The New Flâneurs: A Stroll with the Sublime
Mark Arneson Edmonton Summer 81 1981
The sublime and picturesque are not terms one hears very often in the contemporary art world, but in the late 18th century, when they were first coined by British Romantic philosophers, the words conjured up a specific, highly constructed way of walking through and looking at the world. In the Art Gallery of Alberta’s new group exhibition, “The New Flâneurs,” this notion of framing the landscape is modernized, mobilized and urbanized to offer a variety of strategies for experiencing the city from street level. Through a combination of historical images of ruins, modern street photography, situationist dérives and works by graffiti and parkour enthusiasts, the show, which opens this weekend, shifts focus away from natural landscapes towards contemporary aesthetic explorations of the human environment. Together, the works develop what curator Marcus Miller describes as “alternate psychogeographic routes that expose unofficial histories and break free from prescribed experience.” (100-10230 Jasper Ave, Edmonton AB)
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Don Gill & Sarah Williams Erratic Space 2009 Video still |
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