The third volume of the University of Toronto Art Journal includes three papers given originally at the Department of Art’s 2010 interdisciplinary graduate symposium, OUT OF SIGHT: Looking Beyond Seeing, a day spent examining experiences where sight was not the primary point of entry. The first paper of the day and of this volume, given by Elise Noyez, explores Robert Barry’s ability to achieve what the author terms a “state of utter invisibility” in his 1960s Inert Gas pieces. Our second author, Amalle Dublon, is concerned more with sound—namely its relationship with visuality and violence— in the works of Yoko Ono, Clifford Owens, and Fernando Ortega. How does a sound, she asks, connect all who can hear it, especially when that sound results from a violent act? The third paper, written by May Chew, moves us into the realm of the natural history museum, specifically Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Chew’s paper examines how through new curatorial practices that emphasize touch, the natural history museum has opened a new colonial discourse between the visitor and the objects on display. Finally, for the first time the journal includes the catalogue for the 2010 Masters of Visual Studies Graduating Exhibition featuring the works of Kathleeen Boetto, Rebecca Diederichs, and Bogdan Luca and essays by Michelle Jacques, Vladimir Spicanovic, and Alison Syme. Special thanks to Lisa Steele, Graduate Program Director for the Masters of Visual Studies in Studio Art, for providing the catalogue.
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