A hound marks its spot

Opening Reception
Thursday, April 3, 6–8 pm
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With the global rise of fascism, this body of photographic objects examines dynamics of power and submission through puppy play to subvert ongoing systems of oppression. A hound marks its spot disrupts a capitalist framework of labour, production, and intellect, through a queer lens of play and territory.
In his experimental essay A dog worries a bone, and other thoughts (2023), artist and writer Matthew Lax notes that human pups “have freed themselves of the bounds of body, gender, and most importantly, work. Pups often speak of pupspace, the psychology and state of being pup, a place free of external pressures, deadlines, trauma, societal expectations and the demands of capitalism.”

By interrogating how the subversion of power dynamics found in “pupspace” emerges in various film, contemporary art, and pop cultural sources, the works in this exhibition present themselves as fragmented photographs embedded within resin. Mounted on traditional hardware materials such as plywood, steel, and drywall (some found at construction sites and repurposed), the forms reflect modes of construction and labour, while the images toy at questions of play, control, desire, and destruction within an image.

Like the way a dog marks its territory, the images in A hound marks its spot absorb resin which is poured upon them, taking on a wet and fluid quality. As well, photographs of the artist’s own urine are used to position a dialogue between human/non-human participants who engage in activities of work/play, to rupture capitalist narratives of dominance/submission.