March 24 - April 8, 2005
ArtLab, UWO

Sponsored by Oppositional Practices Limited and London's House of Hair
Professor: Susan Edelstein

The French idiom la perruque (the wig) was conceived of by theoretician Michel de Certeau. In France, this expression refers to the work one does for oneself under the guise of doing work for their employer. For instance, performing la perruque could be as simple as the office worker using the company's computer to write personal letters during office hours. "The worker who indulges in la perruque actually diverts time"…which "differs from pilfering in that nothing of material value is stolen" (de Certeau 25).

De Certeau commented that this subversive act or "tactic" became so common place that it quickly spread to all other areas of society, including the arts and culture.

In the exhibition La Perruque thirteen of Canada's most dynamic young curators: Sarah Baptiste, Erin Bilyea, Laura Booth, Ashley Dawson, Natasha Isajlovic-Terry, Christina Jones, Wei luo, Jenn Lyttle, Sharon Muilwyk, Kate Todd, Stephanie Vanstone, Siobhan Whelan and Tom Wood were asked to consider a subversive muselogical gesture or tactic
that responded to the idea of collections. During this semester the curators examined historical cabinets of curiosity, along with contemporary display and organizational methodologies employed by museums and galleries. In an attempt to displace the imposed order and authority of the institution the student curators manipulated the space of a faux collection by initiating the exhibition La Perruque.