Commissioned by Studio XX and produced in collaboration with the Society for Art and Technology [SAT], as part of the activities for the Nuit blanche, alt_N.O.R.D. is an outdoor event centred on the themes of resistance and northerness. Nordicité (nordicity) is a term coined in the 1960s by Québec geographer and linguist Louis-Edmond Hamelin with the goal of establishing a vocabulary that linked “northern cultures” together beyond traditional boundaries.
alt_N.O.R.D uses this intention as its starting point: nordicity will be the focus of an aesthetic archaeological exploration to uncover (and thwart) the codes and norms used to define winterly space. It will consider nordicity as a system of practices and power relations, and winter from the artist and the hacker’s point of view. The discussion/workshop presents itself as an encounter between “winter interventionists” of diverse backgrounds where nordicity becomes an object of research, critical analysis and context for creativity.
alt_N.O.R.D. aims to explode current conceptions of the North and winter in the city by bringing together various artistic and community-based projects. Mouna Andraos, Artist in Residence at the SAT, will exhibit her outdoor installation Winter Quilt and host the gathering, providing hot beverages and fur coats. The public will have the opportunity to learn about the projects and join in a discussion/workshop based on the ideas raised by the initiatives. Positioning the latter in relation to each other (rather than in opposition), alt_N.O.R.D. acts as a self-generated and collective experiment to create new networks of meaning, offering an occasion to gain necessary tools for further hacking of nordicity.
for all details, visit: www.studioxx.org
Sophie Le-Phat Ho / Commissaire invitée
Nina Segalowitz / Modératrice
Mouna Andraos / Courtepointe d’hiver
Sofian Audry / Absences
Matthew Biederman / Arctic Perspective Initiative
Julie Bourbonnais & Lucie Paquet / 138 vs. 1
Moe Clark & Emilie Monnet / Bird Messengers
Gretchen King & Squatter Andy / Homelessness Marathon
Véronique Meunier / Agence d’efficacité énergétique du Québec
Pieter Sijpkes / Experiments in Ice
Charles Stankievech / Magnetic Norths