Presentation by Fiona Annis (July 2016)
A double star is a binary system composed of two stars that are gravitationally bound to one another. In other words, double stars revolve in pairs circling in mutual orbit. Astronomers identify different types of binary systems based upon the relation between the two stars. These observations describe not only their current state, but also suggest their future destinies. Les révolutions sidérales is a series of images that explores exchanges that occur between body-to-body elements that are drawn together. The exhibition gathers several components, including photographs, citations, image-machines and a light installation that take as their departure point astral entanglements and their earthly reflections.
- Double star (saule)
- C-print, 2016. Édition 1/3
Dimensions de l’image : 58 x 50 cmThis work is an extension of my ongoing interest in the connection between photography and astronomy. It is through an investigation of the early history of photography that I came to understand how photography is indebted to the development of the optical lenses first used by astronomers. Today, photography and astronomy continue to share a binding interest in light and time, as well as the exploration of that which lies beyond the visible and known limits of observation. Stellar photography for example bridges the distance between the terrestrial observer and celestial bodies, and is a particularly strong evident example of photographic imagery that makes visible that which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Like spirit photography, which also sought to depict the invisible world, these astral images acknowledge photography’s scientific properties, while simultaneously inhabiting the domain of the sublime imagination.
— Fiona Annis
Biography
- Double Star (Albireo)
- C-print, 2016. Édition 1/3
Dimensions de l’image : 41 x 31cm
Born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1983, Fiona Annis lives and works in Montréal. Fiona has presented exhibitions across Canada and internationally at artist-run centers, galleries and museums including: The AC Institute (New York City), The Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montréal) Goldsmith’s University (London), LowSalt Gallery (Glasgow), Gallery44 (Toronto), VU Photo (Québec City) and The Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton). Her work is featured in the permanent collection of the Museum of Civilization in Québec City, the Penumbra Foundation in New York City, and several private collections. During artist residencies in Rad’art (Italy, 2016), DAÏMÕN (Gatineau, 2016), Caravanserail (Rimouski, 2015), Eastern Bloc (Montreal, 2013) and Penumbra Foundation (New York, 2012), she revisits old photographic techniques, questioning the ways in which these can continue to enlighten our contemporary context.
Publication
- {Les révolutions sidérales}
Claire Moeder
Fiona Annis : Les révolutions sidérales
Longueuil : Plein sud, centre d’exposition en art actuel
2016, 16 pages
Thanks
This project was developed in the context of an artist residency at DAÏMÕN, a research residency at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in New York City and printed by the artist at the Post-Image cluster of the MILIEUX Institute for the Arts, Culture, and Technology at Concordia University. The project was supported by SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles), SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), and Plein sud, centre d’exposition en art actuel. With thanks to: Fausto Errico, Evergon, Marie Fraser, Harvey Lev and Judith Bauer, Véronique La Perrière M., Claire Moeder, Martin Schop and the Annis-Hudson clan.
See also
Artist residency:
Rad’Art. San Romano, Italie, du 5 au 18 décembre 2016.
Solo exhibition:
Occurrence. Montréal, Québec, with The Society of Affective Archives, du 3 février au 4 mars 2017
Group exhibition:
Gallery 44. Toronto, Ontario, du 9 au 25 mars 2017.
