Opening Reception: Friday, January 8, 7:00 p.m.
continues through February 20
Competing Values: Land Use and Public Consultation Panel Discussion Saturday February 20 at 2:00 p.m.

To order a copy of the publication please refer to http://www.openspace.ca/publications

Inside the gallery space, artists Cedric Bomford and Nathan Bomford have built a massive installation entitled Bamberton: Contested Landscape. The brothers have transformed salvaged building materials into an overwhelming meditation on the built environment, density and spectacle. The Bomfords’ intuitive and collaborative working process drives the project—at times involving family members, volunteers and co-workers. This astonishing construction turns monumentalism inside out: in effect, it critiques systems of power expressed through architecture.

The Bomfords reuse materials from demolition sites and from their previous work. Bamberton: Contested Landscape confronts land use skirmishes of Bamberton (an abandoned cement plant on Vancouver Island site) through architectural references and a fabricated oratorical arena. The Bomfords have created structures that invite visitors to physically move through, over, under and around the installation. Tactile interaction heightens the theme of contested space and the artists’ playful, provocative strategies. Changes in elevation and position are coupled with the physicality of weathered wood and the Bomfords’ interventionist architecture.

Both Cedric and Nathan Bomford’s previous work is associated with photography. Cedric Bomford’s recent photographic and video work examines historically charged architectural subjects in documentary style images that betray “history” by highlighting the artifice rather than the actual subjects depicted. Similarly, Nathan Bomford’s previous work consists of photographs of empty theatrical scenes devoid of specific narratives. The brothers say their new direction towards a collaborative project represents a logical progression of their previous bodies of work and shared interests.

Video documentation of Nathan and Cedric Bomford's Artist Talk. Opening Reception, January 8, 2010:www.youtube.com/user/ExhibitVic#p/a/u/2/X6XLhJeEuVI

Thanks to Integral Design.

Thanks to Caffè Artigiano.