About concepts of time: Time Pieces by Jesse Stewart

Untitled, 2005, glass, sand, installation view, Karsh-Masson Gallery © Jesse Stewart

13,000 pieces of glass, collected over the last 20 years from various shorelines arranged in concentric circles – marking the passage of time. One piece of glass for every day of the artist's life, and one circle for every year; this is one of the stunning works by Jesse Stewart in his current exhibition at the Karsh-Masson Gallery in Ottawa. The title of the exhibition: “Time Pieces”.

Keeping Tabs, 2011, plastic on canvas, installation view, © Jesse Stewart. This installation consists of 365 plastic bag closures that you would find on milk and bread bags, which he has collected over the past 8 years. Stewart arranged them in form of a calender.

Jesse Stewart is both: percussionist and conceptual artist.

As percussionist, he creates sounds out of virtually any resonating object or material. Even materials as glass, stone, ice, and cardboard were used by him to built instruments! As an conceptual artist, he is fascinated by the conceptions of time and how to make time - hardly tangible - visible and audible.

Untitled, 2009, clock hands on paper, installation view, © Jesse Stewart

Stewart describes his approach: “One of the major points of intersection between my work in the visual arts and music/sound is my ongoing interest in different conceptions of time. For me, time isn’t just a linear sequence of events with the future continually becoming the present and then slipping into an ever receding past. Rather, time is intimately connected to patterns of growth and decay, to ritual, memory, rhythm, cycles, and impermanence. Suzanne Langer famously wrote that “Music makes time audible.” With this body of work, I have tried to make time both audible and visible in a variety of ways.” [Catalogue excerpt]

Wheels of Time, 2003, sand-blasted vinyl records, installation view, © Jesse Stewart

Jesse Stewart plays with the intangibility of time and music; and he creates stunning results. Not linear is his concept and understanding of time, but rather related to memory, cycles and rhythm. Talking about rhythm: There is a musical performance by Jesse Stewart coming up in September (Musical Performance and Q & A (in English): September 18, 2011, at 2 p.m.). You can check his striking and impressive percussions out on his web site: http://www.jessestewart.ca/

Untitled, before and after, Karsh-Masson Gallery, installation view, © Jesse Stewart. These pieces of paper belong to a video that shows how the artists makes sounds out of them by scrunching, tearing, rolling them up...

Facts:
Jesse Stewart - Time Pieces
Karsh Masson Gallery
August 12 to September 25, 2011
http://www.ottawa.ca/rec_culture/arts/gallery_exhibit/karsh_masson/index_en.html