Tim Whiten, Untitled, 1971. Graphite on paper, 153.5×188 cm. York University collection.

The palindromic title of the exhibition, no. it is opposition, hints at its central focus – what Brasilian artist Carla Zaccagnini describes as “forking paths and crossroads.”

Zaccagnini’s first major solo exhibition in a public gallery brings together recent works combined with commissioned works produced over a two-month residency (Summer 2008). The works are premised on replication but ultimately prove to be different (forking paths), or, will appear completely disparate but ultimately end in the same place (crossroads).

The exhibition’s metaphoric content can also be understood in terms of a mirror image reflected in the exhibition plan, the works on display, and the activities initiated by the artist at the AGYU. no. it is opposition will include a full-scale replica of the AGYU lobby inside the first gallery so that the viewer enters the exhibition space ‘twice’. The works included inside the exhibition spaces are divided into pairs then divided again for presentation in each gallery. For example: in the front gallery a double channel video installation Duas Margens depicts each side of the Atlantic (Brasil and Portugal) at exactly the same time while the double-channel video installation produced on the Pacific coast (Chile and New Zealand) is shown in the other.

In conjunction with her exhibition, Zaccagnini mirrors the activities of the exhibition curator Emelie Chhangur by curating the AGYU’s ancillary projects that take place along side the show. For example, Carla will programme a video installation by Amilcar Packar (Brasil) depicting a chair being raised from the ocean with a hot-air balloon, and one by Simon Faithful (UK) depicting a chair being lowered by a hot-air balloon into the ocean in each AGYU lobby. She will also commission new work by Brasilian artist Rodrigo Matheus for the Performance Bus and AGYU Vitrines. In addition, Carla will produce her own multiple, Jogo Memoria, for sale in the AGYU Bookstores. The duplication of the lobby will also mean duplicating the activities (such as catalogue inventory and sales) and operations (now needing two gallery attendants) of the AGYU itself.

The recent, borrowed, and mirrored activities are complimented by new works and activities produced over the course of Carla’s two month residency. In a choreographed performance at York University’s state-of-the-art Recital Hall, a troop of uniformed flight attendants from various Canadian airlines respond with corresponding hand gestures to a series of in-flight security procedures announced over a loud-speaker in different languages. The
performance is videotaped twice; each video is presented in one of the galleries during no. it is opposition. For this performance Carla brings together students from the Dance, Music, and Theatre Departments at York University.

Catálogo Traducido, Catálogo, and Translated Catalogue is an ongoing series of book works comprised of commission texts by writers in their mother tongue in response to themes in Zaccagnini’s past works. With each edition a new work is added. AGYU will produce Catalogue Traduit, the French version, for no. it is opposition, commissioning 10 new texts from French writers in Canada. The book will be available during the exhibition as an autonomous work in the “AGYU Bookstores.”