body at the center of this piece, the concept I wanted to create was inspired by 17th century European vanitas still lives, in which the ephemeral quality of life is presented. Throughout history and especially in this day and age, humans have placed themselves upon a pedestal, forgetting at times that they are merely living organisms among others on this earth, and that they too will pass. In this particular piece, the individuals are presented in a manner that shows both the interior and exterior of the body, underlining their beauty, 25

but also the body itself as a carcass or meat, and nothing more. The three bodies are placed in a way that showcase a passing of time, from the ‘fallen’ and the ‘falling’, to the ‘present’. The ‘falling’ beholds an air of ‘knowing’, seemingly a realization of what is to happen. The bodies are placed over a bed of dead flies and human hair, reaching a point of intermingling as they merge into one another participating in the death and renewal of life.

Annette Fanzhu 1st year, Illustration & Design Faรงade, 2012 Ink on board 47 cm x 39 cm

In this artwork, the transformed human body (the girl) represents the victim of social pressure. The mask symbolizes physical appearance, which can either represent an extension of individuality or a protection to hide inner feelings. However, in this case where the theme revolves around social pressure, it is the latter that is shown, implying that the human body is simply thought about as an aesthetic form in today's society. For individuals who are less affected by social pressure, the human body, as mentioned above, can be thought about as 26

not only a way to represent an aesthetic but also to represent one's own unique preferences and personality. Hence if social pressure were to lessen and people decided to question sincerely their own decisions, the notion of the human body would change into something more than just physical appearances or aesthetics. However for now, I believe, it is still in its stage where society determines how the human body should be like rather than the individuals that form it, which is what my artwork is about.

Steven Gee 1st year, Fine Arts I, 2013 Ink on paper 35 cm x 27 cm

While on my Winter holiday 2012, I got this idea to create these half angel and devil beings. I call these beings Deans. I have derived the name from using the first two letters of (Devil + angel).

They embody the human spirits, both the light and shadow natures of the human psyches. Our human bodies are vessels for the human’s spirits, which are gender neutral, ageless and culture neutral. I have titled the piece I because these beings form the letter ‘I’ if you see the work from far. But up close you will see they make up the word ‘The Human Body’. The work also speaks plenty about my Chinese Canadian cultural background. I am of Asian ancestry, and I grew up with the Catholic faith. The angels and devils represent the Catholic symbols of good and bad and the Deans represent the ideology of Buddhism: each human has a compassionate and a dark side. In essence, the piece shows how our upbringing can transform our human bodies.

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Tarik Azzouni Graduate, Social Science

Perfect Body Culture, 2013 Essay

The modern day idea of attaining the perfect male body is not a new concept. Physical culture gained popularity during the interwar years in Britain around the late 1800s.

Many reasons contributed to its growth. One of these reasons was to put the nation’s men in better physical shape in order to participate in the war effort. (ZweiningerBargielowska). Another reason why physical culture gained popularity in Britain was due to the promotion of manliness within war. The male body had to be fit and above all had to look fit (Zweininger-Bargielowska). Physical culture gained its popularity through the promotion of various physical culturists of that time. One of these important figures was Eugen Sandow. Nicknamed ‘Sandow the Magnificent’, he was viewed as having the ideal body, making him the perfect man. His body was a ‘sculpture come to life’ whose muscles displayed absolute beauty. Originally from Prussia, Sandow travelled as an athlete in the circus and wowed British audiences when he showed off his body in London in 1889. Sandow was one of the main figures who headed physical culture in Britain with the launch of his monthly physical culture magazine Sandow’s Magazine, which provided the average person with physical development manuals (Zweininger-Bargielowska). Sandow’s inspiration derived from ancient Greece’s bodily aesthetics. Male sculptures were created with what was thought of to be the ideal body, the body in its ‘highest possible state and power’.

This is what Sandow strived to achieve with British men.

Civilization was responsible for the degradation of the human body and Sandow sought to undo that evil. To attain this pure bodily state in the eyes of Sandow, one must master the concepts of ‘self-control’, ‘personal cleanliness’ and ‘temperance’. Sandow made it his mission to provide this opportunity for all British males (ZweiningerBargielowska). The idea of physical culture has not changed much from the late 19th century. Males then and now seek to gain muscular fitness, but above all to look muscularly fit.

Physical culturists of the interwar years can be equated to modern day body builders and both strive to achieve bodily perfect, in their own unique ways. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 28

being a native of Austria, also surprised foreign and worldwide audiences with his first appearance in his participation in the Mr. Universe Competition of 1966 in London, coming second behind Chest Yorton and winning his first in 1967 (‘Mr. Everything–Arnold Schwarzenegger’). This illustrates that notions regarding the human male body have not changed. Males still strive, or desire, to achieve this bodily perfection. To further this argument, Sandow gained his inspiration from ancient Greek bodily aesthetics in which we can see Plato’s theory of ‘Idealism’, come into play. Sandow often posed naked in order to bring out his true bodily nature (Zweiniger-Bargielowska). This is reminiscent of the ancient Greek Olympic Games. These Greek aesthetics served, in ancient Greece and Sandow’s time, and serve to this day as the template for what the ideal male body should represent.

“Mr. Everything–Arnold Schwarzenegger” Schwarzenegger.com. n.d..

Credit Plus Health. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <www.creditplushelath.org>.

Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Ina. “Building a British Superman: Physical Culture in Interwar Britain.” Journal of Contemporary History 41.4 (2006): 595-610. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Lise-Hélène Larin Faculty, Fine Arts

Digital Body, 2000–2013 Digital, outtake from the 3D animation Euphobia

Dans ce film, c'est le corps morcelé qui se meut et s'émeut dans la machine; un sentiment éprouvé devient une sensation à être éprouvée... Le corps y est, non parce qu'il est représenté comme objet, mais par les sensations évoquées et provoquées qui le transforment. Le rythme pulsé des images évoque la respiration et instaure la continuité entre des fragments de corps tentant de se rejoindre indéfiniment. La lumière venant du fond de l'écran donne un effet (in)défini ‘d'impression’ corporelle. Comme le disait si bien Valéry: “La 29

sensation, c'est ce qui se transmet directement, en évitant le détour ou l'ennui d'une histoire à raconter.”

Note: the 3D animation can be viewed without sound at www.lisehelenelarin.com (click on Portfolio, Nouveau Medias, Euphobie)

Gianni Giuliano Graduate, Fine Arts

La déconstruction du postmodernisme, 2012 Oil and charcoal on canvas 152 cm x 76 cm

For several years now my paintings depict compositions that are ironic and absurd. More recently I have been trying to create different image tensions by either the type of medium, technique or choice of imagery. I further develop and play with this tension, for example having a human figure realistically rendered in some areas while having a less finished treatment in others. It consequently creates ambiguous juxtapositions in an attempt to capture a spectator’s attention, to have them question, further challenge and decipher the plot of the work.

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Julianna Joos Faculty, Fine Arts

Polka-dot Dress, 2013 Hand-sewn dress, digital print on polyester georgette 180 cm x 60 cm x 10 cm

Polka-dot Dress is a textile artwork created using a digital print on polyester georgette fabric. The dress is wearable but the clothing is about perception and not fashion; its purpose is to describe an internal reality and not to embellish the human body. We judge beauty based on external looks; we improve our appearance through plastic surgery, diet and exercise, make-up and expensive clothing. It is important for us to look good. However our destiny lies in the shapes of tiny cells: normal or abnormal. I want to show an aspect of the human body not usually visible to the eye; it is the view of specimens that enable contemporary medical science to give a life-changing verdict. I have created the pattern on this fabric using an enlarged image of cells from a Pap smear*, which in this case represent cells called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;polka-dotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. These cells are benign, non specific and quite frequent. *Photograph by Dr Manon Auger

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Caitlyn Rafters 2nd year CALL: Visual Arts Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Got Butterflies, 2013 Clay, paper and wire 24 cm x 13 cm x 11. 5 cm

This sculpture represents a rebirth. The woman demonstrates that she is overcoming fear and anxiety that society sets on her. The butterfly has two meanings, it first signifies the unhealthy relations with mass media and secondly, it signifies the conquering of feeling uneasy and letting go that sense of entrapment. The butterfly also represents the flutter a woman experiences in her belly during the early stages of pregnancy. The body represents beauty and the power of a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curvaceous figure. Together the internal message is that a 32

woman can outshine any obstacles that define who she is as a person.

Amy Hands

3rd year, Illustration & Design All is One, 2012 Digital (see pages 34–35) 30 cm x 46 cm

This piece is a comment on the general ideas that are inspired by the belief-system Oneism. It addresses the perception that a hierarchy does not exist between humans and nature. The human body is not necessarily thought of as special in regards to plants or animals since everything comes from the same place and was made on equal ground. It is sometimes thought that we must re-immerse ourselves into nature in order for each individual to become their own god and essentially reach ultimate fulfillment. The piece was intended to depict a world where humans believed that they had become disconnected from the universe.

To reclaim their place, they attempted to reconnect themselves and to make everything one. Over time, their methods became more extreme, to the point of physically integrating their bodies with the world, in the most literal sense, as a last resort since the body was what they believed was their strongest link to their existence. The result is a desolate ice-covered world filled with the terrible reminders of man’s final attempt at godhood. Humans were overtaken by the earth and ice and lost themselves. We see this through the eyes of one who remembers the true importance and purpose of the human body.

Melanie Mascle

Luc Zafiris

Intersexuality, 2012 Watercolour and ink on paper, digital (see pages 36–37) 27. 94 cm x 43.18 cm

?, 2012 Mixed media, (see pages 38–39) 27. 94 cm x 43.18 cm

3 year, Illustration & Design rd

Looking at my piece on Intersexuality, we can see that on one side I represented a typical female and on the other a male figure. They are also identified by the two sex chromosomes Females (XX), and Males (XY). Many people overlook the fact that it is possible for some people to have sex characteristics that don’t let them identify as just female or just male, that a person could be in between, but sadly when they fill out a form, there are only 2 options. The male and female genitals come from the same tissue in the fetus. The presence of male sex hormones determines how the genitals develop. Without enough male hormones (androgens), a genetic male (XY) will develop ambiguous genitalia.

Whereas, a genetic female (XX) will develop ambiguous genitalia if there are male hormones. Many intersex individuals will go through a lot of confusion concerning their gender identity. Since a decision has to be made at birth, a gender is assigned to them, therefore some may be raised as one gender and then discover that they identify with the other, or others will find it impossible to choose one or the other and will consider themselves as a mix of the two. I do believe that androgyny is more and more accepted in our society today, especially when we look at the fashion world, the acceptance of different sexual orientations and gender identity.

3rd year, Illustration & Design

And then that moment arrives, when we ask ourselves questions. And then, we desperately seek answers. Before we know it, we have become more insecure. Insecure of who we are; ‘what’ we are. Then another question: why are we? Instead of answers however, we find fear, shame, isolation… What might be distancing us from our happiness are answers. If so, maybe we should start asking the right questions. This work is an exploration of the quest for identity that is often associated with our body and its impact on who we are.

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Jie Lin

2nd year, 3D Animation & CGI

一念三千 yinian sanqian (three thousand existential spaces in a single life moment), 2012–2013 Cast hydrostone 38 cm x 26 cm x 26 cm

This life-sized bust of a young woman depicts, in an outward manner, some of the unseen forces latent within the human form. In this case they are represented by mythical, oriental figures from antiquity. The ‘Great Dragon’, perched high on the head, represents the aspect of enlightenment. The small single-headed demon manifests the pain of infinite hunger. The double headed demon is a caricature of the sufferings of living and dying.

The Great Dragon’s seizure of a small skull in his mouth represents a triumph over life’s ending. Though the head is presented here, these life forces are also characterized by an infinite number of metaphors relating various energies to the chest, arms, sex, back etc.

The sculpture is a reflection of a single moment wherein the interplay of these disparate forces is one of tranquility, reflected in the rather serene expression on the woman’s face.

This piece was created under the instruction of Juan Gomez Perales in the Sculpting Human Anatomy course. Jie Lin would like to acknowledge the collaboration of Raghad Al Labadie (model) and Brian Rahilly (technician).

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Karla Gruodis

Faculty, Department of English Spine, 2013 Ink on paper 28 cm x 22 cm

This ink drawing is part of series I am currently working on, in which I am exploring how our relationship to the body is affected by modern medical technologies. How do we continue to see ourselves, know the body, and remain connected to it when imaging technologies claim to know what is happening inside us? How much do these technologies tell us about what the body really is? The technique of drawing with ink and ink washes on paper is deliberately chosen because it mirrors the contingent nature of medical images, and the elements of chance and change in medical views of the body. Just as an x-ray, MRI or CT scan can only offer a picture of some aspects of the body in a certain moment, these drawings attempt to capture only some layers and shapes related to the female form and its experience. Like the water that makes up so 42

much of the human body, the ink, applied in layers, shifts and moves continuously until it dries, the texture and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the paper also dictating what shapes the image will ultimately settle into.

A final layer of pure vermillion ink sketches the spine, the red seeping into the damp paper like the blood and other bodily fluids circulating in the body. It is a partial, imperfect, momentary view of the body, just the like ones offered to us by current technologies.

Sara Hum

1st year, Illustration & Design Body & Soul, 2012 Ink on board 38 cm x 51 cm

In many cultures of both the past and present day the body has been perceived as a vessel for the soul. Many individuals in these cultures aspire to transcend their earthly bodies and look forward to an after-life where their soul will live on free forever. The symbolism in my image is that while some people hold this belief and perceive the world through this filter of being a temporary cage for their soul, others maintain the logical world of their human senses and crush the idea of the soul out of their daily lives. While both live and interact with the same world, they see and experience it in very different ways.

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Lawrence Marler 1st year, Fine Arts

Zombies Have Feelings Too!, 2013 Graphite on paper and digital 5 x (27.9 cm x 21. 6 cm)

I would like to start things off by saying that I love zombies. I like almost everything about them, their awkward movements, their ruthlessness, the way they somehow look absolutely disgusting even after just being bit a minute before. I find them to be the coolest monsters.

Zombies have been portrayed in many movies, shows and comic strips like The Walking Dead, a very popular TV series, or Dawn of the Dead one of the more modern films based on the zombie apocalypse. But all these movies and shows depict zombies to be nothing more than brain eating, blood stained killing machines. My project’s purpose is to show people that zombies may have more emotions then we think they do.

My project consists of five zombie portraits, each of them showing an emotion that I believe they share with humans: Desperation, Raw Instinct, Soullessness, Adjustment and Acceptance.

I would like to show everyone that zombies have feelings too and we can’t just ignore them because they might not be emotions and feelings that our society recognizes. It’s easy for people to look at my zombie pictures and laugh and say “oh that’s so true!” but what if I changed my title to “Homeless people have feelings too!” or “Killers have feelings too!”? It would not be as easy to smile and laugh about, right? When you look at these portraits try to apply these emotions to the people you see all around you. Everyone can fake an emotion but zombies can’t, they’re exactly as you see them, nothing is hidden.

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Alexia Marsillo 2nd year, Liberal Arts

Superhuman or Supermuse: science and art in prosthetics, 2012 Essay

Did you know that the human foot holds 25% of all the bones in our body? The body surprises us sometimes - and science even more so in the world of prosthetics. This interesting biological and mechanical world takes huge leaps everyday as it recaptures not only our limbs’ capabilities in the form of a prosthetic but could soon turn us into ‘superman’.

come in, to ensure that their limbs are always at their maximum capabilities.

The idea of the ‘superhuman’ not only gives us a new and futuristic view of the world of prosthetics, it redeems those needing a new arm or leg. Not only are these re-invented men, women, and children getting a new lease on life, they turn it into something beautiful and worthy. Pruscilla Bio mechatronics is the science that merges man with Sutton, the proud user of a prosthetic leg, decided to celmachine. Artificial limbs are becoming increasingly similar ebrate it by launching an exhibition that brings together a to real limbs and are making us wonder how much better varied range of artists who are all using prosthetic limbs as a human we might become. Bio mechatronics are not sim- their canvas. The exhibition, named Spare Parts, was showply restoring human motor controls that have been lost by cased in England this year for the 2012 Paralympic Games. trauma or injury but are enhancing them. Take the shoul- Artists showcased their artistic limbs with the aim of creatder for example. Shoulder prosthetics are quite interesting ing an open-minded and celebratory attitude towards the because they only work by reversing the structure of an world of prosthetics. actual shoulder. It's fascinating to think that scientists have discovered a way to recreate a human limb by reversing its These created limbs have not only served as a physical anatomy! Shoulder replacements have been directly derived repairmen for those who have lost a body part, but are now from hip replacements. Today German scientists are finding accompanied by projects, like Pruscilla’s project, that serve a way to better the procedure by creating a so-called ‘high- to emotionally repair the damage. The world of prosthetics tech artificial hip’. Prosthetic hips are usually always made has developed a new spirit to it. A world that is inspiring. with metal, which can cause problems with the success These increasingly impressive achievements will continue and health of the patient. But these scientists are creating to build the ‘superhuman’. a high-tech hip by not using any metal at all. Ceramic, a material that has never been used in this field before, is now becoming a vital and revolutionary material. There have also been cases where patients have reported of abilities they have acquired with their limbs - almost like superpowers. Recipients of robotic ankles are said to have been able to propel across the room in 400-watt bursts of power. The world of prosthetics is gaining a sense of allure and power that has never been seen so far. People with artificial limbs are subjected to upgrades once a new development has 45

Sean Davidson 3rd year, Illustration & Design Human, 2012 Digital 27.9 cm x 43.2 cm

The human body is seen differently by everyone and always will be; in positive and negative ways alike. The motivation behind this piece was to show that the world is not a kind place. There are many disgusting things that human beings say to each other, and many of them are based solely on how someone looks whether it be their colour, size, or just looking different in general. The message I was going for was that no matter what people may say to or about each other, if you take a piece of every human being on this planet and combine them, you'll still get a human being in the end; flaws included. I find it noteworthy that the flaws are what make us unique, and yet the same: Human. It's a shame that not everyone can see things that way.

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Victoria Mastropietro 2nd year, CALL: Literature My Fingertips, 2012 Poem

Real and new they swirl with the only thing that makes me unique.

Then they used to brush her face and pull on her earrings.

They knew the softness of my favorite blanket and understood the strength of a mother’s grasp.

They fiddled and moved at every delight.

Now they hit keys writing, trying to make reality.

Or sometimes scratching at a wall in anger and pain or sometimes pushing through your tousled hair and running down your chest or sometimes peeling my lips when nerves take over and picking at my skin.

Soon they’ll ache, the skin collecting in awaited lines.

They’ll try to touch your face my face they’ll ache and slow down.

My fingertips trying to grasp at life, the touched and untouched left behind.

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David Goranitis Graduate, Fine Arts

Fred and Ludwick (diptych), 2013 Oil on canvas 92 cm X 122 cm (each panel)

These two portraits are of my colleagues.

They are garbage men, and we are blue-collar workers working with our bodies. We are not machines but almost: working long straining hours pumping endorphin in our blood stream. We put ourselves in danger every day hanging behind the truck on yellow undersized foot-boards; flying in midair with trash we throw and dispose of, dancing with each other in synchronicity with the truck; we own the streets! Our bodies erased behind our function. They do not suspect we are athletes with strong muscles and sharp minds that analyze the surroundings in milliseconds, gathering information to avoid danger and to become evermore efficient. We are not virtual; we are men who work with our bodies in a day and age in which working with oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body is becoming a rarity. The viewer can see through the reflective bands of the workers leaving the impression men and women like that are becoming transparent, as in the past when thousands of workers were replaced by machinery; but what machine is as flawless and beautiful as the human body?

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David Hoult

3rd year, Illustration & Design

Master Feeds, 2005 Pen and marker on notebook pages Each page 15.2 cm x 9.5 cm, 24 pages

In 2005 I purchased a small notebook in a thrift store, manufactured in 1978. I was playing around with comic book medium at the time and decided I wanted to turn the notebook into a short comic. Hard pressed to come up with a story, I turned to the name of the manufacturer on the front for inspiration and also conveniently for a title.

Master Feeds became a story about a very heavyset man who came into power and used his influence to feed the population until they too were obese. The story is not meant to be offensive to anyone, and is primarily intended as a comment on our societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tendency towards excess and blind acceptance of authority, despite the consequences posed to our physical and spiritual well being.

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Jules Prudâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;homme Faculty, Illustration & Design

Gold or Iron, 2013 Mixed media 30.5 cm x 30.5 cm x 20.3 cm

Between the moment of our birth and our inevitable death, a life occurs. Fed at first by the mother in nature and after by other sources, the body will evolve, growing from elemental functions along complex and ramified paths. Discovering the world, knowing ourselves, traveling in the flesh and bones we inhabit as much as in our souls.

the body: cultural, social, political, circumstantial, physical. The changes and scars of life, emotional or physical, affect the body. Fears, pressure, discomfort, complexes, judgments from others, marks and wounds, experiences and illness are all cages.

Any cage, real or symbolic, is a metaphor by definition. The human body itself is a cageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if we leave it closed. The human body can also be the door that opens to freedom.

Decisions are ours. And sometimes they are not. Control and power, the exercise of it, the abuse of it, over an individual, over entire populations, races and religions, imposed customs or rituals, are all bars circling us. And we ourselves can build a cage around, and inside, ourselves, through conscious and unconscious decisions, through acts of defence. Fooled by gold bars or trapped by iron.

Despair is a cage, as hope of freedom lives in all of us. This freedom, however, most humans cannot access. Many aspects of life can restrict

All this can make or break the body. And the mind. Impose silence over expression and freedom. Glorification of cages is the stepping

Independence. Survival. Continuation of the species. Thinking. And growing-up.

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stone of abuse. And therefore, the expression of the world as it is, under the control of weak spirits.

Jillayne Huston 3rd year, Illustration & Design

Beautiful Addiction, 2012 Pen, markers and digital media 27.9 cm x 35.6 cm

To create my portraits I use photographs and separate the planes of the face, light from shadows and color in the various tones. In the end the portrait is pieced together and segmented. Photographs of people often capture beauty and are well composed; such as we are supposed to be. However, often we are breaking apart on the inside. We all have pain; it just does not always show on the outside. These pictures show a greater complexity of us that is not always seen. Different colors representing different emotions we feel and harbor.

Initially I created this piece to represent addiction, specifically to heroin. I wanted to show how addiction eats at us from the inside out.

Even though addiction is an internal experience the effects of it eventually show on the outside in the form of welts and scabs as the 51

drugs work their way out of the body. The image of addiction is different from the one experiencing it and the ones watching it.

Shagana Brandon, Lorraine Coulter, Clara Del Degan 1st year, Physical Rehabilitation, Anatomy II: Myology course; in co-operation with all fellow students Cross Section of Kamali Durant: Dawson’s tallest student Paint on foam board, wire 125 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm

Kamali Durant, towering at 6 feet 10 inches tall, is Dawson College’s tallest student. He plays centre for Dawson Men’s AAA basketball team. Being so tall, Kamali’s legs are probably also Dawson College’s longest legs based on human proportional relationships. A human’s leg will normally measure between 40% and 50% of his or her total height.

Furthermore, being an athlete, Kamali’s lower limb is likely to be among our college’s most muscular! There are over 20 different muscles that can be seen in these cross-sections, as well as the four bones of the leg.

We are Dawson’s Physical Rehabilitation Program and we are fascinated by the structure and the many functions of the human body.

This is one of the reasons that motivated us to create a cross-sectional model of a human leg, using the knowledge that we have acquired 52

since the beginning of our collegial training as Physical Rehabilitation Therapists. Kamali’s height and musculature made him an ideal candidate for our project. We have represented his leg as a model consisting of 10 cross-sections descending from his gluteal region down to his ankle. Using our knowledge of the lower limb, we focused on portraying accurate musculature, as well as the precise locations of tendons, bones and ligaments in each cross-section. The purpose of making this model is so that people can view and appreciate a representation of part of the human body in a way that they may never otherwise have seen it.

Mony Pich

1st year, Illustration & Design Affliction, 2012 Ink on board 48.4 cm x 35.7 cm

My piece speaks of humans and their technological capabilities in the future, specifically towards the physical capabilities of the human body. Technology will continue to advance through the ages and with it, the human body can achieve greater feats. However, with greater opportunities, humans must be wary of the consequences and always be cautious.

In my piece, man takes the form of Icarus, but in the future. Man is able to fly using bodily modifications, but just like the myth of Icarus, he flies too close to the sun. Icarus is in anguish. His skin has become charred black and his wings begin to melt onto him.

He acted without thought and so he suffers.

The man in front, adorned in futuristic attire, looks away from Icarus, as in regret or in sympathy. The sun looms overhead, coloured black just like man's ill desires, sending heat waves that taunt Icarus. It is difficult to predict what will become of the human body in the future, but humankind must be cautious and must be wary of the consequences that ambition may bear.

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Frank Mulvey

Faculty, Fine Arts, Illustration & Design The Body Within, 2013 Charcoal on paper 76.2 cm x 76.2 cm, including frame

Beneath changing skies, among restless shadows and on uncertain footing, life perseveres. Living organisms both fragile and resilient shimmer in the shifting light. The world serves as both womb and nemesis. Humans share this experience. Sublime forces act on us from both without and within. For each of us, fragile beautiful skin thinly envelops the body within. We are breathing, trembling beings. We are tenuous. We are powerful. We are vulnerable. We are feared. We are insignificant. We are dominant. We are alone. We are connected. We are protected. We protect.

I made a big plaster egg as a prop. The woman who posed for this drawing enveloped it with her arms. Her freckled skin had a sheen. A local grocery store sold me beautifully patterned tiny quail eggs. The spotted egg surfaces were like the modelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skin. Both the eggshells and the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skin protect a body within. In turn, a fertile earth and thin layers of water and air protect us all.

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Jeremy Pilote Byrne Graduate, Illustration & Design Double Take, 2012 Oil and Digital 76.2 cm x 77.0 cm

The human body can be as complex as we want to make it seem—blood vessels, neural activity, chemical reactions, muscle fiber. I’ve decided to simplify it all and to show the first part we see when looking at someone: the face.

Expressions can be read, thoughts can be seen upon it. Sometimes we only get a glimpse of someone’s face as we walk by. Sometimes we get to stare for endless moments. No matter how much time we have to observe them, these faces will be forever changing—forever making us wonder if we will ever have a key 55

to deciphering them. The face may be a simple concept, but it is as complex as the atoms that construct it. Look at someone, do a double take—you will not see the same emotions, the same features that you had glimpsed at first glance.

Trevor Bourke, Mellissa Frédérique & Sandrine L’Ériger, Zynor Majeed, Annie Hunting, Angel Gabriel Galindo, Beatrice Scharf-Pierzchala CIN/VID/COM students (Overseen by Kim Simard, Faculty: Cinema/Communications) The Mind-Body Experiment, 2013 Video series Various durations

“Surrealists are not concerned with conjuring up some magic world that can be defined as ‘surreal’. Their interest is almost exclusively in exploring the conjunctions, the points of contact, between different realms of existence.” – Michael Richardson Students in Experimental Film & Video have compiled video projects they have created that study the way in which our minds perceive the body. After having been exposed to early surrealist cinematic works by Man Ray, Salvador Dali & Luis Bunuel, Maya Darren as well as the 1960s and 80s lyrical filmmaker Sergei Parajonov, student artists explore the body in its many possible abstractions, juxtapositions, fragmentations, and illusionary representations. Many of these pieces are examples of surrealism filtered through a contemporary lens. They blur boundaries between sexuality, sensorial connections with our thoughts and subjective perceptions of the body.

Kim Simard

Pest Trevor Bourke

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Anguish Zynor Majeed

Elle Mellissa Frédérique, Sandrine L’Ériger

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Medusa Perception Angel Gabriel Galindo

Mouth of a Cave Annie Hunting

Rebirth Beatrice ScharfPierzchala

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Claire Skahan 3rd year, CALL: Arts & Culture You Spoke, 2013 Poem

You spoke, While you smoked.

Your voice sounded Hoarse.

The smoke made it that way.

Oh, the smoke made it Hoarse.

The taste in your mouth was gross, Oh, it was gross, after youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d had a smoke.

I liked to smoke, I loved the taste of tobacco, I loved it in my mouth.

I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like it though, when your mouth sounded Hoarse All those years ago, When you smoked.

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Collective project

Classical Music Class 345-BWA-03: a complementary course in the Arts & Aesthetics I category, Humanities & Liberal Arts Rondo à la musica humana, 2013 Audio recording 3 min

“The body is our general medium for having a world.”–Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception (1945) The human body is a symphony orchestra of non-verbal sounds. As a number of philosophers, psychoanalysts and playwrights have pointed out (very notably Sandor Marai in Embers), and as one could also see in the practice of nada yoga, non-verbal sounds, gestures and physical symptoms are the expressions of the body’s experiences, potentials and questions that elude verbal discourse. If one considers music as an expression of an experience that transcends verbal language, which in some sense it is, one could compose music to be played with the non-verbal sounds of the human body.

The Rondo à la Musica humana is an example of such a composition. It was inspired by the medieval theorist Boethius (c. 480–524), the classical compositions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), and the experimental approach of the American John Cage (1912–1992) who composed using aleatoric operations with random sounds.

In his 6th century treatise De institutione musica, Boethius introduced a tripartite classification of music: Musica instrumentalis, musica humana, and musica mundana. Musica humana refers to the harmony of the human body and soul.

The rondo was a popular instrumental genre in the 18th century. It has an open-ended musical form (ABACADA) that consists of literal repetitions of the main theme (A) between contrasting melodic and 60

harmonic episodes. W.A. Mozart composed several rondos, including the well-known Rondo alla turca, the final movement of his Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331.

John Cage’s ‘chance’ or aleatoric music grew out of an experimental approach that made ambient, random sounds, even silence, essential structural elements of the compositional process. The idea of using random combinations of non-verbal body sounds in the Rondo à la Musica humana was sparked by Cage’s revolutionary 1952 work entitled 4 minutes, 33 seconds (4’33”).

The Rondo à la Musica humana is an experiential composition that broadens traditional definitions of music. It comprises diverse tapestries of non-verbal body sounds (clapping, stomping, whistling, etc.) that convey the harmonies of the human body and spirit — not only to the performers but also to the open-minded listener. If, as the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty maintains, “the body is our general medium for having a world,” then the music of the body is one means of interpreting it.

Text by Beverly Sing, instructor: Classical Music 345-BWA-03 (Winter 2013)

Mariana Stabile Graduate, Fine Arts

Between, 2012 China marker and acrylic paint on 10 glass panels, wooden shelf 26 cm x 152.4 cm x 14 cm

This drawing, titled Between, done with unconventional materials, addresses religion and sexuality. The transparent images of the Virgin Mary and nude women sit on top of each other, tangling and interrupting each other. The Virgin Mary is the essential model for women of the Catholic Church, representing purity (virginity). Though the nude women that accompany the Virgin Mary are modestly drawn, they are meant to contrast the purity of Mary. The nature of the glass panels, resting on the shelf and leaning against each other and the wall, creates empty space between the images where time may pass through. The challenge of being raised Catholic, and being taught not to be sexual calls for a sacrifice of either religion or self-identity. However, these transparent drawings do not criticize each other; rather they reflect a present state 61

of understanding and comfort, between two separate worlds. As assembling the piece (unlike a puzzle) is not concrete and the piece has a sense of fragility, it addresses the future.

Identity may come forward and religion may be left behind.

Chantal Tardiff 1st year, Industrial Design

Uwntitled (3 Bedroom Townhouse with Knuckles), 2010 Photographs 3 x (76.2 x 50.8), 1 x (50.8 x 76.2)

Untitled (3 Bedroom Townhouse with Knuckles) is a series of photographs documenting a sculptural performance where I wear a pair of giant papier mâché arms and place myself in a number of domestic locations. Using my body, I occupy, measure and engage with the architectural elements of that site. These cartoon like appendages are a work in progress and act as a starting point for exploration on the theme of body, self and space. My art is often a reflection of my current state of mind, at times feeling pushed, constrained or squeezed and at other times inhabiting and filling up that space as much as possible. This work is a manifestation of being open to unexpected possibilities and alternative perspectives. When wearing the arms one can’t help but respond to their size, their weight, their awkwardness, their playfulness. In this case, the cartoon-like quality of the arms allows me to embody cartoon-like levels of strength and flexibility. Perhaps there is something in the act of dressing up that is particularly freeing, eliciting new and individual performances from whomever is wielding them.

Sculptures and performance by Chantal Tardiff, photos by Heath Matheson.

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Andrew Tetreault 2nd year, Social Science

What Does the Body of the Castaway Represent? 2013 Essay

Unlike other genres of literature, castaway narratives often use the human body as a way to give the reader a better idea of the character’s past and progress throughout the journey.

Just like the mind, the body must evolve and adapt as time goes on, as it is a result of the situations and problems one faces throughout the journey that life is, just like personality.

and dependent on human contact (against his will), but his exclusion from society and human contact allows him to know himself better and become a strong and independent man.

Crusoe’s story is not atypical from other castaway narratives. The human body acts as a very easy medium on which A prime example of how the body of the castaway is a repre- the character’s history can be presented, which is why so sentation of the man’s prior life is Daniel Defoe’s Robinson many authors use it as a sort of canvas. The human body is Crusoe in which Robinson Crusoe, the English novel’s not unlike a history book and this idea is even more evident main protagonist, starts as the typical Englishman but in castaway narratives. evolves to become a man completely different from the one Sources: Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: New York. 1994. who left England almost thirty years prior to the end of the Print. novel. In the beginning, Robinson Crusoe is neither fit nor weak, he is simply an average man as most would say. His closet consists of the typical European clothing and his life is typical of the average Englishman but everything changes as he faces challenges during the course of his life on the island on which he has landed.

Over the course of his journey on the island, Crusoe adapts to his new world and so he had to become a new man. He ditches the European clothes and adopts atypical clothing that is more representative of his new life on the tropical island. His body grows stronger as by living on this human life-deprived island, he has to construct everything he owns therefore his body must be able to sustain the immense strain caused by his new life, much like his mind. The body’s changes show the character's evolution and are a reflection of the castaway’s past. In Crusoe’s case, he used to be frail

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Émilie Trudeau

McGill Graduate, East Asian Studies & Sociology

The Human Body: Instrument and Mirror The Body on Stage, 2013 1st and 3rd year theatre students, Steven Lecky (Faculty) Video Produced by S.P.A.C.E.

Theatre students Jean Michel Chartier and Geneviève Fleurant (still from the video The Human Body: Instrument and Mirror, cinematography and editing by Émilie Trudeau)

For an actor, their body, including their voice, is their instrument.

When we think of a memorable moment in a play or film—a moment in which we recognize something essential about human beings in general and about ourselves in particular—it is often an actor’s precise posture or gesture or inflection that delivers that moment. In The Human Body: Instrument and Mirror, S.P.A.C.E. interviews and observes students and faculty in the Dawson Theatre Department, exploring their unique perspectives and insights on the human body.

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Sumaya Ugas

2nd year, Social Science: Psychology (D)evolution, 2013 Poem

Our bodies are vessels. Our emotions and bodily sensations are intertwined. Throughout time, the notion of love and the role played by raw physical attraction has mostly remained constant, thus making it timeless. The physical pains and struggles of love too, are universal.

This piece deals with all of these topics through the use of imagery; depicting the rise of a relationship first based on beautiful bodily sensations, deep emotions at first sight and its eventual downfall as the illusions of perfection wear off and things deteriorate and the narrator feels the emotional choke-hold held by the partner. The piece is narrated from a woman's point of view, with whom we experience the fusion of physical and emotional attraction, the establishment of a real bond, the violence passion can sometimes turn into, the confinement of one's being inside the other when things go wrong and finally the realization of the illusions our bodily sensations set us up against when all our senses become one.

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How things (d)evolved, or things I would say to you if fear did not hold me back One. Your smile is a beacon of light and I have nothing but deep, quiet yearnings for things illuminated.

So smile wide, and let its edges become boundless vastitudes as you ignite my insides with your eyes and smile.

Two. I heard the whispers of your fingertips echoing on my skin.

Mere drops in an ocean of nerve cells undulating through distances beyond measurements.

It felt otherworldly.

Three.

You gave me the courage to let you read the poems carved on my heart. And as far as I'm concerned, beauty will always lie somewhere between the deep oceans you promised me and your wide captivating smile.

Four.

I tried spreading my wings but trapped in your ribcage they would only spread halfway. You tell me I am no bird, that wings are not for me and that besides, your love is far too great for you to let me fly away. You do not understand that I only seek flying to reach a feeling of lightness; not escapism. For I have never felt trapped in you, until you thought I did, and closed up your ribcage.

Five.

You didn't have to tell me about the barren wombs of the unfaithful about the scars your love etched on the surface of my heart about the soundless echoes in our hollow lives once our full moon eclipsed about the burns your words would leave on my soul when your blood was boiling about the sound of a whip about the whimpers of a baby born too late to bring the joys of the first born and reconcile our wounded hearts about the tears my sister shed at the sight of my soft bruised skin.

No, you didn't have to tell me those things for I should have seen that behind that beautiful smile of yours, lay a soul broken beyond repair.

Six. I wanted to tell you about the sleepless nights I spent wandering in the memories of what we could have been and about how I yearned to love you but was too tormented by the bitterness of our reality.

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Mercedes Lafleur and Leah Layers 2nd year, Social Science: General Social Science, Ancient World Archaeology course

Persona (pɚˈsoʊni), 2013 Papier mâché, plaster, acrylic 30.48 cm x 25.4 cm x 12.7 cm

Persona (pɚˈsoʊni): Roman for theatre mask, was originally a device which Ancient Greek actors used to play several characters in a single play. The same actor may play, god, sausage maker, king, and messenger, but only the mask allows the actor to impersonate these roles. (Latin: in + persona) Same body different person. Academic research today goes beyond the past and the stage to include neurosciences. For example, a project lead by NYU lecturer and professor of Classics and Theater at NYU, Peter Meineck investigates models of visuality advanced by neuroscience that can provide us a start ‘to understand the impact of what it was like to watch an ancient play.’ Dawson students of Classics and Archaeology attempt to recognize the difference between a theatre audience today and Ancient Greece through the Greek mask. Persona 68

allowed a male actor to play different roles—an older man might play a young woman! But it also had a technical role as a megaphone to project an actor’s voice five stories high and over hundred meters deep for a theatre designed to hold over 10,000! The mask reproduced here is one of a number of masks created at Dawson with the following mission: To express an ancient idea through modern college media by recreating a character from Greek theatre with plaster and pulped recycled assignments, tests, and papers. This is a novel take on the original medium of antiquity: cork, wood, and leather.

Jiri Tucker (Faculty, History/Classics)

Olivia Vidmar 1st year, Fine Arts

Eat Me, 2013 Charcoal and wax crayon 61.0 cm x 50.8 cm

I chose to work from a picture I took with a fish eye lens, making my subject look even more distorted than the original pose does.

I liked this idea because the facial expression and entire position in general is very vulnerable and the distortion makes the person look kind of receding, they get smaller proportionately along the length of the body. The idea I wanted to communicate was the thin line the human body seems to be walking along at all times, never really knowing how close one is to falling off the edge. We consume so much into these bodies, whether it is food or drugs or the air we breathe. What has which effect?

You read a food label not knowing half the ingredients or where they’re from or whether they’re genetically modified or chemicals are used and if these will affect you or not. People buy drugs from a stranger who got them from 69

someone else having no way of knowing where they came from or what’s in them and not caring. People smoke a pack a day and live till they’re 90, others follow a healthy routine and have a brain aneurysm at 30. Some of these things are predictable after tests from a doctor – but how can one ever have complete confidence in where their body stands? It can be frustrating. This is what I think my drawing communicates. The colours are meant to be all of these substances that we consume and form a line where the person’s feet would be, what they are standing on. They barely ever touch the person, symbolizing the body’s ability to be resilient yet so close at the same time to succumbing to effects of what we put in our bodies.

Vanessa Wall 1st year, Illustration & Design Losing Yourself, 2012 Ink on board 21.6 cm X 27.9 cm

When I was creating this artwork I was aiming to communicate the feeling of disparity that one may feel when clinging to a lost life or relationship. The human figure in the foreground of the image is meant to represent a human who has lost what was important to him/her.

The skeletal figure in the background is meant to represent the person's mental/spiritual self stripped of life. The butterflies are meant to symbolize what was held dear to the character and as the skeletal figure tries to recapture what is leaving, he/she is also destroying what is left. I chose the setting of this situation to be on a rooftop because I found it symbolized the freedom that the butterflies had over the will of the figure. I also chose for it to be in a rather empty looking city because I wanted the setting to represent the emptiness that the character was feeling in the given situation.

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This image is meant to represent the human body as a container of what we find valuable.

As our values, valuables and importance leave us, we become nothing but a skeleton of what we once were; clinging on to what we have left.

Nadia Verkouteren 1st year, Illustration & Design Perception, 2012 Ink on board 38.1 cm x 50.8 cm

Today, every teenager possesses self-esteem issues concerning their own bodies even though past famous role models such as Marilyn Monroe were known to have been wearing a size 14. Because of the brainwashing that mass media inflict on certain individuals, some may push themselves to extremes, resulting in the commonly known eating disorder called anorexia. When affected by this illness, the subject perceives himself or herself as being â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; even though they might be seriously underweight. I think that my piece utterly resembles this notion of the human body and how society imposes the whole idea of beauty in the present day. Beauty is not about differentiating the tall from the short or the thin from the curvaceous; in contrast beauty is all about confidence, personality, love and self-acceptance.

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Marni Williams 2nd year, Liberal Arts

An Experimental Study of Rationing, 2013 Essay

Diet might imply weight loss, good health, or a fad. Health sciences today yield interesting studies such as the impact of eating just fruit (Steve Jobs tried that), or being Vegan or following the Miami South Beach diet. But the science of diet and the impact on our body really begins in the Second World War. An experiment, partly led by a woman, led to some surprising results. Elsie Widdowson and her collaborator and friend, Robert McCance, made significant improvements in the world of food and dietary management when rationing was necessary. Rationing, the controlled distribution of scarce sources, became essential during the Second World War because certain foods were very difficult to come by. Food shortages were inevitable, so it was necessary for nutritionists to determine dietary requirements. Widdowson, McCance, and a few other researchers were responsible for doing so. This was to be known as their famous â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;experimental study of rationingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

This involved having access to a rather limited amount of food. These scientists placed themselves on a very strict diet for three months, only allowing themselves to eat a limited intake of meat, cheese, and sugar or jam. They did allow themselves an unlimited quantity of potatoes and bread, since these items of food were easily accessible. Following the three months, Widdowson, McCance, and the other volunteers subjected themselves to various forms of strenuous physical activity in the Lake District. As a result, they concluded that this diet was indeed sufficient to maintain an appropriate amount of energy for the tasks they had been performing; with one exception. The amount of dairy that they permitted themselves to eat failed to provide them with enough calcium.

In order to monitor the amount of food that each family took in, each household in Britain was given a Ration Book. These books contained a variety of coupons. When purchasing food, the individual would present one of these coupons to a shopkeeper, who cut out or signed a paper, acknowledging that the coupon had been used. It proved very effective.

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As a result of this improved diet, the rate of heart disease fell considerably, as the nation had become accustomed to healthier eating habits. Rationing was also beneficial in that it provided everyone with an equal food supply. No one had more than anyone else. People with an abundance of food were no longer permitted to over-eat, while individuals who did not have enough were provided with the necessary diet. As far as food was concerned, everyone was on the same level.

It is hard to imagine such dietary restrictions in a world of ubiquitous vending machines, increased obesity (which has resulted in an explosion of diabetics), and a world in which over 30% (David Suzuki Foundation) of food is thrown away. We like to point out the lessons learned from the Second World War, like the terror of totalitarianism, the horror of the holocaust, and destructive modern warfare. But there are more than just these lessons to be learned from this important period.

Stavroula Vitoratos Dawson Professional Staff GPS Body Betrayal, 2013 Pencil on paper 55.9 cm x 76.2 cm

Driving through the heart of Laval, at the crossing of autoroutes15 and 440, a digital image on my car’s GPS, projected the global positioning of the body at a precise moment in time. This GPS image paralleled the human body. The arterial roads were represented by blood red lines running towards the north, east, south, and west. At the intersections, four ventricle-like red filled loops were pumping life in all directions. The GPS map is digital but it traces the physical world and it tracks the human body. In fact, when describing modern day innovations, we often revert to biological functions. High traffic roads are ‘main arteries’, the ‘backbone’ is simultaneously the human spine, the road infrastructure, as well as the central super power of a digital network. This is the human body of today – digitally tracked, located and arguably regulated by the state 73

not by the individual. The control or regulation of the body negates the individual and freedom of choice. This is especially true in a society where the human body is being cloned and genetically modified. Does the individual freely shape his or her body? Or, is the shape of the human body being dictated by society? Emerging from this is a mutation of the human body by the GPS. Does the GPS attest to the betrayal of the human body by science?

The GPS after all, knows where the body has been, where the body is at the present time, and where the body is going...

Stefan Zajdler 2nd year, CALL: Arts & Culture Still Life, 2012 Poem

Still Life This is the still life, And this is the body without her.

This is the tongue that sits in the mouth, And these are the words that they hold.

And this is the place where they cut the skin, And this is the birth, it’s still birth.

This is a story about an extremely personal and physical thing that can happen to a woman: a still birth. The poem focuses on the physical sensations and aspects of loss that plague a woman after this traumatic event occurs.

This is a very intimate and body-centric topic because of the physical and emotional relationship between the fetus and the mother, and it talks about the sensations from after the still birth.

This is the woman who gave birth, And this is the life, it’s still life.

This is the flush that sits on the skin, And that is the place where you held her, And this is the thumb her fingers would hold, And hers is the thumb that’s held in the mouth.

This is the dry that fills up the mouth, And this is the wet that came with the birth.

This is the belly the fingers still hold, And this is your life, your still life.

And this is the side you still sleep on without her, And that is the smell of her skin.

Some of these sensations include: the physical lack of the pregnant belly, the physical signs of sadness and anxiety like a dry mouth and clammy body, the physicality of the actual still birth itself.

This is the place they stitched up your skin, And there is the bottle that fits in the mouth, There are the toys that you bought her.

And here are the books you read about birth.

And this is the dream you had for your life, And these are the blankets you hold.

This is the husband you wish you could hold, And this is the fear that creeps in the skin: This is your life, it’s still your life.

And he is the boy you kissed on the mouth, And here is the woman who couldn’t give birth, And here are the lies that he told her: “This woman is strong, nothing can stop her, And this is the magic her belly does hold, This is the gift she gives with the birth.”

But these are the dreams of paper and skin, These are the claws that tear at the mouth, “Still, this is life,” he says, and you say: “This is still life.”

The feel of her, her skin, A love of her you hold, stuck in your mouth, It was still birth, and it was life, a still, still life.

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Petros Psillos 1st year, Fine Arts

The Loser Room Mixed media on board 101.6 cm x 81.8 cm

After a heartache, I was left with a dilemma. I definitely did not want to feel sorry for myself, nor be a victim. I chose to be proud and happy.

Self-confidence is a hard thing to find these days because humans just reminisce on memories past, instead of moving forward and being proud of ourselves. Don't be sad, and own up to every inch of your body. Every beauty mark, every hair, is a reflection of yourself and makes you special. Show them what they missed out on and make them regret ever mistreating you. Piggy boxers can show them that you're 75

not just a piece of meat because everyone has feelings, and everyone deserves to be around someone that loves them just for being themselves. That's the message depicted within this piece and that's the lesson I'm glad to have learned.

Acknowledgments

Gratitude to all individuals and entities listed below:

Teachers who engaged students to participate in the project and others who offered guidance

Claude Arseneault, Guiseppe Di Leo, Julianna Joos, Andrew Katz, Aaron Krishtalka, Lise-Hélène Larin, Steven Lecky, Maimire Mennasemay, Kenneth Milkman, Timothy Miller, Frank Mulvey, Kim Simard, Beverly Sing, Joel Trudeau, Jiri Tucker S.P.A.C.E. and exhibition coordinator, creative director, editor, file management

Frank Mulvey

S.P.A.C.E. committee and advisors

Barbara Freedman, Andrew Katz, Aaron Krishtalka, Maimire Mennasemay, Kenneth Milkman, Frank Mulvey, Joel Trudeau and Jiri Tucker Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery Committee

Andréa Cole, Don Corman, Simon Davies, Guiseppe Di Leo, Scott Millar, Frank Mulvey, Luc Parent and Michèl Seguin © 2013, Dawson College

Administrative assistance

Ursula Sommerer Faculty, staff and administrative contributors

Arké, Karla Gruodis, Julianna Joos, Lise-Hélène Larin, Frank Mulvey, Jules Prud’homme, Stavroula Vitoratos Image source for cover design

David Hoult Graphic design

Catherine Moleski Additional photography

Frank Mulvey and Claude Arseneault

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Dean of Instructional Development

The human body exhibition / introduction by Maimire Mennasemay,

Barbara Freedman

Aaron Krishtalka and Andrew Katz ; edited by Frank Mulvey.

S.S.A.P. Coordinator

Tina Romeo Office of the Director General

Catalogue of an exhibition held April 25 - May 9, 2013 at the Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery, Dawson College, Montréal.

ISBN 978-1-55016-942-3

Donna Varrica Secretary, Visual Arts Sector

Helen Wawrzetz

1. Human figure in art--Exhibitions. 2. Human beings in art-Exhibitions. I. Mulvey, Frank, 1960- II. Dawson College III. Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery

Photographs, scans and digital files

Individual contributors

N7570.H85 2013

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704.9'42

C2013-901748-8