New outdoor gallery opens

Concordia’s newest gallery, Wundergarden, opens on Friday, September 30 with a public vernissage from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wundergarden is a semi-permanent outdoor gallery that will host a series of curatorial projects focused on research in art and the life sciences.

The gallery is a site for the exploration of diverse concepts related to vegetal growth, and will act as a living laboratory. Many of the artists and scientists will speak about their work and the potential for interdisciplinary research and collaborations. The exhibition runs from September 30 to next spring.

The first installation, Olfactory Map of Populus, is a collaboration between Fluxmedia researcher and PhD Humanities student Kelly Andres and MSc Biology student Kalyani Rajalingham under the supervision of professors Tagny Duff in communication studies and Emma Despland in biology.

The scientific research component was completed this summer and involved monitoring the feeding behaviour of the forest tent caterpillar on more than 180 hybrid poplar trees. The biologists in the Despland Lab are studying which hybrid-tree varieties are more resistant to caterpillars. The results of the study will be used to select resistant trees for planting in Quebec. 

The outdoor gallery is located in the courtyard between the Communication Studies and Journalism Building and the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex on Concordia’s Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke St. W.).

The project is supported by Fluxmedia Research/Creation Network; Despland Lab; Concordia University and the Aid to Research Related Events, Publication, Exhibition and Dissemination Activities Program; Concordia University Small Grants Program; Concordia’s Departments of Biology and Communication Studies; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council; and the Research Consortium on Forest Insects.
 
When: Friday, September 30 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. (exhibition runs from September 30 to spring 2012)
Where: Outdoor courtyard near the Communication Studies and Journalism Building, Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke St. W.)

Related links:
•  Wundergarden
•  Fluxmedia
•  Concordia’s Faculty of Arts and Science
•  Concordia’s Aid to Research Related Events, Publication, Exhibition and Dissemination Activities Program