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Visual arts

GIFOSCOPES

GIFOSCOPES

Information on the activity

October 2, 2014 to November 23, 2014

The RIDM is pleased to present the interactive Gifoscopes installation in collaboration with the Quartier des Spectacles. These participatory objects will be presented from October 2nd to November 23rd on the Promenade des Artistes, closing on the same date as the 17th RIDM.

Gifoscopes is a playful interactive installation that makes connections between today’s web promotion practices and the origins of cinema. Animated GIFs, seen widely on the web, reclaim a 19th-century technique that is the foundation of everything that followed in the realm of animated images. The installation project is also based on a desire to democratize art by having viewers learn about the history of cinema through techniques available to everyone. The idea is to make cinema participatory, fun and more accessible.

The apparatus is simple: the gifoscope produces the illusion of motion with a strip of drawings that turn around a mirrored cylinder that reflects the images. The gifoscope must be activated by the audience. Several different sets of images by acclaimed illustrators will be available. Audiences can enjoy the work of DOIION, Sonia Roy and the En Masse artists’ collective, with the collaboration of See Creature. The result: several different artistic practices will intersect and interact.

There is an additional participatory element: workshops will be held where members of the public can create their own strips of drawings, becoming creators rather than spectators. The workshops will be held on October 4th and November 15th and 22nd, also from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

With its optical tricks, Gifoscopes is a kinetic artwork in which you are the hero. Come create and admire the animated images!

The Gifoscopes is produced in collaboration with La Camaraderie and made possible by the support of the Quartier des Spectacles, the Ville de Montréal, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and PRAXI inc.