Cabin Fever

October 29 – December 9, 2011

Cabin Fever

Opening reception and curator’s walkthrough: October 29 7:00pm Starting at the Dunlop Art Gallery, then moving over to Neutral Ground

Exhibition dates: October 29 – December 9, 2011

Curators talk: October 28 12:00pm at the University of Regina Ridel Center room 050

Cabin Fever

noun. (ca. 1918)

Boredom, restlessness, or irritability that results from a lack of environmental stimulation, as from a prolonged stay in a remote, sparsely populated region or a confined indoor area.

idiom.

Distress or anxiety caused by prolonged confinement in a small or remote place, as in “We’ve been snowed in for a week and everyone has cabin fever.” Originating in the West, this term at first alluded to being penned up in a remote cabin during a long winter but has since been applied more broadly.

The work in this exhibition offers glimpses into the psyche of boredom, and the resultant attempts at ever-possible yet seemingly elusive fulfillment. Is it feasible to satiate such undulating hunger derived from being nowhere by creating your own somewhere? Can the varying symptoms of cabin fever be diagnosed? How do you pinpoint ennui? Those whose work is included in this exhibition offer suggestions, exit strategies, and further problems in creating their own antidotes to cabin fever-this unquantifiable ailment from which have all felt beleaguered by at some time or another.

Cabin fever is not only symptomatic of those living in sparsely-populated regions, but may be argued, is a perennial unease also found in larger urban centers, in no small part due to rampant commercialism and inescapable fast-paced environments. Yes, being just another face in the crowd can bring about cabin fever.

The solution requires activity and making do with your surroundings. The exhibited artists create situations within their environments and they perform tasks far more ridiculous and seemingly meaningless than anything that could ever be manifest out of the mind-bending neuroses of cabin fever. Performance, whether the body is center-stage or even absent, is the primary vehicle for curing cabin fever. These artistic investigations through mobility, sex, architecture, and even unabashed optimism may just be what we’ve all been looking for… the results of cabin fever may just be the cure!

Artists:

Zoe Jaremus (Montreal, Canada)

Terence Koh (New York City, USA)

Deirdre Logue (Toronto, Canada)

Elizabeth Milton (Vancouver, Canada)

Ryan Park (Guelph, Canada)

Jon Sasaki (Toronto, Canada)

Rebekka Unrau (Glasgow, United Kingdom / Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Cabin Fever is curated by J.J. Kegan McFadden, director curator of PLATFORM Center for Photographic and Digital Arts, as part of the Independent Curators International program.

Neutral Ground is excited to be partnering with the Dunlop Art Gallery who will concurrently be hosting As The Sidewalk Bleeds, also curated by J.J. Kegan McFadden. McFadden will be doing a walkthrough of both exhibits on October 29th starting at 7:00pm at the Dunlop, then moving over to Neutral Ground.

The University of Regina will be hosting a talk by McFadden at noon on Friday, October the 28th.