LIZ MAGOR
Best known for sculptures made from both found and cast objects, Liz Magor is interested in the cyclical culture of production and consumption, how we assign value to things, the utilitarian and non-utilitarian functions of objects, and our emotional and psychological attachments to them. Her work addresses the latent qualities of ordinary things that influence our acquisition, use, and disposal of them and how, sometimes, the power that these objects hold can even supersede our human relationships.
The singular work One Bedroom Apartment was first presented in 1996 at Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto and has since been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. For each installation, the entire contents of a typical one-bedroom apartment are brought together (furniture, small items, linens, knick-knacks, and packing materials) sourced primarily through a combination of renting and borrowing. Each installation is fundamentally influenced by where it is installed, as different forms and styles of items are obtained and included. The only constant object in each iteration is a simplified resin sculpture of a dog, curled under a table.