.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
'The idea of the giant transforming into architecture. I hate to get into specifics of symbolic meaning, but I think the giant can be seen as a metaphor for nature or the environment. And it's interesting for me to see that body as a little world, a total universe inside of which I can lose myself for days' (D. Altmejd, quoted in C. Hong, 'I David Altmejd: Beyond Tomorrow', W, November 2007).
'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive. Transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).
Towering above the viewer at approximately four metres tall, The New North is a colossal figure conjured up from the imagination of David Altmejd. Executed in 2007, the work was created in the same year that the artist exhibited for the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, making him one of the youngest artists to ever represent their country at the esteemed exhibition. The following year The New North was exhibited in the De Pont Museum project space as part of its international sculpture exhibition Lustwarande Wanderland.
A phantasmagoric giant, New North appears governed by the combined elements of both chaos and order. An unexpected fusion of incongruous elements - mirrors, horse hair, wire, plaster, and quartz crystal combine to create a chaordic yet recognisable bipedal creature. Taking on a life of its own, the giant adopts a contrapposto pose, peering into the distance, assuming an anthropomorphic quality. Its chest cavity replaced by a crystal lined chamber; the giant appears mid-transformation, its body metamorphosing into a fantastical ecosystem.
As the artist stated, 'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive. Transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R.M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20th March, 2012). With its hyper-physicality Altmejd's sculpture powerfully shares and interrupts the viewer's space, giving the work an acute experiential realism.
Existing in a frozen state of metamorphosis, a labyrinthine staircase winds up the giant's body, like a crumbling Towel of Babel. In its dazzling displays of mirrored chasms and passages, illusory spaces are created. Its mirrored interior refracting light reflections multiply, distorting space, to allow an intimate glimpse into the giant's interior. As the artist articulated, 'I like the idea of objects that you can't see directly - they are more creepy and powerful. Playing with mirrors allows viewers to see objects that are hiding. I didn't expect the kaleidoscope effect - it became a mixture of disco and horror! It has stayed in my vocabulary. I also thought, if I take a hammer and smash the mirror, it goes from being something invisible and non-physical to hyper-physicality. That shift, from invisible to hyper-present is very, very interesting to me. I also think that that is how I felt as a teenager - invisible, but also existing intensely' (D. Almejd, quoted in ibid).
A favoured creature for Altmejd, the giant has become iconic for the artist, as seen in his pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale which presented a menagerie of surreal, dreamlike creatures, ranging from werewolves, to bird-men and giants. In New North, the giant appears in a state of sustained decay, its tactile palomino coat molting off his plaster frame, exposing an interior nervous system of colourful wires, a gaping hole existing where its heart might have been. Running the expanse of his leg and torso, stalagmites hang from its mirrored steps as if grown organically over decades, imparting a sense of the primordia on the weathered figure. Even in its decomposed state, it seems alive, gingerly lifting his fur to reveal a glistening mirrored staircase extending through his middle. In this way, any suggestion of the grotesque is surpassed by the gentle, engaging energy of the giant. As the artist articulated, 'I am really not interested in gore. What I make has to be positive and seductive. Instead of rotting, the characters in my work are crystallizing. This makes the narratives of the pieces move towards life rather than death.' (D. Altmejd, quoted in J. Lack 'Artist of the week: David Altmejd', Guardian, July 2004). The glistening stairway assumes an architectural quality, extending the aritst's earlier architecturally inspired models such as Delicate Men in Positions of Power (2003), which was exhibited at the 2004 Whitney Biennial. New North is a seamless union between organic and architecture, the artist confirming his intention to realise 'the idea of the giant transforming into architecture. I hate to get into specifics of symbolic meaning, but I think the giant can be seen as a metaphor for nature or the environment. And it's interesting for me to see that body as a little world, a total universe inside of which I can lose myself for days' (D. Altmejd, quoted in C. Hong, 'I David Altmejd: Beyond Tomorrow', W, November 2007). According to Louise Déry, curator of Almejd's Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Altmejd's giants 'seem to have a Northern genealogy' (L. Déry quoted in 'The Other Side of the Looking Glass', David Altmejd: The Index, exh. cat., Venice Biennale Canadian Pavilion, Venice 2007, p. 45). Here, the title seems to allude to a new type of a giant, surfacing from an established ancestry, yet transformed into the artist's vision of the future.
'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive. Transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).
Towering above the viewer at approximately four metres tall, The New North is a colossal figure conjured up from the imagination of David Altmejd. Executed in 2007, the work was created in the same year that the artist exhibited for the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, making him one of the youngest artists to ever represent their country at the esteemed exhibition. The following year The New North was exhibited in the De Pont Museum project space as part of its international sculpture exhibition Lustwarande Wanderland.
A phantasmagoric giant, New North appears governed by the combined elements of both chaos and order. An unexpected fusion of incongruous elements - mirrors, horse hair, wire, plaster, and quartz crystal combine to create a chaordic yet recognisable bipedal creature. Taking on a life of its own, the giant adopts a contrapposto pose, peering into the distance, assuming an anthropomorphic quality. Its chest cavity replaced by a crystal lined chamber; the giant appears mid-transformation, its body metamorphosing into a fantastical ecosystem.
As the artist stated, 'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive. Transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R.M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20th March, 2012). With its hyper-physicality Altmejd's sculpture powerfully shares and interrupts the viewer's space, giving the work an acute experiential realism.
Existing in a frozen state of metamorphosis, a labyrinthine staircase winds up the giant's body, like a crumbling Towel of Babel. In its dazzling displays of mirrored chasms and passages, illusory spaces are created. Its mirrored interior refracting light reflections multiply, distorting space, to allow an intimate glimpse into the giant's interior. As the artist articulated, 'I like the idea of objects that you can't see directly - they are more creepy and powerful. Playing with mirrors allows viewers to see objects that are hiding. I didn't expect the kaleidoscope effect - it became a mixture of disco and horror! It has stayed in my vocabulary. I also thought, if I take a hammer and smash the mirror, it goes from being something invisible and non-physical to hyper-physicality. That shift, from invisible to hyper-present is very, very interesting to me. I also think that that is how I felt as a teenager - invisible, but also existing intensely' (D. Almejd, quoted in ibid).
A favoured creature for Altmejd, the giant has become iconic for the artist, as seen in his pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale which presented a menagerie of surreal, dreamlike creatures, ranging from werewolves, to bird-men and giants. In New North, the giant appears in a state of sustained decay, its tactile palomino coat molting off his plaster frame, exposing an interior nervous system of colourful wires, a gaping hole existing where its heart might have been. Running the expanse of his leg and torso, stalagmites hang from its mirrored steps as if grown organically over decades, imparting a sense of the primordia on the weathered figure. Even in its decomposed state, it seems alive, gingerly lifting his fur to reveal a glistening mirrored staircase extending through his middle. In this way, any suggestion of the grotesque is surpassed by the gentle, engaging energy of the giant. As the artist articulated, 'I am really not interested in gore. What I make has to be positive and seductive. Instead of rotting, the characters in my work are crystallizing. This makes the narratives of the pieces move towards life rather than death.' (D. Altmejd, quoted in J. Lack 'Artist of the week: David Altmejd', Guardian, July 2004). The glistening stairway assumes an architectural quality, extending the aritst's earlier architecturally inspired models such as Delicate Men in Positions of Power (2003), which was exhibited at the 2004 Whitney Biennial. New North is a seamless union between organic and architecture, the artist confirming his intention to realise 'the idea of the giant transforming into architecture. I hate to get into specifics of symbolic meaning, but I think the giant can be seen as a metaphor for nature or the environment. And it's interesting for me to see that body as a little world, a total universe inside of which I can lose myself for days' (D. Altmejd, quoted in C. Hong, 'I David Altmejd: Beyond Tomorrow', W, November 2007). According to Louise Déry, curator of Almejd's Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Altmejd's giants 'seem to have a Northern genealogy' (L. Déry quoted in 'The Other Side of the Looking Glass', David Altmejd: The Index, exh. cat., Venice Biennale Canadian Pavilion, Venice 2007, p. 45). Here, the title seems to allude to a new type of a giant, surfacing from an established ancestry, yet transformed into the artist's vision of the future.