A delightful exhibit has opened at Galerie B-312, featuring installations and video by German artist Doris Kuwert titled Domestic Noises.

The gallery is filled with small tables carrying black metal boxes onto which are placed a selection of small metal objects. Inside each box is a spinning magnet which moves the objects in a random choreography. Paperclips chase each other, pins and needles dance around the rubber bands that block their way, ball bearings trundle across the metal surface. There is a wonderful hypnotizing randomness to the movement of these every-day objects, and if your fingers are itching to get into the mix, there’s one table where you are allowed to place an assortment of them onto a box and see what happens. However, movement isn’t the only driver of this exhibit. Each installation is wired up for sound, and the tinkling, scraping noises created by the objects are broadcast through the gallery by a set of speakers, adding a symphony of scratches to the dance. There’s also a projection of a video which essentially shows what you’ve seen ‘live’ in the main gallery, though I must say that the direct observation of the dance of the paperclips is more captivating that the second-hand documentation.

Galerie B-312 in collaboration with the Goethe Institut
space 403
Doris Kuwert
Domestic Noises
exhibition period: October 16 – November 8, 2008
www.galerieb-312.qc.ca