The Society of Temporal Investigations

Apr 30 — Jul 20, 2010
Field:

Exhibition

Description:

The Society of Temporal Investigations was a solo exhibition by Keith Langergraber that examined fan culture as a participatory form. Through video, sculpture, drawing, and ephemera, the exhibition explored the overlap between real and imagined space in science-fiction media, primarily focusing on the television show Battlestar Galactica. The narrative of Battlestar follows a fleet of starships on an epic quest through galaxies, dimensions, and time. Articulated through original drawings and models based on the television show, Langraber equates this search with the common fan practice of transposing fictional locales over real geographic sites. A cluster of ephemera including found zines and drawings focusing on resistance, environmental degradation, and corporate and government domination were displayed across the gallery walls to represent themes that run through the sci-fi genre. 

A central motif present throughout The Society of Temporal Investigations was the form of the spiral. While the symbol holds special significance in science fiction, it also connects Langergraber to another important influence on his artistic practice: the work of Robert Smithson. In his essay “The Shape of the Future and Memory” (1966), Smithson explores connections between art and time travel—themes that later informed his seminal earthwork Spiral Jetty (1970). Projected in a screening room at the rear of the gallery, Langergraber’s film The Theatre of the Exploding Sun (2009) further exploits this relationship between fandom and Spiral Jetty as it follows the artist’s alter ego Eton Corrasable on a quest through space and time.  

By equating Battlestar Galactica, Spiral Jetty, fan fiction, model building, and mapping, Langergraber complicated assumptions about the fan across disciplines. While obsession, influence, reverence, and re-creation are all accepted norms within the art world and other critical forms of academic discourse, the fan is lampooned for their manner of homage. New theories of fandom, like those articulated in The Society of Temporal Investigations, explored a range of possibilities for consumption, production, criticality, and play.

Curated by Caitlin Jones.
A large model hangs in the ceiling of Western Front’s gallery. Different sized spaceships inspired by the designs of the television show Battlestar Galactica swerve towards four hanging meteoroids. The model casts strong shadows onto the white walls of the gallery.
At the right corner of the gallery hangs a large model of many small spaceships flying towards what appears to be four large meteoroids. The suspended figures cast shadows on the white walls of the gallery. On the left wall three large drawings are on display. Aside from the wooden floors everything in the room is white and gray. The empty space and whiteness reminds the visitors of a futuristic spaceship.
ix large drawings are displayed on a white wall at a gallery space. All the drawings depict a similar image in different iterations. A large spiral emerging from the bottom of what appears to be a mountain with a small colour circle at the centre. Small depictions of landscapes and iconic buildings are drawn below each spiral.
A close up of a drawing made by artist Kieth Langergraber. A large spiral emerges from the side of a mountain. Cartography lines are drawn over the spiral as well as several coordinates. Three drawings of Vancouver landmarks are scattered across the page. In the middle of the spiral is a splatter of dark orange ink. All the elements in the drawing are carefully hand drawn with ink and pencil.
A close up of one of the drawings made by artist Kieth Langergraber. A large spiral emerges from a half drawn mountain. Detailed pencil lines and planets orbit the spiral, imitating a solar system chart. Two small drawings of Vancouver landmarks can be seen at the bottom of the page. A bright orange ink drop lays at the centre of the spiral
A close up of a drawing by Kieth Langergraber. A long spiral made up from a cluster of multiple small circles emerges from a carefully drawn mountain. Cartographic lines are drawn on top of the spiral, as well as several small coordinates. A small red planet orbits the spiral that is wrapped around a second spiral made of smudged red ink, as if mist. At the bottom of the page is a small drawing of old stone arches.
A close up of Kieth Langergraber’s drawing. A large spiral emerges from the side of a carefully hand drawn mountain. The spiral at first is made of multiple small circles clustered together, as it moves further away from the mountain the circles disperse and the spiral is now made of red ink imitating mist. Small written notes surround the spiral. Below the mountain is what appears to be a detailed drawing of a wrecked spaceship. And below the spiral a letterpress message reads: She returned after two months.
A close up of Kieth Langergraber’s drawing, A large spiral made of a cluster of small hand drawn circles emerges from the bottom of a carefully drawn mountain. A yellow ink spot is positioned at the center of the spiral, from where a long river-like string originates flowing downwards and across the page. To the right corner is a small drawing of what appears to be a small camping refuge, next to a simple map-like drawing of the Great Salt Lake. On the left bottom corner is a small drawing of a spaceship, resembling the designs of the ships from Battlestart Galactica.
In the corner of Western Front gallery a large map of metro Vancouver is displayed on the white wall. Below the map is a small wooden wall shelf full of a disarray of pamphlets, packages, maps and a small replica model of Doctors Who’s travel machine. Multiple frames hang on the wall to the adjacent wall.
A wooden wall shelf is on display at the corner of Western Front’s gallery. The shelf is filled with a disarray of magazines, pamphlets, and zines, all from different times and eras. A yellow package envelope stands at the back of the shelf behind a small replica model of the time machine from Doctor Who. All the items in the shelf seem to have a connection to sci-fi media and time travel.
An extreme close up of a metro Vancouver area map. A small yellow pin needle with a label that reads: Aliens vs Predator is placed on top of the Coquitlam Mundy Park.
A projection of Kieth Langergraber’s film The Theater of the Exploding Sun in a screening room at the rear of the galley. Two small speakers sit on the floor in front of a long sitting stool.
On the floor of a screening room at the rear of the gallery a small old tv screen is projecting an excerpt of Kieth Langergraber’s film The Theater of the Exploding Sun movie. Next to the TV hanging on the wall is a pair of headphones.
A close up of Kieth Langergraber’s drawing. A large spiral made up of a cluster of multiple small circles emerges from the side of a carefully drawn mountain. A bright yellow spot lays at the center of the spiral surrounded by faint blue brushstrokes. A line that imitates a cartographic river streams down the spiral to the bottom of the page, leading the eye to a detailed small drawing of what appears to be an ancient structure. Next to it is another detailed drawing of what appears to be an ancient archway.
An array of frames, posters and sci-fi related merchandise is on display at the rear wall of Western Front’s gallery. Everything on display relates to space, or more specifically to the tv show Battlestar Galactica. The pieces are arranged on the wall as if creating a landmass. A map of metro Vancouver above a wooden wall shelve is on display on the adjacent wall.

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Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.

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