Dave Carlin: Untitled

Curatorial Statement and installation by Holly Cunningham

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Installation shot Profiles 2012.

img_0076With a strong affinity for his roots in the hills and rock of the Ontario Northland, Dave Carlin’s newest and currently untitled video and sculpture installation explores a collage of time and space.

img_0077The work centres around a world of synthesized landscapes, weaving an ebb and flow through the familiar and the surreal.  Similar to his signature practice of reusing and re-combining imagery from his own artwork, Carlin has created a collage of natural and synthetic images to build a progression of movement. When contrasted against the static stillness of rock and sculpture, a vivid presence is felt in the viewer.

img_0078This installation also demonstrates Carlin’s exploration into new media practice while staying rooted in his traditional influences. The juxtaposition of physical and virtual elements seems to elicit an excitement for the process here. The video is not defined as a space for the viewer to be solely absorbed with, but rather it asserts itself as a functioning component in the artwork’s three-dimensional space. The screen itself speaks to img_0079a confined nature which is deceptively detached from all that lies beyond it.

Carlin’s installation asks the question of where we fit into the constantly shifting landscapes of time and space. Incorporating elements from previous bodies of work as well as new digitally created works, Carlin seems to suggest that only through our own history and presence can we understand where we have been and where we may end up tomorrow.