When you think of "re-purposed" art objects, ideas of up-cycling and a craft-based approach spring to mind; however, Philadelphia-based Alex Da Corte re-purposes the star value of objects in his solo exhibition Bacon Brest. The maelstrom of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" is loosely used as a framework for these art objects, and the result is something between a storefront for faulty Hollywood souvenirs and a high-end junk shop.
Alex Da Corte, Bacon Brest, 2013, installation view
The front gallery of Artspeak's centrally located Gastown location has never appeared more like the neighboring boutique shops. A half-empty hat tree offers baseball caps with names like Wes Craven and Hennessey Youngman stitched across their front. Transparent designer chairs by the likes of European architect-designers Phillip Starck, Patrick Jouin, and Patricia Urquiola have been re-purposed into a stack of indiscernibility. In fact, many of the "found" objects - from a Halle Berry-as-Catwoman cardboard cut-out to a laser-printed Dreamworks flag to the full wall of reflective mylar curtains - do nothing more than pluck at the arrhythmic heart strings of pop culture's ridiculous value system.
While eye-catching and pop-riddled are two of Da Corte's ongoing motifs, Bacon Brest is possibly the most subdued of his output. Visible still is a distorted wit, as the title itself conjures the image of Hollywood as a unconditional teat of inspiration.
Artspeak: http://www.artspeak.ca
Alex Da Corte: Bacon Brest continues until June 8.
Amy Fung is a writer and organizer who publishes nationally and internationally in journals, magazines, catalogues, and monographs in print and online. She is the Programs Manager at Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society and her ongoings can be found at POSTpacificPOST.com and on Twitter @someasianbitch. She is Akimblog's Vancouver correspondent.
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Alex Da Corte at Artspeak
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