"We are moving toward a culture of
consciousness in our desire to create new modes of consciousness,
new conceptions of reality, new states of identity;
art is becoming constructed and interconnected."1
Through the works of PK Langshaw, the public is asked
to question reality and identity in relation to new
modes of consciousness. Langshaw aims to "move
toward a culture of consciousness" through dialogues
she creates within and around her work. This is done
through the use of non-linear narratives that are meant
to be both organic and interactive. Langshaw's art practice
has thus come to straddle a multitude of disciplines
including; poetry, photography, digital media, video,
design, and perfomative art, aiming to create a social
commentary for distribution into the public realm. She
continues to utilize alternative gallery options and
combines multi-disciplinary research and display into
each of her projects to not only create work but to
create art that can engage with society.
The success of PK Langshaw's work is in her achievement
of addressing a social community through diverse means
of distribution. Other artists may question issues within
the social community but may never leave the gallery
space. If art is meant to recognize problems within
a larger community base, then it needs to go beyond
the restrictions of the gallery and enter the real world.
Art made for thought and reflection but not for social
interaction can be successful as long as the goal of
the work is to merely document and comment, not to change
a part of, or a form of culture. Langshaw's art not
only aims to document but to address and activate the
public viewer. Her work utilizes the means of fine art
within the gallery space and moves beyond it to address
a multitude of public viewers from all areas of society.
PK Langshaw's work reflects on her own memories and
experiences and is recited in the multitude of forms
she adopts. As a professor at Concordia University in
Montreal, she teaches within the design art program
and focuses much of her efforts on the area of social
design, "which by definition and responsibility,
aligns the design artists to the community, community
members and the natural/built environments."2
This idea of social design takes art past the gallery
wall and into forms of activism and public reaction
allowing the artists to respond to the consequences
that come from their practice.
Langshaw's work pharmaKon illustrates some o her own
experiences and reflections on depression. Her words
in this piece have been transcribed poetically and encapsulated
into a series of pills which are then placed in pharmaceutical
vials and accompanied with instructions on the contents.
PharmaKon ultimately presents a subtext that focuses
on women's depression. The piece suggests through its
delivery and texts the uneasiness communities have with
depression and the interest society has in ignoring
the problem. The work references the readiness of society
to silence this problem through medication. Pill consumption
as illustrated in the work acts as a physical metaphor
for how society reacts and solves issues with depression.
Langshaw views this process as skewed. She believes
women should be able to both express themselves openly
and should have an equal opportunity to share their
own experiences in order to overcome depression. The
latter, Langshaw believes, is a moral obligation and
right women should have.
Langshaw's mode of artistic delivery includes gallery
display; however, she believes her work should extend
to benefit the community by being presented within a
context most accessible to a community. For example,
pharmaKon was shown at the Concordia Leonard and Bina
Ellen Gallery in 2001 wherein the work, as Langshaw
states, was presented in a manner in which
"[D]esigned glass shelves with key words
sandblasted into the glass- whereby with spot lighting-
shadows of the word embedded in the shelves became shadows
on the walls behind. On the three shelves of varying
lengths 1' to 4' were placed approx 25 pill bottles
with different prescriptions. The audience was welcome
to handle the vials and open [inside to read] for the
miniaturized messages within each capsule. On a pedestal
in front there were postcard size cards where people
could ask for specific/personalized prescriptions."3
Although shown in a formal setting, the viewers' ability
to apply for a prescription enabled visitors to become
actively engaged in the act of self-expression as a
metaphor and as a means to heal. Likewise, the ability
to personally apply for a prescription made equally
aware of the ease and amount of different medications
on the market.
Footnotes:
1 Langshaw, P.K.
(1999). PharmaKon video (video excert). http://design.concordia.ca/publicart/pharmakon.html
2 Langshaw, P.K.
(April 2005). www.design.concordia.ca/publicart/pharmaKon.html
3 Eisler, Emilie
and Langshaw, P.K. Artist Interview. 2005. Pg. 1
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