{"id":21864,"date":"2018-10-12T13:57:49","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T17:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=21864"},"modified":"2018-10-12T13:57:49","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T17:57:49","slug":"apparitions-abound-as-artist-hourie-and-cultural-centre-dive-into-macabre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/apparitions-abound-as-artist-hourie-and-cultural-centre-dive-into-macabre\/","title":{"rendered":"Apparitions abound as artist Hourie and Cultural Centre dive into macabre"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Award-winning artist Troy Hourie creates a world of wonder.
\nWhether it unfolds on the stage, within a small cabinet, or in the palm of the hand, he focuses on creating awe and advancing the form of \u201cspectatorship\u201d into an experience that is wholly immersive \u2013 and sometimes a bit spooky.
\nThe Aurora resident, who has taken his work around the world, has just finished transforming the Blue Gallery at the Aurora Cultural Centre into just such a spectacle in Apparitions, a mixed-media installation inspired by the Benjamin Britten Opera \u201cThe Turn of the Screw\u201d taking the form of The Bed, The Attic and the Writing Cabinet, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in various experiences at varying levels, all through the eyes of Miles, Flora, and the ghostly Quint.
\n\u201cI have been working on this project for over six years,\u201d says Mr. Hourie, whose practice began in performance design in New York, where he has 15 years\u2019 experience under his belt. \u201cI have a bit of an obsession over the idea of apparitions, which is part of it, but most of my work as an artist now is based on the idea of creating wonder, creating awe, and creating a more advanced form of spectatorship. A viewer, particularly with this piece, is probably going to be more participatory than a normal art installation because it is immersive and the video component is all interactive.\u201d
\nThe piece follows Quint, a valet character in the opera which, in turn, was based on Henry James\u2019 The Turn of the Screw. Quint has two wards, the children Miles and Flora, but Quint is a ghost who is haunting them.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s sort of a journey, it\u2019s sort of a haunted house, but, more importantly, it is a journey to immerse people in an esoteric story,\u201d Mr. Hourie explains. \u201cSince I was younger, I have always been interested in the idea of ghosts, but I think, in particular, it is the music in The Turn of the Screw [that interests] me. A lot of my work deals with Victoriana and I like the macabre. I like things that are odd, things that are creepy\u2026and I find everyone has a sense of fear. There is a sense of awe, but [also] exploring what makes people afraid, what doesn\u2019t what makes me afraid, what doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s based on childhood dreams and stories.\u201d
\nDuring the run of Apparitions, which is on now through November 10, the public will have an opportunity to experience the \u201cexperience\u201d in a number of different ways.
\nMr. Hourie is hosting a Youth Workshop Opportunity beginning this Saturday, October 13, that will provide students with an opportunity to experience his creative process of immersing the body into an artistic space, challenging participants to \u201creflect on their own interpretations of fear, nightmares, dreams haunted houses, ghosts and sorrow by researching visuals that represent each of these ideas to them.\u201d
\nParticipating youth will then be guided by the artist through the creation of their own art project on October 27 and the finished works will be on display in an exhibition day on Saturday, November 10.
\nThese classes are provided free thanks to funding from the Ontario Arts Council.
\nOn Hallowe\u2019en Night, trick-or-treaters are invited to come through The Bed, The Attic and the Writing Cabinet to experience it themselves, and maybe encounter a few surprises along the way. This drop in is free as well.
\n\u201cThis is not entertainment, it is actually trying to create a way to connect,\u201d says Mr. Hourie. \u201cI am using my work to connect technology with historical items of different kinds of artwork and perceptual devices, then creating a new language for presentation. For me, as an artist, it is a way of interacting with the viewer and I enjoy watching how audiences participate in the work. My neighbour looks at my work and he said to me the other day, \u2018I just don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re doing,\u2019 but when you get into a space and you\u2019re forced to participate, then you get it. It is like sharing that part of myself\u2026that people think is odd and kind of weird.\u201d
\nAt the end of the day, he says his aim through Apparitions, the fourth iteration of the work, is to encourage people to \u201cexperience\u201d more art, rather than just look at it on the walls.
\n\u201cCanadians in general, we\u2019re very comfortable at home and many of us haven\u2019t travelled and many of us don\u2019t go to see art,\u201d he says. \u201cThere is a whole different sensibility. I would encourage everyone to go out and see art and try to understand it, or not understand it but at least give it a chance: see theatre, see art, learn what you can reflect on. The sense of awe is just challenging yourself all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit
\nwww.auroraculturalcentre.ca. <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Award-winning artist Troy Hourie creates a world of wonder.
\nWhether it unfolds on the stage, within a small cabinet, or in the palm of the hand, he focuses on creating awe and advancing the form of \u201cspectatorship\u201d into an experience that is wholly immersive \u2013 and sometimes a bit spooky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5GE","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-22 09:06:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-11-07.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}