Panoplie

Panoplie is comprised of a multifarious array of works which explore themes around childhood, motion, irony and language while enticing the viewer to become actively involved in the work. The space is filled with activities which invite curious viewers to play, creating the atmosphere of a subversive playground or amusement park. Seemingly disparate, each body of work relates to the other through repetition of media, concept and imagery, and the use of lightly absurd humour. With media ranging from watercolour and acrylic paint, roofing steel, pulley systems, silk, velvet and lead, Jennifer Macklem displays an extensive interest and proficiency in a variety of media.

The most imposing work in the gallery is an enormous bird head, built by Macklem during her summer 2000 residency at the Circa gallery. Constructed with roofing metal - a material which is prevalent in Montreal's architectural details - the bird resembles a playground climbing structure, standing over seven feet tall and ten feet wide. The cartoon-like head is constructed as an armature, beautifully formed with metal strips of curving lines and circles. Round black spheres for eyes dangle inside the face, from which a long beak extends. The sculpture itself - tough, crude and gigantic - is at odds with the image it depicts: a vulnerable and tiny bird's head, the kind of disconcerting contrast that we come to expect in Macklem's work. The viewer becomes an active participant in the exhibit by pulling on a handle placed several feet in front of the bird, raising the beak toward the ceiling and causing the comical eyes to jiggle.

Adjacent to the metal wall pieces are twenty four watercolour sketches; bizarre illustrations of a psychological world gone awry, where deviations are the norm. Beautiful in colour and composition, the sketches are filled with peculiar figures and colourful, displaced body parts bound together with knotted rope.

Orange cables stripe ceiling and walls, echoing hints of orange found in other works. In this collaborative piece Macklem works with Kip Jones, and viewers can turn a crank at the end of a cable and activate two robotic arms suspended from the ceiling. The arms jerk about in an inward, arching motion, bending at the elbow and alternately swatting at the rubber ball with mitts of metal mesh. One of Macklem's surrealist watercolours come to life when a crank is turned, sending a wheel, mounted a free-standing pole, into a spin. Three primary coloured heads, crudely sewn together with velvet and silk bounce and bob on the springs as the wheel turns.

Macklem and Jones integrate disparate interests in interactive, kinetic work, both possessing a desire to provide an ambiance of unpredictability, curiosity and involvement for the viewer. Their history of producing public art works informs their current practice, where the role of the viewer is paramount.

- Margo Yacheshyn, 2000

Bird Head, roofing metal, 2000

Trust/Betray, gallery shot, 2000

Frida, watercolour on paper, 2000