'MUSCLED MEMORIES' AT AGC’S NEW MEDIA GALLERY

Saturday, 26 August 2006 13:44

Calgary, AB – The inaugural exhibition in the Art Gallery of Calgary’s newly renovated Media Gallery features the latest works by Leila Sujir entitled My Two Grandmothers RMX – on view until September 3, 2006.  Co-presented by Springboard Dance, Muscled Memories is a fusion of Mion’s interactive dance and theatre piece with Sujir’s artist’s talk based on My Two Grandmothers RMX.

Muscled Memories is a meeting of minds between artists Leila Sujir, Nicole Mion (Springboard Dance), Kimberley Cooper (Decidedly Jazz Danceworks) and Eric Rose (Theatre Calgary).  This new work is an improvisational performance piece, which juxtaposes live performance and Sujir’s interactive video environment in an investigation of travel, tulips and grandmothers.  Muscled Memories gives audience members the opportunity to participate in spinning the performance by manipulating interactive components in Sujir’s installation.  The audience can create new narrative in random moments; remix the stories, movement and environments; and watch as performers respond.

Leila Sujir is a senior Canadian artist and professor in visual art at Concordia University in Montreal.  Sujir’s exhibition, My Two Grandmothers RMX, features three new media works - the results of her year long residency at the University of Calgary’s Computer Sciences Department’s Interactions Lab.  It will be the first time this new work has been presented to the public and is an exciting opportunity to see how artists are working with new technologies to push the boundaries of conceptual practice.  Sujir’s work is represented in the collection of the National Gallery of London, Glenbow Museum and Canada Council Art Bank.