Larissa Kurz -
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Pieces from the new exhibition titled The Permanent Collection: What the Bat Knows, at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Stepping into the newest exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the space is dark with each framed work lining the walls lit only by interspersed soft glowing light.
It’s reminiscent of the depths of a cave — perfectly fitting as the installation, titled What The Bat Knows, is conceptualized through the eyes of a bat as a narrator.
“This is not going to be the usual experience of art,” said Crystal Mowry, director of programs and curator of the exhibition. “It’s not the usual approach to storytelling we encounter in museums and galleries.”
The exhibition seeks to challenge the classic idea of perspectives inside a gallery, typically assigned to the visitor or curator, and always thought to be human. But Mowry is looking to completely reshape that relationship by introducing a non-human perspective into the experience.
Bats are a naturally curious species, said Mowry, one that has been around for millions of years and that piques human interest because of their almost undefinable physiology.
“We’ve attached all kinds of stories to them, and vilified them in many ways,” said Mowry. “Their history goes back so far (and) I just started to think, there’s probably a lot they know that we don’t.”
It made them a perfect narrator for the collection, as a species with a mysterious voice and a likeliness to find themselves having wandered into a building like an art gallery.
© KAYLE NEIS
Stepping into the newest exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the space is dark with each framed work lining the walls lit only by interspersed soft glowing light.
It’s reminiscent of the depths of a cave — perfectly fitting as the installation, titled What The Bat Knows, is conceptualized through the eyes of a bat as a narrator.
“This is not going to be the usual experience of art,” said Crystal Mowry, director of programs and curator of the exhibition. “It’s not the usual approach to storytelling we encounter in museums and galleries.”
The exhibition seeks to challenge the classic idea of perspectives inside a gallery, typically assigned to the visitor or curator, and always thought to be human. But Mowry is looking to completely reshape that relationship by introducing a non-human perspective into the experience.
Bats are a naturally curious species, said Mowry, one that has been around for millions of years and that piques human interest because of their almost undefinable physiology.
“We’ve attached all kinds of stories to them, and vilified them in many ways,” said Mowry. “Their history goes back so far (and) I just started to think, there’s probably a lot they know that we don’t.”
It made them a perfect narrator for the collection, as a species with a mysterious voice and a likeliness to find themselves having wandered into a building like an art gallery.
© KAYLE NEIS
The three bats represent the narrators of each phase of What The Bat Knows, the grounding piece of the exhibition that includes rotating pieces from 27 different artists housed in the gallery’s permanent collection.
Three ceramic bats sculpted by artist Shary Boyle are the centrepiece of the installation, representing the unusual narrator. They remain unmoved as works from the gallery’s permanent collection rotate around them.
Extended labels on each work are written from the fictionalized perspective of a bat, as if the animal were the one navigating the gallery and witnessing the art.
“You really get a sense that they maybe are not interested in the same detail that humans are,” said Mowry. “Maybe they actually have a chip on their shoulder about the ways that humans have tried to tell the story of the world.
“Maybe all the details aren’t quite right, or perhaps the aspects of those stories they care about are different from what humans would highlight.”
© KAYLE NEIS
Three ceramic bats sculpted by artist Shary Boyle are the centrepiece of the installation, representing the unusual narrator. They remain unmoved as works from the gallery’s permanent collection rotate around them.
Extended labels on each work are written from the fictionalized perspective of a bat, as if the animal were the one navigating the gallery and witnessing the art.
“You really get a sense that they maybe are not interested in the same detail that humans are,” said Mowry. “Maybe they actually have a chip on their shoulder about the ways that humans have tried to tell the story of the world.
“Maybe all the details aren’t quite right, or perhaps the aspects of those stories they care about are different from what humans would highlight.”
© KAYLE NEIS
Pieces from the new exhibition, each of which has an extended description written from the perspective of a bat.
What The Bat Knows is an experimental exhibition, conceptualized in three phases with three narrators, said Mowry.
The prior two installations viewed the collection first through the perspective of a bat that’s a social creature and part of an ecosystem, then from the perspective of a bat that is considering what it means to be an individual outside the community.
This new phase presents the bat as a dreamer, examining the idea of “elsewhere.” Whether that means the afterlife, a dream world or another dimension Mowry says is left to the viewer to decide.
“There’s so much we imagine, in the dark, underground, and spaces on the outer periphery (and) that’s part of the magic of creating a sense of elsewhere,” said Mowry.
The exhibition is meant to leave visitors thinking about the existence of new, unconsidered perspectives outside of their own, and the role narration plays in telling stories.
“I want them to doubt that it’s possible to know any one story thoroughly, and doubt that there is one story,” said Mowry. “And how the story is told can be just as important as the actual story being told.”
Mowry said the idea of pushing the expectational boundary of perspective was fuel behind the exhibition, it’s also part of a strategy to reintroduce people to familiar pieces in the permanent collection — ideally in a new light.
“These kinds of experimental approaches to curating erase the temporal boundaries of a work,” said Mowry. “The way that we approach our exhibitions is less about snapshots of a particular time in history and more about how objects that may be made in the past or in the present can resonate across time.”
What The Bat Knows opened to the public on Saturday and is set to remain on display until May of next year .
What The Bat Knows is an experimental exhibition, conceptualized in three phases with three narrators, said Mowry.
The prior two installations viewed the collection first through the perspective of a bat that’s a social creature and part of an ecosystem, then from the perspective of a bat that is considering what it means to be an individual outside the community.
This new phase presents the bat as a dreamer, examining the idea of “elsewhere.” Whether that means the afterlife, a dream world or another dimension Mowry says is left to the viewer to decide.
“There’s so much we imagine, in the dark, underground, and spaces on the outer periphery (and) that’s part of the magic of creating a sense of elsewhere,” said Mowry.
The exhibition is meant to leave visitors thinking about the existence of new, unconsidered perspectives outside of their own, and the role narration plays in telling stories.
“I want them to doubt that it’s possible to know any one story thoroughly, and doubt that there is one story,” said Mowry. “And how the story is told can be just as important as the actual story being told.”
Mowry said the idea of pushing the expectational boundary of perspective was fuel behind the exhibition, it’s also part of a strategy to reintroduce people to familiar pieces in the permanent collection — ideally in a new light.
“These kinds of experimental approaches to curating erase the temporal boundaries of a work,” said Mowry. “The way that we approach our exhibitions is less about snapshots of a particular time in history and more about how objects that may be made in the past or in the present can resonate across time.”
What The Bat Knows opened to the public on Saturday and is set to remain on display until May of next year .
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