A Section of Now: Social Norms and Rituals as Sites for Architectural Intervention, banner, CCA 2021. Image: June-14 Meyer-Grohbru?gge & Sam Chermayeff, Triangular bed (2018) Photo © Oliver Helbig. Graphic design by Folder Studio.
?A Section of Now? is on now and is about now. Conceived as a cross section of contemporary life from the last four decades or so, this provocative show fills the Montreal museum?s six main galleries until May 2022 with lots of familiar and unfamiliar stuff. Family, ownership, agency, labour, obsession and life cycle are the official themes, but the hot topics of care, domesticity, addiction, the gig economy, and youth also link the exhibition spaces. An accompanying tome, available in English and French, will be published in late January 2022. The overall message of ?A Section of Now? is that lifestyle changes show up in design. Curator and book editor Giovanna Borasi invites architects to rethink spaces, objects, landscapes, and other arrangements in light of new ways of living. In terms of design, ?A Section of Now? is very white, bright, and perhaps slightly more congested than most CCA exhibitions. Giant framed photographs predominate and big pieces of furniture occupy several of the galleries.
A Section of Now: Social Norms and Rituals as Sites for Architectural Intervention. Installation view, 2021. Photo: Matthieu Brouillard © CCA
At first glance ?A Section of Now? appears playful, but it is demanding. An online introductory video su...