Opening on April 2, 2002, Vanessa Eidse’s exhibition two minutes when the sky remained the same pairs her Flying Machine with Catastrophe Machine. Flying Machine is a huge set of wings designed to be worn on one’s back, complete with pulleys that, when activated by the wearer, cause the wings to flap. Audio and video footage documenting Eidse’s attempts at flight will play in the gallery, adjacent to this otherwise still set of wings. Catastrophe Machine is a vortex trough that, when set in motion the evening of April 4th, will unleash a chaotic chain reaction referencing miniature science projects and involving inventions devised by Eidse.

Both Catastrophe Machine and Flying Machine take as their point of departure notions of falling, failure, and randomness. Guided by an interest in the theories of French mathematician René Thom, Eidse explores the relationship of failure and catastrophe to change. The exhibition will also include miniature topographies in wax and wood, and a collection of twenty-five bookworks.

Vanessa Eidse is a candidate for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at York University. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Redhead Gallery, the XX Video Festival, Locarno, Switzerland, and Plug-In, Winnipeg. Each year the AGYU hosts two thesis exhibitions of graduate students from York University’s Department of Visual Arts. These exhibitions, profiling some of York University’s leading artists, are an extension of the AGYU’s commitment to the development of Canada’s visual arts professionals.