There is a specific order to things at Three Dimensions, the three-installation exhibit by Toronto artists Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins that opens at Contemporary Calgary on Oct. 19.
Sure, the exhibit has a decidedly open-ended and open-to-interpretation vibe to it, but there does seem to be a set path to follow to have the optimal experience. Visitors are first invited to check out and interact with Balancing Act, which features an oversized, user-controlled, claw-crane game that allows participants to stack foam shapes and form their own sculptures. It is surrounded by paintings that depict various possibilities and groupings that can be created using the same geometric shapes.
“The crane game has a long history,” says Borins, who joined Marman at Contemporary Calgary to launch the exhibit earlier this week. “It’s completely recognizable. Everybody has seen claw-crane games in arcades, in fairgrounds. It has a long history connected to the gold rush or the building of the Panama Canal. Why did that get gamified is a question that no one asked. But it was something that we thought was relevant to our practice. We make kinetic art. We make interactive art. There is an industrial-design quality to some of our projects.”
