Taking cameraphone images at Pope John Paul II’s funeral, “Lynetter”, 2006
Dubious Views is a bilingual online exhibition funded by the Virtual Museum Project of Canada, and produced by Gallery TPW. Dubious Views interrogates institutional representations in tourism, surveillance, and cartography, and is divided into two halves: “Subversive Souvenirs” and “Subversive Cartography”.
Both sections of this project address the role of the “institution” in terms of its effect on the understanding of place. One examines it in terms of its relationship to the tourism industry, and another examines it in the context of mapmaking and geography. In both cases, the artists involved look at and play with creating alternatives to the institutional view, and attempt to challenge its singularity, its authority, and its monolithic profile.
I curated and wrote the essay for the “Subversive Souvenirs” section. The collection of images features the work of Michelle Teran, David Rokeby, Janet Cardiff, Roger Minick, Jin Me-Yoon, N.E. Thing Co., Shelly Niro, Surveillance Camera Players, Mitch Robinson, and Louise Noguchi.
The site is accessible in several formats from the Gallery TPW website. There is a wealth of information contained within the exhibition, so take time to click on images and links to learn more about the artists and the terminologies used.
This project has been ongoing for some time, and it must be said that the efforts of the indefatigable Gallery TPW team, especially Kim Simon, were essential to keeping it on track. It was also an immense pleasure to work with the other talented members of the team, who are too numerous to name, but are (mostly) all represented on the credits page of the site.
Enjoy the project and please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback.