In a recent series of photographs titled HVACuus<\/em>, David K. Ross \u00adcaptured steam clouds emanating from institutions which conserve artworks. In photographing these vaporous emissions that are produced when \u00adambient cold air comes into contact with warmer air released by \u00adheating and ventilation systems,^{1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>} 1 <\/a> - Hence the acronym HVAC<\/em> for Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning.<\/span>the artist evidently inscribes his work within a long lineage of visual works that draw on the recurrent iconographic motif of the cloud. In a photograph taken around the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019art \u00adcontemporain de Montr\u00e9al one sees a segment of architecture in the picture\u2019s right side and a small patch of blue sky above it. The rest of the picture plane is occupied by a cloudy substance. In the series another work\u2014dedicated to the emanations of the Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts\u2014shows clouds almost completely suffusing the building and the trees, which one can barely make out. Despite the sense of \u00adinvasion that this concentration of clouds conveys, Ross does not attempt to send a \u00admessage on climate change or air pollution for that matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His photographic gesture seeks, rather, to document the release into the wild of microparticles resulting from the artworks\u2019 \u00addecomposition. This singular poetic vision is based on the idea that every thing slowly \u00addeteriorates, even if this remains invisible to the naked eye. If the poetic image is clear, it is nevertheless difficult to understand how the \u00adphenomenon works and what underpins its organization. One can, \u00adhowever, easily imagine that this deterioration resides in the decomposition of the work\u2019s material elements into fine dust. These minuscule particles floating in the exhibition space would thus be caught by the air exchange devices and expulsed to the exterior of the premises.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In this sense the photographs would  not only be bearing witness to the museum\u2019s incapacity to completely conserve the artifacts that have been entrusted to it, but also taking over the institution\u2019s function in order to immortalize the traces of the works\u2019 disappearance. Yet, no more than the museum, the photographic apparatus is not really able to stop time, to crystallize it and hence to really guarantee the preservation of these works. Actually, what Ross\u2019 work tells us is that all creation is based on a loss. To repeat an old adage, which was used as the title of the first Qu\u00e9bec Triennial organized by the MACM and where another series of works by the artist were presented, nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the series titled Dark Rooms<\/em>, which was exhibited during the Triennial, Ross photographed storage spaces belonging to artists and museums. In bringing an image of one of their private spaces into the view of all, these photographs unveil an \u201cusually invisible\u201d aspect of the spaces\u2019 owners who are thus portrayed in a singular way. In these \u00adlarge-scale works the opacity of the images is such that one has the impression of being in front of immense black surfaces. The sought-after effect is to have the visitor experience conditions similar to that of seeing in the dark.^{2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>} 2 <\/a> - On his website the artist explains: \u201cAs when entering a darkened room, the viewer must allow their eyes to adjust to the subtleties of the image in order to \u2018see into\u2019 the darkness of the photograph.\u201d http:\/\/graphicstandards.org\/darkrooms\/index.htm<\/span> The temporal indicator that appears in the title of the works, and which corresponds to the exposure time, may make one believe that one must invest just as much time to have access to the images\u2019 content. A quick calculation should lead anyone standing before the works to hope that this is not the case. For the photograph Thomas McIntosh\/Emmanual Madan: 691,200 seconds<\/em>, this would represent 192 hours, while for the one titled Mus\u00e9e d\u2019art contemporain de Montr\u00e9al (vide sanitaire): 223,200 \u00adseconds<\/em>, one would have to spend 62 hours before the photograph. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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