Originally from Winnipeg Manitoba, Lorraine Oades has been working as an artist in Montreal, Quebec since the late 1980s. Her sculpture/installations incorporate time-based media in order to invite viewers to engage physically with the work and explore their creative potential. For Oades, art making is a performance-based activity where the process of time is implicit in the final artwork. 

Oades also initiates collaborative projects that emphasize alternative forms of public intervention, such as site-specific art exhibitions and events aimed at addressing timely social concerns from a local perspective. She has co-founded a number of artist groups including Cut Rate Collective, which published USED/Goods, (2004) a bilingual book based on the project of the same name that took place at the Montreal Salvation Army Thrift Store. The book and exhibition consider the social significance of artists' use of everyday objects in real world environments where audiences have little or no knowledge of contemporary art. Oades's work has been included in exhibitions across Canada and internationally.        

Education

BFA Honors          Emily Carr College of Art and Design
MFA                     Concordia University

Areas of expertise

Electronics, sound, video, sculpture, installation.

Research interests

Durational activity, public interventions, everyday environments.

TV Tracker

is a ambulatory sculpture that literally follows viewers and simultaneously displays their images on the screen. When a viewer changes direction, the TV changes directions as well.
An animated robotic artwork "TV Tracker" is meant to disarm gallery goers by creating a playful engagement with them as it follows our movements and literally puts us on TV.

There is something inherently old fashion about "TV tracker." Despite its use of contemporary imaging and tracking technologies, it is ultimately a mechanical object with almost endearing human-like qualities. Hopefully, these qualities will draw us in and act as a friendly reminder that we are constantly under surveillance. While someone may not actually be out there watching, our actions are being recorded and these images will come back to haunt us in unexpected ways.

Programming: Martin Peach

Fabrication: Robert Prenovault

Production Assistant: Matthieu Sabourin

The artist gratefully acknowledges Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association Professional Development for their support of this project.

Knockdown Centre

Sous Observation/Spaces Under Scrutiny

Featuring: Catherine Béchard & Sabin Hudon, Martine Crispo, Manon Labrecque, Lorraine Oades, François Quévillon, and Thomas McIntosh & Emmanuel Madan 

Curated by Nicole Gingras

Brooklyn, New York October 2015