Ryerson Imaging Centre: Max Dean - As Yet Untitled

Max Dean's robotic exhibit, which he ironically calls "As Yet Untitled", was not functional when we went to the Ryerson Imaging Centre to see the Suzy Lake exhibit last month.  But it sounded so interesting that we made a point to return the next time we were in the area.  The installation works on a motion detector that turns on the lights and starts up the robot once you enter the room.  The robotic arm swivels to the right and selects a 4x6 paper photograph from a box, then turns to the centre and presents it to you.  If you like the photo and want it to be kept, you press one of the metal hands attached to the robot and it will pivot and place the photo into a second "keep" box.

Otherwise if you do not intervene, the arm will push the photo into a shredder, destroying the image.  The shredded paper is moved along a conveyor belt until it falls off the end and adds to a pile accumulating on the ground below.  In addition to being fun manipulating and watching the robot in action, this installation seems to comment on several themes regarding the transient nature of memories as well as the diminishing industry of printing physical paper photographs.  Dean indicates that the viewer bears the responsibility of deciding which memories are preserved and which are lost.  On a previous visit, during a curator's tour of the Suzy Lake exhibit, the curator described the Max Dean exhibit and explained that the artist got permission to print photos that he found on Flicker, so that the robot is not really permanently destroying anyone's real photos.  The Max Dean and Suzy Lake exhibits are on display until August 13.