InterAccess is pleased to present Lightweight, an exhibition featuring Toronto artists Marcia Huyer and Tomasz Smereka. An adjunct exhibition with the 11th annual Subtle Technology Festival, Lightweight uses the festival's theme of "Light" in an unconventional, quirky and light-hearted way. Interpreting "Light" as in levity, this playful exhibition features artists who work with inflatable structures and objects. Huyer's installation- white, immersive and welcoming, contrast and play off of Smereka's black, minimalist and haunting sculptural works.

Please join us on Friday, May 30 at 7pm for a special opening reception. The artists will be present.

The artists in Lightweight have an interest in household commodities. Huyer's primary material is Tyvek, a synthetic fibre often used in home renovations and construction. Smereka uses more domestic objects, such as garbage bags and oscillating fans. An interior-exterior divide is created and then enhanced further with the drastic difference in scale between the two pieces. Huyer's installation is small for an exterior structure, but massive in terms of the space provided for it. Smereka's works, on the other hand, are small in stature but grand in terms of presence.

More about the works in the exhibition:

Huyer's work is reminiscent of bouncy castles seen at children's fairs, and begs the viewer to immerse themselves within its folds and creases. Huyer's most recent work integrates light-as in luminance. The artist is concerned with how light, like air has a way of shaping and defining space. In addition, light adds an element of mystery, drawing attention to the interior space of the inflated structures. These air-supported sculptures derive from Huyer's own interests in perceptions of space and how one navigates through materials and structures. Her installations break up and subvert the gallery's space as well as challenge the viewer's expected role and participation within it. For Lightweight, Huyer has created a site-specific window extension that allows street passers-by to experience the work.

Marcia Huyer studied sculpture at OCAD (1999). She completed her MFA at the University of Victoria (2006). In 2007 she exhibited at the ODD Gallery, Dawson City, Yukon; The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC and was a part of CAFKA, Kitchener, ON. Marcia has been working with the medium of inflation since 2003, welcoming the spectator to be turned on by its questionable beauty, momentarily extending an alternative place of imagination and contemplation.

Smereka's pieces, like Huyer's, rely on air and movement to create spaces that are in a constant state of potential and flux. Using pre-fabricated suburban refuse and everyday materials, Smereka creates whimsical, eerie and animal like structures by covering oscillating fans with black garbage bags. Smereka's interest in altering simple, tangible technology makes his work both accessible and strange. This subversion of everyday objects brings new life to seemingly mundane materials.

Tomasz Smereka is an artist working primarily in sculpture/installation. Originally from Wroclaw, Poland, he presently lives and works in the suburban extensions of Toronto. Smereka studied at the Sheridan Institute and the University of Toronto where he completed his undergraduate degree. His work has been exhibited at Xpace, Blackwood Gallery and as part of Wade co-presented by YYZ Artists' Outlet.

Special Photovoltaic Workshop
Co-Presented with the Subtle Technologies Festival and FoAM
Instructor: Bart Vandeput (Bartaku)
Venue: InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre
Date: May 29, 2008, 2-6 pm

In the PhoEf workshop participants will explore the interdepending relationship between people, photovoltaics and light as a primary resource. For more information, please go to: http://interaccess.org/workshops/series.php

More about Subtle Technologies:
Established in 1998, The Subtle Technologies Festival is an incorporated registered non-profit arts organization dedicated to catalyzing the development of new emergent practices in new media art by investigating the artistic relationships and collaborations between artists and scientists within the realms of art, science and technology. This year's festival takes place May 29- June 1, 2008. For more information, please go to: http://www.subtletechnologies.com/.