LYLA RYE
SWING STAGE
Exhibition
Koffler Gallery at Olga Korper Gallery, 2011
Photos by Isaac Applebaum and Lyla Rye
With Swing Stage, Toronto artist Lyla Rye explores the architecture of the Olga Korper Gallery and the history of the Morrow complex where it is located. The gradual repurposing of the 1890s foundry complex into art galleries and offices related to design and digital services parallels a development process typical of former industrial spaces in Toronto and many North American cities over the past forty years.
Suspended by chains that replicate and overturn the configuration of the trusses, a hovering contraption suggests the layers of usage and change of the space over time. Viewers can step on to the platform to experience an elevated vantage point undermined by the illusory gulf created by the reflection of the ceiling on its dark surface. A circular screen displays a video that spans a 1930s rendering of the building, footage recorded on site, and a Google Earth model view of the neighbourhood, alluding to the view out of the round window atop the eastern wall.
Both through its title and design, Swing Stage alludes to the hanging scaffolds used for construction or maintenance on the exterior of high rise buildings and their transitory and unstable nature. Using optical inversions and theatrical tactics, the installation further hints at the fundamental idea of the stage as a site where a temporary suspension of disbelief can occur and imagination becomes unbound by gravity. Only within such a privileged space can a view that extends over space and through time be conjured, offering a thoughtful investigation of the continuous transformation that drives the life of a city.
Both through its title and design, Swing Stage alludes to the hanging scaffolds used for construction or maintenance on the exterior of high rise buildings and their transitory and unstable nature. Using optical inversions and theatrical tactics, the installation further hints at the fundamental idea of the stage as a site where a temporary suspension of disbelief can occur and imagination becomes unbound by gravity. Only within such a privileged space can a view that extends over space and through time be conjured, offering a thoughtful investigation of the continuous transformation that drives the life of a city.
Artist Info
Lyla Rye is a Toronto based installation artist. Her work has been exhibited across Canada including at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria; The Power Plant, Toronto; the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge; and the Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto. She has shown internationally in San Francisco, New York, Adelaide, Paris, and Berlin. Her works are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, York University, Cadillac Fairview Corporation, The Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Harbourfront Centre and Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
