In this exhibition three West Coast artists examine visual perception, the transformation of the physical and social landscape, and the experiential memories that influence the interpretation of our surroundings. References to utopic topographies and mapping are reflected in the usage of modernist geometric forms. By experimenting with shifts between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space, these three artists investigate the physicality of light and colour.

Skagit (2005), by Seattle-based artist Claude Zervas renders the lower Skagit river drainage basin at the point where the river splits into two forks and flows into Puget Sound. Zervas’ adaptation of this section of the 150-mile-long river uses glowing green cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) lamps, thin steel rods, and dangling wires and inverters that resemble a river’s tributaries. Raised in rural Washington, Zervas is greatly influenced by physical landscape, social topology, and the transformation of regions. He has particular interest in how places evoke emotion, the manner in which emotions affect memory, and how memory consequently affects perception.

The installation String Cave (2008), by Vancouver artist Miguel da Conceicao, takes its influences from the writings of Canadian architect Daniel Libeskind, a found photograph of a black-light string art ‘pavilion’ circa the 1960s or 1970s, and Marcel Duchamp’s installation, Mile of String, produced for the 1942 First Papers New York retrospective of Surrealist art curated by Andre Breton. Illuminated by a black light, String Cave is a geometric drawing made of white yarn that protrudes from the walls to encompass a darkened gallery space. The installation resembles a computer wire-frame model of a cave interior, employing Op Art techniques to give the illusion of depth beyond the gallery walls.

Vancouver-based Devon Knowles’ works – Invertible Leaner #4 (2007) and Rock the Stone (2008) are sculptures that explore light, optical perception, and architectural space. Rising from the ground at acute angles, the tall and narrow hexagonal beams in Invertible Leaner resemble both monochromatic skyscrapers and light beams, creating an unusual overturned skyline. Using mirrors, Knowles plays with the viewer’s sense of depth perception while simultaneously challenging the relationship between the space of the viewer and the space of the artwork. Rock the Stone is a three-dimensional extrapolation of earlier (two-dimensional) drawings of gemstones conducted by the artist. This twice-translated work, fabricated primarily from a series of triangular stained glass panels, gives particular emphasis to the chromatic effect of refracted light, while encouraging new permutations as the panels reflect one another and cast light on the sculpture’s white base.

The Or Gallery is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, and this exhibition marks the beginning of its fall season in its new home at 555 Hamilton St.