Charles Stankievech | University of Toronto (original) (raw)

Papers by Charles Stankievech

Research paper thumbnail of Until Finally O Became Just a Dot (Jusqu’à ce que le O devienne un point)

Research paper thumbnail of Exhibit A: Notes on a Forensic Turn in Contemporary Art

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2019

Charles Stankievech dissects the intertwined histories of forensics, ethics and aesthetics in re... more Charles Stankievech dissects the intertwined histories of forensics, ethics and aesthetics in relation to recent art practice.

Research paper thumbnail of From Stethoscopes to Headphones: An Acoustic Spatialization of Subjectivity

Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press), 2007

Working from a phenomenological position, the author investigates “in-head” acoustic localization... more Working from a phenomenological position, the author investigates “in-head” acoustic localization in the context of the historical development of modern listening. Starting from the development of the stethoscope in the early 19th century, he traces novel techniques for generating space within the body and extrapolates from them into contemporary uses of headphones in sound art. The first half of the essay explores the history, techniques and technology of “in-head” acoustics; the second half presents three sound artists who creatively generate headphone spatializations. The essay ends with reflections on how these sound “imaging” techniques topologically shape our subjectivities.

Research paper thumbnail of CounterIntelligence: A Glossary of Doubled Agency

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2016

Charles Stankievech uncovers 400 years of interconnected histories of art, military technology an... more Charles Stankievech uncovers 400 years of interconnected histories of art, military technology and espionage. (Originally a catalogue essay for the award winning exhibition "Counterintelligence" at the University of Toronto.)

Research paper thumbnail of Sleep of Reason: An Atlas of the Philosophical Imaginary

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2020

The article ventures first entries for an atlas of the monstrous throughout philosophical history... more The article ventures first entries for an atlas of the monstrous throughout philosophical history. Written in the rhetorical style of the Jena Romantics, the result is a reading against the grain of philosophy, with an eye on the radical particularity of imaginary places, creatures, alternative worlds, clearings in the woods, caves, rivers, and islands.

Research paper thumbnail of Supercritical Decay

e-flux (2015) / Verso (2017) / Hatje Cantz (2018), 2015

A transdisciplinary history of the nuclear: from cosmic origins to deep time storage, from geneti... more A transdisciplinary history of the nuclear: from cosmic origins to deep time storage, from genetic mutations to the birth of South Pacific neocolonialism. Originally published for the Venice Biennial (2015) by e-flux and then reprinted by Verso in the book "Supercommunity" and by Hatje Cantz's book "Julian Charrière: Second Suns"

Research paper thumbnail of Headphones, Epoche , and L'extimité : A Phenomenology of Interiority

Books by Charles Stankievech

Research paper thumbnail of The Drowned World

Toronto Biennial of Art, 2019

Exhibition Catalogue for the inaugural Toronto Biennial project curated by Charles Stankievech.

Research paper thumbnail of No.6092: A Conjectural Catalogue

No.6092: A Conjectural Catalogue (National Gallery of Canada), 2016

Exhibition Catalogue of Stankievech's show at the National Gallery of Canada for the Sobey Art Pr... more Exhibition Catalogue of Stankievech's show at the National Gallery of Canada for the Sobey Art Prize. Bilingual English/Français. Text by C.Stankievech. ISBN: 978-0-9939074-8-7

Research paper thumbnail of The Centre Cannot Hold

The Centre Cannot Hold (Queen's University), 2015

Exhibition Catalogue to award winning show "Monument as Ruin". Essays by C. Stankievech & David M... more Exhibition Catalogue to award winning show "Monument as Ruin". Essays by C. Stankievech & David Murakami Wood. Published by Agnes Etherington Arts Centre, Queen's University. ISBN: 987-1-55339-407-5

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetic Norths

Magnetic Norths (Concordia University), 2010

Exhibition Catalogue for show curated by Charles Stankievech at Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia Univ... more Exhibition Catalogue for show curated by Charles Stankievech at Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University. Text by Stankievech.
ISBN 978-2-920384-84

From afar, the shifting phenomenon of magnetic north provides guidance not unlike Polaris, but as one draws close to the shadowy realm of the Arctic, navigation and communication begins to go awry, forcing the nomad to experiment within a no man’s land Military & religious colonisation, hazardous testing, and a disregard for a fragile ecosystem mark the past of the Arctic, but so do inventive and sensitive projects. Within the White Cube of the gallery—here posited as a substitute for the minimalist landscape of the Arctic Sublime—the exhibition takes as its starting point Mercator’s imaginative speculation of dual magnetic north poles from 1569 and ends with recent geomatic renderings by an indigenous government. In between these visual landmarks, a constellation of documents, photographs, sculptures, radio broadcasts, film screenings and installations draw together the overlapping territories of utilitarian artifacts and conceptual artwork. A survey of work starts with techno/military enterprises such as Thomas Edison, Buckminster Fuller, Canada’s NFB, and the US Air Force; revisits 60/70’s conceptual art from Glenn Gould, NE Thing Co., Lawrence Weiner, Michael Snow, and others; and includes a selection of contemporary artists combining both axes. Far from an empty terra incognita, the Arctic, and with it Magnetic Norths, functions both as a historical repository as well as a fantasy projection space generating electro-magnetic distortions, pay dirt, pissing contests, sci-fi warfare, psychedelic skies, conspiracy theories, critical confection, shamanistic loss and shattered cartographies.

Book Chapters by Charles Stankievech

Research paper thumbnail of Breathe With Me, A Breath of Life: Clarice Lispector & Lygia Clark

BREATHLESS, 2021

Locating Lispector's and Clark's work within the history of female mysticism.

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetic Anomalies in the Arctic: Colonial Resource Extraction, Meteoric Cults, and the Rare Earth Age

Rare Earth, 2015

A theory of metallurgy and weapons in the Arctic from prehistoric to networked warfare as it rela... more A theory of metallurgy and weapons in the Arctic from prehistoric to networked warfare as it relates to history of human consciousness and homo necans. . Book chapter in exhibition catalogue "Rare Earth" by TBA21 and Sternberg Press.

Research paper thumbnail of Piercing the Screen of the Vegetable Kingdom: Remarks on Infrared

A Supplement to THE ENCLAVE, 2014

Genealogy of the phenomenon of infrared, published in Richard Mosse's Enclave exhibition catalogu... more Genealogy of the phenomenon of infrared, published in Richard Mosse's Enclave exhibition catalogue, on six screens: astronomy, camouflage detection, spirit photography, espionage, environmental sciences and forensics

Published by Broken Dimanche Press. ISBN: 978-3-943196-25-2

Research paper thumbnail of War as a Problem of Foreknowledge

Continent, 2015

The costs of prosecuting a war are egregious and fatiguing. There will be years of antagonisms de... more The costs of prosecuting a war are egregious and fatiguing. There will be years of antagonisms developed between the belligerents with discontent, anxiety, and hostility saturating all strata of those societies. The states will redirect their means of life-sustaining activities toward generating the most death and mayhem across as many actors as possible. It will culminate in a single battle, but the process of victory-making will have been much greater, and the ensuing precarious period of stability will be riddled with opportunities for discordant social relations. Given these longterm social harms that accompany the prosecutions of wars, the sixth century BCE philosopher Sunzi argued that it is inhumane for generals and the states leadership to engage in such military actions without the use of advance intelligence. This foreknowledge, as Roger T. Ames calls it, can only be educed through the proper understanding of people. The sagely ruler and superior commander conquers their e...

Research paper thumbnail of Freeze Frames: plus qu'une surface, moins qu'un volume

David Spriggs : Archaeology of Space, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of The Distant Early Warning Project, 2015

Exhibition Publications by Charles Stankievech

Research paper thumbnail of Dawson City : Mining the Interpretive Realm of Knowledge

Exhibition Catalogue edited by Charles Stankievech in partnership with The Center for Land Use In... more Exhibition Catalogue edited by Charles Stankievech in partnership with The Center for Land Use Interpretation and the Yukon School of Visual Arts. Collects research done by students at the Yukon School of Visual Arts under a project directed by Matt Coolidge at The Center for Land Use Interpretation and organized by Charles Stankievech. Exhibition occurred at the ODD Gallery, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.

Interviews by Charles Stankievech

Research paper thumbnail of Interviews: Michael Snow & Charles Stankievech (MASS MoCA)

Oh Canada, 2012

Interview with Michael Snow in «Oh Canada», the catalogue for the exhibition we were in together ... more Interview with Michael Snow in «Oh Canada», the catalogue for the exhibition we were in together and showed side by side at MASS MoCA in 2012. I ask him about Glenn Gould, the sublime Canadian landscape and transcendence. In turn I was asked some questions about the Arctic, philosophy and silence by Patrick Bernatchez, a chain interview structure initiated by curator Denise Markonish.

Research paper thumbnail of This Hidden World: Irenosen Okojie in conversation with Charles Stankievech

Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 2021

Interview with Science Fiction writer Irenonsen Okojie for Afterall Journal. Full text available ... more Interview with Science Fiction writer Irenonsen Okojie for Afterall Journal. Full text available here:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/719779

Research paper thumbnail of Until Finally O Became Just a Dot (Jusqu’à ce que le O devienne un point)

Research paper thumbnail of Exhibit A: Notes on a Forensic Turn in Contemporary Art

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2019

Charles Stankievech dissects the intertwined histories of forensics, ethics and aesthetics in re... more Charles Stankievech dissects the intertwined histories of forensics, ethics and aesthetics in relation to recent art practice.

Research paper thumbnail of From Stethoscopes to Headphones: An Acoustic Spatialization of Subjectivity

Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press), 2007

Working from a phenomenological position, the author investigates “in-head” acoustic localization... more Working from a phenomenological position, the author investigates “in-head” acoustic localization in the context of the historical development of modern listening. Starting from the development of the stethoscope in the early 19th century, he traces novel techniques for generating space within the body and extrapolates from them into contemporary uses of headphones in sound art. The first half of the essay explores the history, techniques and technology of “in-head” acoustics; the second half presents three sound artists who creatively generate headphone spatializations. The essay ends with reflections on how these sound “imaging” techniques topologically shape our subjectivities.

Research paper thumbnail of CounterIntelligence: A Glossary of Doubled Agency

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2016

Charles Stankievech uncovers 400 years of interconnected histories of art, military technology an... more Charles Stankievech uncovers 400 years of interconnected histories of art, military technology and espionage. (Originally a catalogue essay for the award winning exhibition "Counterintelligence" at the University of Toronto.)

Research paper thumbnail of Sleep of Reason: An Atlas of the Philosophical Imaginary

Afterall (U.of Chicago Press), 2020

The article ventures first entries for an atlas of the monstrous throughout philosophical history... more The article ventures first entries for an atlas of the monstrous throughout philosophical history. Written in the rhetorical style of the Jena Romantics, the result is a reading against the grain of philosophy, with an eye on the radical particularity of imaginary places, creatures, alternative worlds, clearings in the woods, caves, rivers, and islands.

Research paper thumbnail of Supercritical Decay

e-flux (2015) / Verso (2017) / Hatje Cantz (2018), 2015

A transdisciplinary history of the nuclear: from cosmic origins to deep time storage, from geneti... more A transdisciplinary history of the nuclear: from cosmic origins to deep time storage, from genetic mutations to the birth of South Pacific neocolonialism. Originally published for the Venice Biennial (2015) by e-flux and then reprinted by Verso in the book "Supercommunity" and by Hatje Cantz's book "Julian Charrière: Second Suns"

Research paper thumbnail of Headphones, Epoche , and L'extimité : A Phenomenology of Interiority

Research paper thumbnail of The Drowned World

Toronto Biennial of Art, 2019

Exhibition Catalogue for the inaugural Toronto Biennial project curated by Charles Stankievech.

Research paper thumbnail of No.6092: A Conjectural Catalogue

No.6092: A Conjectural Catalogue (National Gallery of Canada), 2016

Exhibition Catalogue of Stankievech's show at the National Gallery of Canada for the Sobey Art Pr... more Exhibition Catalogue of Stankievech's show at the National Gallery of Canada for the Sobey Art Prize. Bilingual English/Français. Text by C.Stankievech. ISBN: 978-0-9939074-8-7

Research paper thumbnail of The Centre Cannot Hold

The Centre Cannot Hold (Queen's University), 2015

Exhibition Catalogue to award winning show "Monument as Ruin". Essays by C. Stankievech & David M... more Exhibition Catalogue to award winning show "Monument as Ruin". Essays by C. Stankievech & David Murakami Wood. Published by Agnes Etherington Arts Centre, Queen's University. ISBN: 987-1-55339-407-5

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetic Norths

Magnetic Norths (Concordia University), 2010

Exhibition Catalogue for show curated by Charles Stankievech at Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia Univ... more Exhibition Catalogue for show curated by Charles Stankievech at Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University. Text by Stankievech.
ISBN 978-2-920384-84

From afar, the shifting phenomenon of magnetic north provides guidance not unlike Polaris, but as one draws close to the shadowy realm of the Arctic, navigation and communication begins to go awry, forcing the nomad to experiment within a no man’s land Military & religious colonisation, hazardous testing, and a disregard for a fragile ecosystem mark the past of the Arctic, but so do inventive and sensitive projects. Within the White Cube of the gallery—here posited as a substitute for the minimalist landscape of the Arctic Sublime—the exhibition takes as its starting point Mercator’s imaginative speculation of dual magnetic north poles from 1569 and ends with recent geomatic renderings by an indigenous government. In between these visual landmarks, a constellation of documents, photographs, sculptures, radio broadcasts, film screenings and installations draw together the overlapping territories of utilitarian artifacts and conceptual artwork. A survey of work starts with techno/military enterprises such as Thomas Edison, Buckminster Fuller, Canada’s NFB, and the US Air Force; revisits 60/70’s conceptual art from Glenn Gould, NE Thing Co., Lawrence Weiner, Michael Snow, and others; and includes a selection of contemporary artists combining both axes. Far from an empty terra incognita, the Arctic, and with it Magnetic Norths, functions both as a historical repository as well as a fantasy projection space generating electro-magnetic distortions, pay dirt, pissing contests, sci-fi warfare, psychedelic skies, conspiracy theories, critical confection, shamanistic loss and shattered cartographies.

Research paper thumbnail of Breathe With Me, A Breath of Life: Clarice Lispector & Lygia Clark

BREATHLESS, 2021

Locating Lispector's and Clark's work within the history of female mysticism.

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetic Anomalies in the Arctic: Colonial Resource Extraction, Meteoric Cults, and the Rare Earth Age

Rare Earth, 2015

A theory of metallurgy and weapons in the Arctic from prehistoric to networked warfare as it rela... more A theory of metallurgy and weapons in the Arctic from prehistoric to networked warfare as it relates to history of human consciousness and homo necans. . Book chapter in exhibition catalogue "Rare Earth" by TBA21 and Sternberg Press.

Research paper thumbnail of Piercing the Screen of the Vegetable Kingdom: Remarks on Infrared

A Supplement to THE ENCLAVE, 2014

Genealogy of the phenomenon of infrared, published in Richard Mosse's Enclave exhibition catalogu... more Genealogy of the phenomenon of infrared, published in Richard Mosse's Enclave exhibition catalogue, on six screens: astronomy, camouflage detection, spirit photography, espionage, environmental sciences and forensics

Published by Broken Dimanche Press. ISBN: 978-3-943196-25-2

Research paper thumbnail of War as a Problem of Foreknowledge

Continent, 2015

The costs of prosecuting a war are egregious and fatiguing. There will be years of antagonisms de... more The costs of prosecuting a war are egregious and fatiguing. There will be years of antagonisms developed between the belligerents with discontent, anxiety, and hostility saturating all strata of those societies. The states will redirect their means of life-sustaining activities toward generating the most death and mayhem across as many actors as possible. It will culminate in a single battle, but the process of victory-making will have been much greater, and the ensuing precarious period of stability will be riddled with opportunities for discordant social relations. Given these longterm social harms that accompany the prosecutions of wars, the sixth century BCE philosopher Sunzi argued that it is inhumane for generals and the states leadership to engage in such military actions without the use of advance intelligence. This foreknowledge, as Roger T. Ames calls it, can only be educed through the proper understanding of people. The sagely ruler and superior commander conquers their e...

Research paper thumbnail of Freeze Frames: plus qu'une surface, moins qu'un volume

David Spriggs : Archaeology of Space, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of The Distant Early Warning Project, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Dawson City : Mining the Interpretive Realm of Knowledge

Exhibition Catalogue edited by Charles Stankievech in partnership with The Center for Land Use In... more Exhibition Catalogue edited by Charles Stankievech in partnership with The Center for Land Use Interpretation and the Yukon School of Visual Arts. Collects research done by students at the Yukon School of Visual Arts under a project directed by Matt Coolidge at The Center for Land Use Interpretation and organized by Charles Stankievech. Exhibition occurred at the ODD Gallery, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.

Research paper thumbnail of Interviews: Michael Snow & Charles Stankievech (MASS MoCA)

Oh Canada, 2012

Interview with Michael Snow in «Oh Canada», the catalogue for the exhibition we were in together ... more Interview with Michael Snow in «Oh Canada», the catalogue for the exhibition we were in together and showed side by side at MASS MoCA in 2012. I ask him about Glenn Gould, the sublime Canadian landscape and transcendence. In turn I was asked some questions about the Arctic, philosophy and silence by Patrick Bernatchez, a chain interview structure initiated by curator Denise Markonish.

Research paper thumbnail of This Hidden World: Irenosen Okojie in conversation with Charles Stankievech

Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 2021

Interview with Science Fiction writer Irenonsen Okojie for Afterall Journal. Full text available ... more Interview with Science Fiction writer Irenonsen Okojie for Afterall Journal. Full text available here:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/719779