ANDREW WRIGHT’S “SURVEY” RUNS TO JULY 26. WED-SAT NOON-5PM. PREFIX INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, STE 124, 401 RICHMOND W. 416-591-0357. WWW.PREFIX.CA.
Andrew Wright’s “Survey” is unassuming, maybe even boring, but still bizarre. Wright’s work is the result of the Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP), which, in its current incarnation, invites artists to “record the actions of its military members” in order to “help usher in a new era of Canadian military art.” Previous programs, the first of which was Lord Beaverbrook’s Canadian War Memorials Fund in 1916, were restricted to artists within the military, but the last two (begun in 1968 and 2001 respectively) have extended invitations to civilians like Wright.
This means that art produced by the program will likely not be propagandistic, though Wright tries hard not to swing it the other way either. A grouping of photographic portraits of the crew members on the HMCS Toronto, a naval frigate, tells us little about the state of the military other than to suggest it’s just another place of employment. A medic, a technician, a chaplain and a cook (among others) all face Wright’s lens stonily, carrying objects that represent their hobbies or trades. Two accompanying video pieces contain only small bursts of activity, reinforcing what we tend to hear about the military now: i.e., that it’s a lot of time killing. Casualty in the Fridge Flats shows a man pretending to be a corpse, and waiting to be lifted away — an event, with its absurd undertones, that gives Wright’s exhibit its dubious climax.