David Altmejd creates powerful installations that, while informed by architectural philosophy, teem with sensory excess. In The Index, Altmejd transforms the helicoid Canadian pavilion into an aviary like no other. Composed of wooden bridges, sections of trees and steel and glass mirrors that are layered and interconnected, the work is inhabited by flocks of stuffed birds, birds fabricated from materials at hand and fragmented bodies of half-men, half-birds - the whole richly ornamented with quartz crystals and mirror shards. The imposing sculpture lies in a glass display case with mirrored sides, thereby exacerbating its formal and material possibilities. The title refers to the diversity of species and its collection. Classification and organization into an avifauna, with an internal balance that ensures perpetuity, communicates the ineluctable unity of life. David Altmejd has exhibited widely, notably in the Istanbul and Whitney Biennials and, in just a few years, has achieved an enviable place on the international art scene. , Official publication of Canada's presentation at the Venice Biennial 2007. In English, French and Italian. ABC Livres d'art Canada

72 pp 110 ill. coul. 29 x 22 cm couverture rigide /hardcover