Cadence

 June 8 - August 10, 2019
Opening Reception: June 8, 7:00-9:30 pm

Cadence is a multimedia sound installation created using organ pipes salvaged from a historical building in Hamilton. The main components of an organ — the air supply, bellows, and pipes – have been re-configured in order to activate electronically. Inspired by the human body and traditional organ designs, the structure that occupies the gallery is part instrument, part breathing creature. Yet unlike an instrument that serves as an extension of the body, the installation awakens with the mere presence of people, sighing autonomously as if to join the conversation. Cadence mediates our understanding of what is real and what is possible by straddling the line between machine and sensory being.

This exhibition is accompanied by a critical essay written by Shauna Jean Doherty, which can be accessed HERE.

Joshua MacDonald and Maria Simmons have been working collaboratively since 2017. Joshua MacDonald is a cinematographer and interdisciplinary artist from Toronto, ON with a BFA from Ryerson University. His practice spans from photography, the feature film industry, to computer based art and installation. He has exhibited work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto. Maria Simmons is a textile and installation artist based out of Hamilton, ON with a BFA from McMaster University and is an active member of the Hamilton Audio Visual Node. She takes inspiration from myth, superstition, and the body, aiming to evoke simultaneous feelings of wonder and perturbation. Recently, they were artists in residence at the Factory Media Centre in Hamilton, ON.

The artists would like to acknowledge project funding from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.