Munk School of Global Affairs

Series

CSUS and F. Ross Johnson Distinguished Speaker Series

Room Information

Contact Info

Stella Kyriakakis

Description

September 11 to October 6, 2012

Produced by Dissident Industries Inc., and organized by the University of Toronto Art Centre. Presenting Sponsor: BMO Financial Group; also co-sponsored by: Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Toronto; United States Consulate General, Toronto; and Peter Allen.

This exhibition is the world premiere of a complete reconfiguration of Robert Wilson’s "Horned Frog Video Portraits," specially designed for UTAC spaces. The "Horned Frog Video Portraits" have a soundtrack that combines trickling water and frog vocalizations with Canadian pianist Glenn Gould performing his own arrangement of Bach’s "Goldberg Variations." Wilson's eleven large-scale, high definition videos will create an unforgettable, intense, and immersive experience, while celebrating the 80th anniversary of Glenn Gould's birth.

For more information on this exhibition:
http://www.utac.utoronto.ca/future-exhibitions/276-robert-wilson-red-horned-frogs, or call 416-946-8687.

Robert Wilson was drawn to create his Video Portraits after becoming aware of recently developed high definition technology which permits an unprecedented level of clarity and detail. As with all Wilson’s "Video Portraits," the "Horned Frogs," while occasionally humorous, are highly formal works, carefully orchestrated with close attention to detail: setting, lighting, colour, movement, editing. The soundtrack is no mere accompaniment, but an integral, and deeply thought out component of the works. What is initially experienced as a random encounter of noises, emerges, on sustained listening, as a double counterpoint: first the counterpoint inherent to the music of Bach, which in turn becomes part of a larger counterpoint pitting the controlled and intricate piano against the sounds of nature (running water, grunts and ribbets). Looped to read as without beginning or end, the portraits, minimal in their movement, become still, but never static meditations on intense awareness.

This exhibition is presented in conjunction with "Dreamers Renegades Visionaries: Glenn Gould Variations," a two-day festival of new work, new interpretations and new collaborations, from Argentina, Britain, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Japan, and USA, inspired by Glenn Gould, who would be eighty in 2012. The festival, which runs September 22 to 23, is located at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto.

UTAC Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 12 to 5 pm
Saturday 12 to 4 pm
Sunday and Monday closed
Admission is FREE to all UTAC exhibitions.
UTAC is wheelchair accessible.
UTAC is set back on the South Side of Hoskin Avenue between Queen's Park and St. George Street.
Look for UTAC's two vertical blue banners on the façade. Enter the door nearest the banners and follow directions from there.

Main Sponsor

Centre for the Study of the United States

Co-sponsored by