Daniel Olson

Daniel Olson uses performance as a means to ignite his material production. The Montreal-based artist transforms existing objects, creating small and somewhat discrete interventions, at times enhancing or exaggerating their use value. For example, he adds a bell to a wooden walking stick, which can be rung with the simple flick of the thumb; he adheres a magnifying glass to a music box, exposing its inner workings; or melds a fan to a music-maker so both operate simultaneously. For *Twenty Minutes' Sleep* the artist will revisit earlier installations where he combined objects, sound, video, photographs, and performance, to create an office space that sets the stage for a shifting cast of characters. The most fitting occupant for this room is the cliched hard boiled detective, but dif­ferent characters surface in the smallest of ges­tures. Olson amplifies these with his performances where he morphs from himself to his father to the artist to the mysterious stranger. 

Essay: “Daniel Olson: Twenty Minutes’ Sleep,” Jenifer Papararo

An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson. A steel-made grey working desk and a black leather-covered office chair are placed on the floor. The desk is covered with various objects, including a typewriter, a desk lamp, and a cigarette case.

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An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson. A steel-made grey working desk is placed in front of the wall. The desk is covered with various objects, including a typewriter, a desk lamp, and a bottle of rum.

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A coat rack is placed flat on the floor. It is a set of four black coat hooks mounted on a rectangular piece of wood.

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An installation image of Daniel Olson’s art exhibition at CAG. A corner of the galley is covered by glass and white window blinds. A black office chair and a projector are placed in front of these blinds.

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An installation image of Daniel Olson’s art exhibition at CAG. A large poster of a person in a grey suit is mounted on a wall. A CRT TV is placed on a pedestal at the corner of a gallery.

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An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson. A steel-made grey working desk is placed directly on the floor. The desk is covered with various objects, including a typewriter, a desk lamp, and a bottle of rum. 

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An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson in CAG’s window spaces facing a sidewalk. Three poster-shaped photography works are mounted on an illuminated wall behind glass windows. 

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An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson in CAG’s window spaces facing a sidewalk. Two poster-shaped photography works are mounted on an illuminated wall behind glass windows. 

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An installation image of a work by Daniel Olson in CAG’s window spaces facing a sidewalk. Three large pieces of white paper, on which some typed texts are visible, are mounted on an illuminated wall behind glass windows.

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Twenty Minutes' Sleep

The eight artists participating in *Promises* all make work that seems to be somewhere in between one thing and another, presenting a potential of continually becoming something else. For example, Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg's *Fruit Bowls* reside somewhere between sculpture and photography, while Joe Scanlan's work, *Coffer*, is both a practical, functional object and the realization of more formally motivated ideas. Daniel Olson's short performances collected in *Philosophical Moments* puncture the film noir ambience of the video with a kind of quizzical prankishness that underscores the provisional nature of expectations, and experience. The promise of these works is in their potential for just such unexpected outcomes.

On the upper part of the galley wall, seven identical signs are attached in a row. They are black square-shaped signs. A drawing of white brief underwear is printed on each of those black signs.  

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A blue-white coloured neon sign is installed on the wall in a gallery space. The sign shows the exhibition title, PROMISES. 

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This is an installation shot of a group show titled Promises. Several two-dimensional artworks, some framed and some unframed, are mounted on the walls. 

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Several artworks are installed in a gallery space. Five framed black and white photographs are mounted on the left side wall. A wood sculpture is installed in a corner of the room. 

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A photograph depicting an open dishwashing machine is installed on a gallery wall. Below this photograph, a sculpture made of four cylindrical-shaped objects sits on the floor. 

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A large sculpture is installed in a gallery. The sculpture is a sealed large cardboard box placed on a piece of flat wood. Words such as Fragile and Keep Dry are written on the side of the box.

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In a corner of a gallery room, a CRT TV is placed on a wood coffee table. A video work is shown on that TV. A mobile storage cabinet filled with objects is placed next to the TV. 

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This is an installation shot of a gallery space. A set of three photographs are installed on the left wall. Some sculptural installations are placed in the far right corner of the room. 

Daniel Olson

Exhibitions