CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts Opens The Exhibition Formerly Known as Passengers: 2.11 Mario Garcia Torres, ArtDaily.org

Mario Garcia Torres, What Happens in Halifax Stays in Halifax (In 36 Slides), 2004-6. Mixed media installation. Dimensions variable. Courtesy Jan Mot, Brussels.(web image)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The work of the Los Angeles-based Mexican artist, Mario Garcia Torres, investigates specific incidents and personalities from within the history of conceptual art. Through the use of video, slide installations, and photography, the artist introduces fresh perspectives on Conceptualism's forgotten narratives. What Happens in Halifax Stays in Halifax (in 36 Slides) (2004-2006) revisits a little-known event that occurred in 1969 in a course taught by the artist David Askevold at Halifax's NSCAD University. Askevold's students were asked to produce a work based on an instruction provided by the artist Robert Barry, and the class was asked to decide on a shared idea that had to be kept secret. The piece would only exist for as long as the idea remained within the confines of this student group. Seeking out some of these students 35 years later and arranging their reunion, Garcia Torres documented this event and various sites in Halifax associated with the project to create a slideshow that is at once critical, playful, and nostalgic. ... http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=31915