: this must be the place

July 21 - August 11
Reception Saturday July 21, 2 - 5pm

In any given sequence, there are points between what comes before and what comes after. Marked in text by a colon, and in experience by particular moments of transition, these spaces are crossings: they are critical points of convergence where deviating paths and mutually exclusive possibilities exist as one. The act of crossing, conceived of both physically and metaphorically, has in many ways become a defining process of our age: border crossings are ever more frequent in a globalized age, disciplinary boundaries and artificial categories are increasingly transgressed and opened up, traditional power structures are questioned and undermined, spaces for critical meetings multiply exponentially in the digital world, and artists work in ways which cross traditional boundaries and veer in unexpected directions. Such moments of crossing are transformative ones in which previously unbroken paths and boundaries are irrevocably changed. Crossing inevitably implies emerging on the other side, passing, and moving on. Yet a crossing is also a singular place, and conceiving of the crossing in this way opens up an alternative reading of these critical moments. How can we conceive of these various crossings as places, ones that we can occupy for more than a transient moment in a process of crossing over? : this must be the place explores the possibility of prolonging these fleeting junctures, allowing us to linger within them and creating critical spaces within which to contemplate present, possible, and imaginary worlds.

: this must be the place is curated by and includes visual and textual works of 11 Masters degree candidates from Western University's Department of Visual Arts. The collaborators include: Stephanie Anderson, Anthea Black, Liza Eurich, Jordana Franklin, Brad Isaacs, Stefani Klaric, Neil Klassen, Kim Neudorf, Daniel O'Connor, Laura Ritchie, and Melissa Ruhloff.

This exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of the Department of Visual Arts at Western University.