Ascending
The work Ascending focuses on the action of going up several flights of stairs.
The silence of the space is interrupted by the sound of my feet rapidly climbing a number of steps while capturing photographically movement, light, and architectural characteristics of the staircase. Although I am conscious that the images produced are a record of this action, the moment of ascension is undeniably the center of my interest; it affirms my own presence in that space, that of my body, of my existence.
The rhythm of the climb, the percussive sound of my feet on every step, the mechanical and electronic sounds of my digital camera, my breath increasing rapidly and more audibly, all are sounds and gestures functioning in unison for this in situ work realized in the central stair case of the Fondacion DANAE in Gijon, Spain.
(July 2011)
Gilles Morissette has a BFA from the University of Alberta, a Masters in Visual Arts from Concordia University and a Doctorate in Esthétique, sciences et technologies des arts from Université Paris VIII.
Morissette has had numerous group and solo exhibitions in Canada, Europe and Japan. His installations and creations can be found in numerous private and public collections. In 2011 he was artist-in-residence in Gijon, Spain where he developed Estar Aqui, a permanent work for the Fondacion DANAE. His most recent exhibitions include Géographie imaginaire at the Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Montreal and in 2009, Otter Woman Breathing, a collaborative work with artist Cherie Moses at the White Water Gallery in North Bay, Ontario.