Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War

Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War is an interdisciplinary project exploring contemporary art’s relationship to war and its representations. As a collaboration between two University of Toronto galleries, this project includes an exhibition of international artists at the Blackwood Gallery and the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery.

“Listen — it’s not a war where you’re driving and shooting the whole day. It’s sort of relaxed. Some days you do nothing. You do twelve hours and then go to sleep in your room. Not every day you’re there something happens. Not every second is there something happening. Sometimes you’re just there. Sometimes they put you somewhere for nothing. Once they positioned me behind a tree. We’re being shot at and there’s nothing you can do. You’re positioned behind a tree. For nothing. Because certain people felt good about it. About your being there. You understand? They put you in all sorts of places: Dangerous places. Not dangerous places. As long as you’re doing something.”
– An excerpt from Omer Fast’s A Tank Translated, 2002. 4 channel video with sound. Courtesy of Postmasters, New York; gb Agency, Paris; and Arratia, Beer, Berlin.