CIVA has the pleasure to invite you to the book launch of The Desert Turned to Glass by Charles Stankievech, followed by a conversation between the artist, Nikolaus Hirsch (artistic director at CIVA) and Silvia Franceschini. Feel welcome to stay for a drink after the presentation and have your book signed.
Commemorating the centenary of the planetarium as an architectural type, the book The Desert Turned to Glass collects a new body of work by acclaimed Canadian artist Charles Stankievech. Thematically, the project explores alternative theories concerning the origin of life, consciousness, and art—bridging the cosmological visions of cave art and the modern technology of the planetarium. Richly illustrated, the book pairs images of Stankievech’s installations and cinematic works with new commissioned writings and historical texts. Spanning the abyss of space and the depths of the earth, The Desert Turned to Glass is an epic meditation on origins, endings, and infinity.
The Desert Turns to Glass opens as an exhibition at gallery KIN on 7 September 2023.
Charles Stankievech is an artist redefining “fieldwork” at the convergence of geopolitics, deep ecologies, and sonic resonances. From the Arctic’s northernmost settlement to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, Stankievech’s practice uncovers the paradoxes of our existence on the planet by engaging with the imperceptible. Exhibitions and performances at HKW, Berlin; Canadian Centre for Architecture; Kunstwerke Berlin; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; National Gallery of Canada; TBA21; Venice Biennale; Berlin Biennale; and Documenta 13. He is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, University of Toronto, Editor of Afterall Journal, and currently visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo for 2022–23.
Contributors to the book The Desert Turned to Glass: J.G. Ballard, Karen Barad, Walter Benjamin, Douglas Cardinal, Dehlia Hannah, Takashi Ikegami, Takafumi Kawakami, J. David Lewis-Williams, Clarice Lispector, Raf Rennie, Ala Roushan, Nadim Samman, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Charles Stankievech, Kim Tait
