Logocity

Produced in conjunction with the 2002 exhibition Newmodulr

Double-sided poster, 45cm x 67cm, off-set printing on uncoated paper

free

cover of Logocity brochure
Information

This poster/brochure (with an introduction and discussion of works) was produced for the exhibition Logocity (2000) held at the Blackwood Gallery and in various outdoor sites on the campus of the University of Toronto Mississauga. This project presented work engaged with various aspects of sign-culture and included work by Ron Benner, Peter Bowyer, Corinne Carlson, Robin Collyer, Fastwürms, Robert Fones, Greg Hefford, Germaine Koh, David Kramer, Arnaud Maggs, Kelly Mark, Bernie Miller and Max Streicher. Logocity was curated by then Director/Curator Barbara Fischer and executed in collaboration with the Curatorial Practice class.

On side of the poster features an indistinct mottled brown background divided by thin neon orange lines into three segments; the middle section contains the basic exhibition information. The reverse side contains a curatorial essay by Fischer, a detailed map of the campus showing where each work was installed, and a short description and analysis of each of the thirteen projects in the exhibition.

Excerpt

As I was once again leafing through Robert Venturi’s paperback version of “Learning from Las Vegas”—still poignantly relevant in its analysis—an image caught my eye that, with a sharp pang of sorts, revealed an uncanny relationship to the exhibition “logocity.” It was an image of Las Vegas in the 1960s, showing the length of the upper, 6-lane “Strip” lined by the most dense forest of signs a North American city has ever mustered. Each road-side structure is pitched higher than the other in this veritable curtain of letters, sign-shapes, and light posts that signal the “Frontier,” MOBIL, Standard, the Desert Inn, among so many others. Clearly distant from the glass curtains of modernist architecture, the signs visually cascade toward the camera’s view and signal—primarily to automobile traffic—Rent-a-Car, Hotel, Spectacular Show, and restaurants of every stripe in a very literal version of what is called a “tourist trap.”

But all this—the density of this oasis—is visibly set in the desert; beyond the city limits, visually speaking, there is nothing, only the flat, vast, gravel-filled desert and sharp molar-like mountains in the distance.

How different this image is from the Erindale College, the University of Toronto at Mississauga campus. It is found by way of an understated main entrance access road, nestled in the organic lush brush above the Credit River. Carved out atop the river valley, it features taller, more stately trees, well-kept lawns, discreet sports fields and perhaps less discreet parking lots, and the picturesque, meandering “Five-Minute Walk” which connects the north end of the campus with the South Building, at the other end of the axis. In other words, the University is an oasis of a different kind, a zone free of structures of competing capital and corporate interests, of companies, businesses, and brands. And if there are signs, they are largely functional: “Parking Lot # 3,” “North Building,” “Student Centre,”….with only the “Kaneff Centre” making an acknowledging nod toward this Mississauga Development Company’s sponsorship of the 1992 Building.

–excerpted from the curatorial essay by Barbara Fischer

Table of Contents

Curatorial Essay

Barbara Fischer

Map of Projects

The Artists’ Projects
Barbara Fischer

Artists & Writers

Ron Benner
Peter Bowyer
Corinne Carlson
Robin Collyer
Fastwürms
Barbara Fischer
Robert Fones
Greg Hefford
Germaine Koh
David Kramer
Arnaud Maggs
Kelly Mark
Bernie Miller
Max Streicher

Credits

Poster Design: Andrew Di Rosa
Copyediting: Eileen Sommerman

How To Order

To order any of our publications, please send an email including title(s), number of copies, and your mailing address to: michael.dirisio@utoronto.ca

A 20% discount is available to students and members of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.

Acknowledgements




C.D. Sonter Management Inc., UTM/Erindale Alumni Annual Fund, Superior Signs (Vancouver), and Vintex (Mount Forest)

Related Projects

thumbnail of logocity exhibition

Logocity
May 20 - October 29, 2000
Curated by Barbara Fischer