1. Selected Work 2. Critical Writings
nathan levasseur
Trust, Development, Protection.
Nathan Levasseur BFA Graphic Design + Intermedia
University of Alberta 2013 —2017 + 1 780 619 4245 www.nathanlevasseur.com ndlevasseur@gmail.com
Intro New Global Synthesis Motion You + Me Rigid Movements Promises Vulnerable Productivity Cop Tears Lack Of Last Year’s Feeling Softer Design Watching You Foundation Digital Prints
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I would like to express my utmost thanks to: Natalie Loveless Brad Necyk Sue Colberg Judy Armstrong Jesse Sherburne Jacob Dutton Skye Olesen-Cormack T. J. McLachlan Thomas Michael Royden Mills Stacy Burnett Daria Nordell Jenna-Katheryn Heinemann Sean Bradley Colleen Maykut Gerald & Theresa Levasseur for their support, love, encouragement and knowledge.
7 This book will look at some of my undergraduate work that I completed during my BFA in Art and Design at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada from 2013 —2017. I will highlight my strongest work as well as writing regarding my conceptual process, and some aesthetic choices behind the work. The book will flow temporally as a way to show the development and movement of my ideas/work. Over the course of my time I primarily focused on typography, graphic design, intermedia, installation, sculpture, and digital media. Conceptual work was always a part of my process. I found myself exploring: queer theory, object semiotics, deconstruction, representation, language and post-structuralism.
It is of utmost importance to acknowledge my position of privilege as a straight passing white cis male attending an incredibly exclusionary instituion rooted in systems of class division, racism, gendered violence and colonialism.
New Global Synthesis
9 New Global Synthesis marks I was interested in how this some of my earliest attempts at distinction of space related to combing production and theory. the division of art and design as well the creation of unnecesIt also marks the beginning of sary lines or boundaries. an aesthetic I continue to utilize and refine. New Global Synthesis consists of a series of 4 shots (animaThis was the first time I used tions) each ~0 : 50 –1 mins. Cinema 4D. My interest in the program came from the poThe sound for the video was tential to control highly realistic composed from several layers iconography and space. of my voice which I then used to build a digital synthesizer. Around this time I was reading Donna Haraway’s, Cyborg This choice was led by my interManifesto and Amelia Jones’, est in taking ‘natural’ elements Body Art / Performing the and distorting them. Subject. I was also looking at work by Wafaa Bilal, World This project operates more as of Female Avatars, as well as a sketch. I had little to no conAna Mendieta. trol over the program so many of the aesthetics I developed I was curious how the body are abstracted and limited. related to space, how physical influences digital and how NGS was an experiment in digital space provides interestcomposition, light, mechanics, ing platforms that informs how texture and construction. we understand and engage physical environments. I was interested in the division of digital and physical through the use of material and space. Namely, using recognizable ‘natural’ iconography in an unfamiliar way.
New Global Synthesis
screenshot of video. 2015
natural texture. 2015
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texture study. 2015
screenshot of interface. 2015
In 2015 I write:
‘New Global Synthesis reveals the fluidity of space through digital and pyhsical representation. Re-contextualizing familiar ‘natural’ iconography through a digital frame promotes a discourse that admits the boundaries between digital and physical are unstable and blurry. This allows for a broader and more inclusive art production and the disrupts the gallery hierarchy. The use of digital space subverts normative art historical ideologies concerned with art production and product in realtion to value and worth.’
I understand this project as relevant because it shows a starting point for some of my more succesful work.
Motion
digital drawing / print 36 Ă— 36" 10 800 Ă— 10 800 px 2015
15 I believe Motion was my first success at balancing aesthetic and theory. I orginally write: ‘Motion blends digital drawing, contemporary product design aesthetic(s) and language attempting to dismantle strict gendered norms in relation to public/private emotional output, vulnerability and weakness. Motion aims to disrupt normative expectations of gendered identity through the display of “private” sentiments in “public” space. Motion utilizes vulnerable language as a tool to disrupt normative restrictions on emotion and promote a more fluid identity expression. The use of digital space isolates the work within a strict framework, which reinforces the ways in which gendered identities strictly influence emotional output and development. Producing these objects in real space would weaken their effect as unsettling compositions and destroy the concept of isolated space. Using Cinema 4D allowed me to construct isolated environments and generate abstract textures, while still modelling recognizable icons.’
The project developed and as I thought about it—I found the original writing to be too specific. I’m less convinced of the importance of ‘isolation’ or the function of digital space.
Intially, I thought it was important for the work to function as a piece of institutional resitance. I spent an entire semester not producing any physical objects. I thought such precendence on producing physical objects was outdated and capitalistic. Later on I would print some of the work on high gloss paper (documented on pg.64 ) and I found that it functioned on an adequate level. The intent was not destroyed or compromised by printing the image. It simply offered an alternative entry point to the work. At the forefront of most of my work is dialouge and relation. In some cases printing these images allowed for conversation to happen in the physical, rather than on the screen. A revised statement reads: ‘Motion is a conceptual design project that blends digital drawing, contemporary product design aesthetic(s) and language as a way to re-frame our relationship to vulnerability, production, and capitalism. The work utilizes typography as an access point to blur the boundaries between public and private sentiments, which are deeply connected to production and normative design theory.’
Motion
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You + Me
digital drawings 36 Ă— 36" 2015
19 You and Me is a collaborative work between my partner Jenna-Katheryn Heinemann and myself, using typography, writing and drawing. In certain cases I create the drawing and Jenna creates the type. Like Motion, You and Me aims to disrupt normative expectations of gendered identity through the display of ‘private’ sentiments in ‘public’ space and utilizes vulnerable language as a tool to disrupt normative restrictions on emotion. Collaboration was central to the work in so far as it pushed the idea of relatability—we both relate to language and the imagery differently which is reflected through the work. Multiple perspectives are produced and sketched. These drawings function within a conceptual discourse, as the focus is not solely on the person(s) making the work, rather more about how the work is experienced and what kind of production and consumption is produced. In this project both production and consumption are vital. How the viewer interacts with the work and how that interaction is integrated into the work itself.
The work pushes at the intersections of art and design and through its display serves to undermine normative semiology regarding art production and representation. Originally You and Me operated solely as a continuation of the theory and aesthetic in Motion—personal sentiment in public space, vulnerability as strength, and the semiotic considerations regarding type, colour, composition, space, movement, relatability, and abstraction. As the work progressed so did the theory—I believe in my own personal research and the many talks with professor Jesse Sherburne, my colleagues, and Jenna, I developed a stronger conceptual understanding of the work. I found myself struggling with how to display this work—it was not enough to simply print the images, or project them on to mylar (something I explored in the past with Motion). I believe the theoretical depth in this work, and the difference between Motion and You and Me is through display.
You + Me
If I am working within a contemporary discourse that serves to undermine normative expectations of art production and creation, as well as blurring the divisions between of art and design—the display must reflect the ideology. My proposed display was fluid, the image as movement forever changing through mediums, from screen to print to gallery, in presentation, read through my words or with little information at all. The work does not have a single original manifestation, rather, a point of dispersion from which the image moves in and out of frameworks, changing in each iteration. I was not want interested in a single stable mode of display. Each iteration is as important as the next, it creates a system of production and consumption in which authorship, ownership and authenticity are challenged. It creates a discourse in which the work is easily viewed, inclusive and subject to debate and dialogue. I wanted my work to undermine three things:
21 the idea of ‘originality’, to dismantle the modernist trope of ‘artist as genius, or cultural producer’, and to disrupt the stagnant rigidity of cultural production generated from institutions often excluding work on the basis of sexist, racist, or classist practices. In his essay Post-Production, from 2002, Nicolas Bourriaud writes: ‘The artwork functions as the temporary terminal of a network on interconnected elements, like a narrative that extends and reinterprets preceding narratives. Each exhibition encloses within it the script of another; each work may be inserted into different programs used for multiple scenarios. The artwork is no longer an end point but a simple moment in an infinite chain of contributions.’
For me this describes a contemporary image, both the idea of production and representation have changed to fit a more fluid process. Artworks are able to oscillate from computer screen, print, gallery, a simple idea to sculpture or canvas, meaning is born of collaboration and negotiation between the artist and the one who views the work.
A contemporary image is one designed for this movement ultimately reinforcing a discourse were the meaning of a work has as much to do with the use one makes of it. Although I operate as the initial point of dissemination, in so far as I have the idea, I create the drawings and release them, the widespread re-publishing of the work generates a feedback of production and consumption which engages with and validates people outside of academic or institutional settings. Since each iteration is critical to the content of the work this style of representation has the potential to create a more inclusive, fluid, and critical art and design discourse. Since this work aims to disrupt normative art and design foundations, I think two questions are relevant:
You + Me
1. What is problematic about
single modes of representation? Often we are concerned with how work fits within an art historical discourse, we then read images through a normative art historical lens—in part this project is looking at this process as misplaced. A single or original representation is not necessary and the refusal of one should not impact the work in a negative way. Rather, it should be read simply as a different form of production. Many problems can stem from ideas of ‘originality’ or ‘authenticity’. These kinds of discourses are the basis for exclusion and division.
typography test
Namely, if one is ‘authentic’ then one can be ‘in-authentic’ what are the qualities of ‘authenticity’? It seems clear that there is no agreeable standard on the matter. This false logic significantly limits production. If there is no notion of authenticity then production is not held to any standards. Furthermore, standards are often regulated and created by institutions which operate on the basis of colonialism, sexism, class division
23 and racism. Without ‘authenticity’ we stand to not only produce more but a wider degree of work.
2. Why is a physical art object
so highly valued?—How does this effect art production? What do we stand to gain by pursuing a discourse that values multiple perspectives and leaves behind the ‘authentic’ or the ‘original’. Surely a practice’s worth is not attributed to how closely it aligns to a normative art and design discourse. Both of these questions are concerned with narrowness and exclusion subjugated by institutions of power. The power of representation as a disseminating framework is that it operates as a sharing tool thereby tearing apart physical barriers—allowing people to learn and collaborate. By undermining institutions that only produce or analyze specific opinions and traditions we stand to produce a richer discourse that values multiple experiences regardless of position.
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Rigid Movements
book 5.5 Ă— 8.5" 2015
27 Rigid Movments is a collection of conceptual drawings based on: point, line, plane, scale texture, colour, framing, layers, transparency, grid, diagram, time and motion. The idea of the project was to re-think a specific space. In my case I chose the Fine Arts Building of the University of Alberta. The document looks to reflect the tone, colour, composition and ideology of the space. The main focus being the complexities between the rigid and loose elements found in the space. This project marks an important shift in my design practice. At this point I began to think more conceptually, specifically from within a design framework. These are some of my first steps in experementation abstraction, and approach. Were my body of works starts to become more fluid.
This work operates as: 1. a publication of drawings 2. a series of 3 posters
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1–3. selected spreads 5.5 × 8.5" 2015
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Rigid Movements selected posters 16.5 Ă— 23.4" 2015
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Promises
sculpture concrete 9 × 9 × 44" 2016
33 In Promises I am interested in typography, material, language and how they intersect. Conceptually this project was lead by an interest in iconographical systems—specifically monuments. I was also thinking about tension. In typography, the hand carved tactillity in relation to geometric Univers. Tension of material between concrete and soil, tension of power between the strength of pillar and the collapse into a horizontal position. Giving weight and reality to the word promises. Originally I considered Promises to be one of my strongest works but after spending time with it I’m not convinced. Part of my retraction comes from the difficulty in capturing the sculpture in a photo. I believe the image should function on the same level as the object itself. The idea of the image as an artwork relates to what I said earlier, namely, contemporary work should be designed to function in a wide array of manifestations as to keep up with the current
movement of iconography. It seems important that work can be viewed by people in both physical and digital space. Ultimately leading to a broader discourse of art production and participation. Furthermore, on the subject of working as an artist/designer it is important that an image has impact as this how most people will view your work. I thought there was something interesting about revealing the labour of the photograph. A large part of the semiotics of the actual piece is visible labour. Since reading Heather Cassils’ critique of Vanessa Beecroft’s VB46 performance I have always thought it was important to show the process and production of work. As I have discussed much of my work functions at the intersections of art and design and this idea of hidden labour is incredibly pervasive in design discourses. I think it is an important discursive tool to give credit and practice transparency.
Vulnerable Productivity
installation t-shirt, newsprint 2016
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Vulnerable Productivity is a collaboration between Jacob Dutton and myself. In this work, our focus involves re-thinking value as it relates to product, and vulnerability. Namely, what are the implications of creating products out of vulnerability? In the work we utilize semiotics of production: t-shirt, plastic, and the discourse of display to remind the user of their alienation from the product. At the forefront, the work is about an analysis of production and the implications of our involvement in production. How does capitalism influence production and what does it mean to create an emotional or vulnerable product? Although the work strays from my normative digital practice, I find it is not only a strong culmination between Jacob and my own conceptual work but shows some of the directions I intend to continue to take with my work.
Cop Tears
digital drawing 92.8 × 55.1 cm 2016
43 In this drawing I am thinking about police brutality, systems of power and white supremacy. I am interested in product design and the blur between digital and physical. In brief, I understand this work as a way to challenge some of the oppressive institutions put in place and upheld by police enforcement or at the very least generate dialogue regarding the topic.
In this work it is important to acknowledge my privilege as a white, straight—passing male which allows me to exist in space with little to no prejudice from police enforcement.
Lack Of
sculpture industrial plastic, vinyl 12 × 36 × 8" 2016
45 In Lack Of, my focus involves re-structuring value and legitimacy as it relates to labour, strength, and vulnerability. Through the use of material and typography, Lack Of actively engages the space subtly shifting what capitalism and patriarchy typically associates with power and value. By re-shaping a production object I aim to engage with discourses regarding semiotics, structure and reclaiming space. Shifting language and material, strength in emotional vulnerability warrants attention and becomes a part of the everyday.
Because of the nature of the material and the space of the installation (in this case Epcor Tower) it is important for me to acknowledge the labour that happens in this space and with these materials every day.
Last Year’s Feelings
print garbage bag 34.5 × 50" 2016
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Last Years Feelings is a play between material and typography. In a broader sense I am thinking about depression, trauma and making space for positive forward movement. Namely, throwing last years feelings in the trash. Grammatical revisions need to be made. The type should read ‘Last Year’s Feelings’.
Softer Design
book 5.8 × 8.3" 2016
51 This work was a self directed project promoting the rethinking of normative design discourses. There were many key elements I knew would be vital in my design process, which included: framing critical theory in an accessible way, deciding which information to include and which to leave out, finding articles that spoke to both design and disability studies discourses, framing the work for designers, as well as being sensitive to the politics and language regarding discourses of oppression. These concerns were addressed through the use of colour, layout, typography, structure and pacing. My work deconstructs and analyzes the International Symbol of Access ( ISA). In brief, Softer Design, looks at the ISA as problematic and in need of re-structuring. Because the ISA has come to indicate spaces for persons with disabilities the current manifestation of the symbol excludes persons with hidden disabilities such as: cognitive and developmental impairments and mental illnesses.
Softer Design promotes a discourse of inclusion to account for a multitude of persons rather than solely focusing on the needs of the dominant group.
Watching You
Watching You;
Watching Me
flag 56 × 24" 2016
57 Watching You is a collaboration between Jacob Dutton and myself. We both designed flags under the same rules and restrictions but here I will only focus on my contribution. In this work we am interested in how design is implicated in systems of exclusion and oppression, namely through the construction of iconographical systems that support capitalism, patriarchy and colonialism. Specific to this work is a deconstruction of flag iconography and the political system that uphold harmful dominant structures. The conceptual goal of the work was to push on the fabric of normative design rules and generate dialogue regarding invisible design problems, false boundaries and identity allegiance and creation.
Foundation
installation cinder-blocks 7.5 Ă— 7.5 Ă— 37.5" 2016
61 Foundation is the last project I completed under the supervision of the Univeristy. I had two goals in mind with this project: 1. I wanted to make work that did not include type, a large breadth of my work relies on type both conceptually and formally. 2. I wanted to make something physical. Towards the end of my time a lot of my work was focused on labour. I found the idea of labour made strong ties between emotion, material and presence. These restriction forced me to re-think my approach if I wanted to make work that function at the same level as Lack Of or Promises. The work was lead by the idea of framing a moment of deconstruction, also functioning as a promotion of perserverance. I found this work’s strength comes from the treatment of the material, the staggered composition of the blocks and the use of material itself.
Digital Prints
65 Drawings I’ve done in Cinema 4D printed on high-gloss paper.
As I move forward in my education and career I hope to continue creating sculptural objects. I hope to continue addressing and de-constructing boundaries between art and design, and learning and integrating queer and feminist theory into art and design.