Steven Cottingham will delve into his exhibition that is currently on view in our main space by giving an artist talk on Saturday, Oct 24th from 2 - 3pm. This is an exciting opportunity to learn more about the artist’s creative process.

How does art represent reality? The production of an artwork always requires certain choices in terms of which elements of reality are included and which are excluded. These choices are motivated by a value system—some aspects of the real are inevitably left illegible in order to foreground others.

But our own experience of reality is mediated on a daily basis by representational devices, corporate social media platforms, and algorithmic news filtering. What value systems determine the legibility of reality at the level of politics, economics, and culture? And what are the consequences for certain aspects remaining unrepresented? In the 19th century, Realist artists tried to represent the unrepresented by depicting peasants and working-class persons—those whose labour ultimately enabled the opulence portrayed in bourgeois painting. What strategies do today's artists use to represent the unrepresented or undervalued; and how can we make images of the increasingly complex, abstract, and virtual systems that structure contemporary life?

Hosted via Zoom, Steven Cottingham will discuss these questions as they relate to his practice and Signal chains, currently exhibiting at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in a moderated discussion. Participation is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

You can register on Eventbrite here!