ALISON COOLEY
Arts Writer

This week in the Snelgrove Gallery, graduating exhibitions wrap up for the year with Carnal by Stephanie Gauthier and Morning Repast by Lindsay Royale.

Lindsay Royale’s graduating BFA exhibition grew out of a new understanding of her Saskatoon community after she embarked on a study abroad program to England last winter. Upon her return, Royale rekindled an artistic interest in the private and public lives of Saskatonians.

“I found my experience out there (in England) was really different and more autonomous, and then when I came back here again… you’re just immediately involved in the community and everywhere you go, you kind of know somebody. I really wanted to take advantage of that, because I felt like that’s a really special thing about this city.”

Interested in shifting the boundaries of art and the everyday, Royale set out to deliberately create artwork that was not only visual, but also socially engaged. She proceeded to offer breakfast in bed to a slew of friends and acquaintances in a social experiment-like art piece, beginning by recruiting participants over Facebook.

“They filled out a survey and then I made their breakfast based on what I’d already known about them, or just what they had given me on the list of questions which was really detailed to the project. Like, ”˜What breakfast items do you like? Don’t you like?’ ” Royale explained.

She also included more personal questions about her subjects’ current interests and obsessions with the goal of tailoring the breakfast experience to each individual.

Royale hand-made and delivered the personalized breakfasts to a number of respondents, beginning in November. She documented the ongoing performances in a series of photographs, capturing both the intimacy and the performativity of the experience. In the Snelgrove Gallery, however, Royale is careful to remind us that the pictures that make up Morning Repast “are really just documents of the day — they’re not functioning as art objects, per se.”

Royale often places herself in her photographs, emphasizing the relationship between artist and subject rather than concealing it.

“We would talk and kind of get to know each other, have a dialogue,” Royale said. “I tried to encourage myself to break those social boundaries by getting in bed with everybody, which was awkward because even when it’s your closest friends you don’t really experience that vantage point with them. It definitely creates a different bonding situation when you’re that close with somebody.”

Royale situates this project in the artistic movement of “relational aesthetics,” which takes artwork out of the gallery space and centres on human relationships instead.

“I wanted to bring about the point, with relational aesthetics, that it’s more about social exchange. Artwork doesn’t have to be on a pedestal — it can be something that you didn’t initially consider art. I think that’s a lot more of a poetic way of living your life: to consider that while you’re going about your day that everything you do is, in some form, artwork. Then maybe it’s a little bit easier to relate to the art world.”

In the interest of continuing the project and further breaking the boundaries between public and private, Royale has placed a bed in the gallery, leaving cards around campus, inviting strangers to book appointments with her for breakfasts in the Snelgrove.

“People have this level of intrigue with the cards that I’m leaving around. I feel like if they’re intrigued, then they deserve to be a part of the experience. So, again, I’m trying to make art more relatable. I want people to understand how it functions instead of just seeing it.”

Carnal and Morning Repast run March 29 to April 1, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery. Closing reception is April 1 at 7:30 p.m.

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photo: Robby Davis