WassinkLundgren
(The Netherlands + United Kingdom + China)
The photo booth was the first automated photographic machine to be used in the public realm and the first camera designed to function without human involvement. Whereas the photo booth is seen as a machine with a limited purpose – to take photographs of the human face – the duo WassinkLundgren (Thijs groot Wassink and Ruben Lundgren) surpassed this constraining role. For their work Don’t Smile Now… Save it for Later! (2008), they placed a mirror inside photo booths in London, opened the curtains, and fed money into the machines. The result was that, for the first time, the photo booth looked outside and viewed its own surroundings.
WassinkLundgren is a collaboration between Dutch photographers Thijs groot Wassink (born in 1981 in Deventer) and Ruben Lundgren (born in 1983 in Hilversum), who live and work, respectively, in London and Beijing. They are the recipients of numerous awards, including the China Academy Award in 2010 and the Prix du Livre at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2007 for their publication Empty Bottles. WassinkLundgren has exhibited in museums worldwide, including Foam Amsterdam (2007, 2013); the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam (2010, 2012); the CAFA Museum in Beijing (2011); Fotomuseum Winterthur (2009–10); the Guangdong Museum of Art (2010); the National Media Museum in Bradford, U.K. (2009); and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2006). The duo is represented by Van Zoetendaal Collections in Amsterdam, and Pékin Fine Arts in Beijing.
MAI (MMONTRÉAL, ARTS INTERCULTURELS)
3680 Jeanne-Mance Street | 514.982.1812
Sept. 7 – Oct. 5, 2013 | Tuesday to Saturday 12 pm to 6 pm
Opening Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013 at 4 pm (meet the artists)
Guided tour by guest curator Paul Wombell, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013 at 4 pm