Kunst-und Wunderkammer, Kuriositäten-Kabinett, Raritäten-Kammer, Kunstkammer, Wunderkammer...

Originating in sixteenth and seventeenth Europe, the Wunderkammer - or cabinet of curiosities and wonders - displayed and exhibited newly discovered objects and works of art. They strove to generate curiosity and intellectual debate by presenting items whose categorical boundaries had yet to be clearly delineated. Although such an assembly of items may initially appear disjointed, the collection was imbued with a sense of cohesion and purpose, precisely because of the disparate nature of the pieces on display. To the viewer, the objects in the Wunderkammer would all appear unknown, undefined, and most importantly, new and exciting.

This concept is a fitting parallel to the mandate of InterAccess' annual Emerging Artists Exhibition, now in its tenth year, which aims to exhibit the work of recent graduates; artists who are situated at the beginning of their careers and thus developing their artistic practice and exploring creative mediums within the broad and varied field of media art. The works themselves embody the curiosity and wonder that inform the logic of the Wunderkammer. Through often simple mechanisms, each piece in the exhibition demands that the viewer engage with what lies beyond the work's initial appearance to find its sense of wonder.

Jo SiMalaya Alcampo's installation, Singing Plants Reconstruct Memory, incorporates plants, electronics, film/video and a soundtrack based around traditional Philippine chanting. The resulting interactive sculpture presents plants as silent witnesses and examines the deterioration of memory through trauma. In Cave Rave, Philippe Blanchard explores connections between technology and the human fascination with fire and energy by bestowing the most ubiquitous of screensavers with a new purpose. Christina Kostoff's kinetic installation, Daydream, engages the viewer's perceptive capacity and encourages them to consider their physical and mental environments. With Cymatic Imprints, Donna Legault presents a multi-sensory installation that allows the individual to see and explore the physical nature of sound. Moving away from her more traditional portraiture practice, Laura Payne presents Can You Tell Me?, a video sculpture that explores the format of portraiture and challenges its supposedly inherent capacity for authentic representation.

Although the focus of Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer is principally the work of these five emerging-artists, the show also maintains a broader purpose. It intends to act as a representation of the interests, concerns and approaches currently being explored among a larger group of young artists.