09 March 2009

Material Boys

Partnership no longer necessarily means working together.

Although the synergy is obvious, for Canadian artists Christian Giroux and Daniel Young, the question of what they do is equally as perplexing as how they do it.

These artists, who live in different cities, are consistently exploring the relationship between objects in space – their mediums ranging from sculpture to film. They have even created an architectural comic book.

They communicate their ideas and designs through frequent digital transactions and, like many artists today, they have no studio space. The latest result of their collaboration is a sculptural collection that lingers in the grey area between furniture and art.

The pieces are collectively called Boole, after the 19th Century logician whose algebra is the basis of computer science and, specifically, computer modelling. Each piece begins with the simple form of an IKEA table; specific areas of the tables are exposed to display the material minimalism that is reflected by IKEA’s low prices.

They are then built upon using hollow, coloured aluminium forms made in Scarborough by Triple Metal Products; the result resembles a sort of geometric puzzle.

Giroux and Young have been working together since 2000. Giroux studied painting and sculpture, completing his BFA at the University of Victoria in 1993 and his MFA at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1995.

Young was at the centre of art and activism in Toronto, between 2001 and 2005, he completed a self-directed interdisciplinary program on “Space, Aesthetics and Practice: The City and the Politics of Everyday Life”.

When Giroux decided he preferred to pursue his sculptural ambitions he brought in Young, and it didn’t take long to realise their combined artistic potential.

The first sculpture from the pair was Fullerene (2003), a sphere comprising aluminium pentagons and hexagons, surfaced with strips of bicycle tire. The structure is comparable in form to that of the carbon molecule, C60, of the same name.

Since then they have completed an array of projects some of which include: a trio of aluminium sculptures based on spy satellites from the Cold War era; a film; Art & Landscape Collaboration, Reticulated Gambol and a print display titled War Game.

Daniel Young & Christian Giroux
cgdy.com