Plein soleil

The starting point for orientation is the point from which the world unfolds: the here of the body and the where of its dwelling 1.

genius loci

What’s it called when you can feel the past of a place in your sinuses?
Resonating in your nose, cheeks and forehead like a sudden sneeze.

Inching up the height of the column, a brazen caterpillar reaches the summit.
Her limited capacity for vision denies her the view she deserves.

climb

The ladder is a simple but elegant tool.
Of its user(s), it demands attention, force, and, (occasionally,) co-operation.
In exchange, it offers one thing: elevation.

Beneath the water’s surface, the extended roots of the lily pad reveal the distance some will travel to see the skies.

metabolism

Chewing your way up the stalk,
bean after bean after bean.
Each one generously filling you up with all the sunlight, air, and water it’s ever known.

What’s it called when you’ve achieved a critical goal, only to look back and realize that the tracks behind you trace a perfect circle?

Text by Danica Pinteric

1. Sarah Ahmed, «Orientations: Toward a Queer Phenomenology», GLQ, vol. 12, n° 4 (2006), 545.

Biographies

Michelle Bui holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Her work has been shown in several group exhibitions including Rêverie, Projet Pangée (Montréal); Appareillage, Vu Photo (Quebec City); Playlist, Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran (Montréal); Coetus Floreus, Galerie Nicolas Robert (Montréal); Laboratoire photo, Deux Poissons (Montréal). In 2018, she presented her first solo exhibition, Pool of Plenty, at Galerie de l’UQAM. Upcoming projects include group shows at Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée (Montréal) and at Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University (Newark, NJ). Her solo exhibition Centerfold is currently on view at Parisian Laundry.

She would like to thank Canada Arts Council and the Conseil des arts du Québec for their generous support.

Danica Pinteric is a writer, editor, and curator based in Montreal. She holds a BA in Communications & Cultural Studies and Art History from Concordia University. She has contributed exhibition texts for LOIS Projects, galerie l’inlassable and Parisian Laundry. She is co-director at Calaboose, an independent curatorial platform for contemporary art based in Montreal.