Please join us for a public reception on September 25th celebrating the solo exhibition Mostly Harmless by artist Robyn Moody.

Opening remarks at approximately 7:30pm.

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Exhibition Synopsis:

This fall, the Esplanade presents Mostly Harmless, a 3000-square-foot immersive installation by internationally exhibiting artist Robyn Moody. It comprises handmade machines working in tandem with instruments to generate expressions of sound and light. Gears, pails, electric keyboards, water, and radios are all components of the multifaceted devices. Robyn’s intentions may initially be perceived as bewildering or disorienting, and his works are almost certainly unlike anything you’ve experienced before. With time and an open mind, themes of patterns and chaos, madness and angst, beauty and fragility, emerge.

The title Mostly Harmless, thoughtfully chosen by the artist, is rooted in Robyn’s personal connection to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a series of books by Douglas Adams. He explains, “In The Hitchhiker’s Guide, the brief entry describing Earth was revised from ‘harmless’ to ‘mostly harmless.’ It’s a fair description. Most of humanity wants only to have peace, to do no harm, and to enjoy their brief moment of existence.” His connection to the phrase is embedded in his awareness of and concern for the state of civilization.

“To our south,” he says, “we have a powerful crumbling empire lashing out unpredictably and threatening our sovereignty. In the Middle East, a powerful occupier is committing genocide with impunity, while our leaders and news outlets prevaricate. Russia continues its doomed invasion of Ukraine, and the ultra-wealthy now seem to be in some sort of senseless competition to see who can hoard the most. Here in Alberta, we see a government and their merry band of separatists licking their lips in anticipation of joining these crusades of greed, chaos, cruelty, and division.” Mostly Harmless entices us to walk the line of complex dualities: understanding and fear, worry and peace, knowledge and ignorance. It invites us to immerse ourselves in personal negotiation.

Sound, a dominant component of Robyn’s practice, emerges as a medium of metaphor. The compositions generated by pieces such as Enigma, a device that never repeats itself, are a lesson in brevity. Chains of gears produce music on an organ and electric keyboard, and the gear position is ever-changing; within the random composition created, patterns appear and then dissolve. A fleeting existence.

Robyn’s approach to “making” is a continuum of meditation—not an escape from reality but a cathartic approach to processing it. Mostly Harmless is an experience of mindfulness, an opportunity to slow down, listen, and embrace a path of the perplexing unknown. It may take you to exactly where you need to be.

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Visit Robyn Moody’s website - HERE

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View exhibition details - HERE