Photo faculty Craig Kalpakjian exhibits in Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal

For its 13th edition, Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, in collaboration with VOX, Centre de l’image contemporaine, will present Black Box (2002–13) by Craig Kalpakjian.

In 1999 Sony introduced a new gadget, the AIBO pet dog. This robotwas able to learn, adapt to its home environment, and respond to its owner’s functional and emotional needs. It could emit friendly sounds and take its own photographs. Three years later, in his workBlack Box (2002–13), Craig Kalpakjian placed a Sony AIBO robot dog inside a sealed wooden box, not unlike a larger version of a Skinner box used by researchers to study the behaviour of animals in a controlled environment. It is not possible to see into the box, but each day the robot dog takes a photograph of the interior. These photographs are then displayed outside the box on the gallery wall.

Born in 1961 in Huntington, New York, Craig Kalpakjian lives and works in New York. He has a BA in art history from the University of Pennsylvania. His works are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Major exhibitions featuring his works include After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age (2012) and Reality Check(2008) at the MET. He has exhibited extensively, including at the Greene Naftali Gallery (1998, 2011), David Zwirner (2010), the Andrea Rosen Gallery (2002, 2004), and the New Museum (2002) in New York, as well as at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus (2005). kalpakjian.com

Credits: Craig Kalpakjian, Black Box, 2002–13. Installation view, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 2002. Ceiling tile, metal studs, hardware, fluorescent lights, carpet, Sony AIBO ERS-7M3 robot, inkjet prints, 99 x 259 x 107 cm.

VOX, Centre de l’image contemporaine

VOX was founded in 1985, and its mission is to support research and presentation initiatives as well enable artists, exhibition curators and other researchers to contribute to art experimentation, to reflection and to development of multiple forms of critical discourse around image-making and exhibition practices from the 1960s to the present day. Its main activity is exhibitions, most often complemented by publications, documentation spaces, film screenings, conferences and online projects. The exhibitions and other artistic events that the centre produces are grounded in long-term work with artists, and often designed as collective projects that encourage discussions and debates about art and contemporary society as well as public meetings with diverse audiences. VOX is a non-profit organization and a member of the RCAAQ as well as Art actuel 2-22.

 For the complete list of exhibition partners: moisdelaphoto.com/partners.html