For this project in Calgary, St. Laurent questions how socially acceptable it is for a man to be seen in the arms of another man in public. Given the political climate in Alberta today, St. Laurent intends to make an ambiguous gesture for Mountain Standard Time, that of being seemingly rescued from a dangerous situation – this functioning mainly as a metaphor for queers who are ‘out’ in public. Furthering an idea St. Laurent had developed previously through a tape called I Want You to Need Me, he wishes to address the state of things in regards to gaybashing outside of Canada’s large urban centres. As a counterpoint to being gaybashed in Moncton, he is interested now in finding images that are different from the ones he remembers – instead of being beat up by man, he is being rescued by one.
Born in Moncton in 1974, Stefan St-Laurent now lives and works in Ottawa. His performance, photography and video work have been shown in such institutions as the Centre national de la photographie in Paris, Edsvik Kunst + Kultur in Sollentuna, Sweden, YYZ Artists’ Outlet in Toronto, Western Front in Vancouver and ICA Moscow. His curatorial projects have been exhibited internationally, including at the Lux Centre in London, Les rencontres internationales Vidéo Art Plastique in Hérouville, France, V Tape in Toronto and the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montréal. He is currently co-artistic director of Galerie SAW Gallery.
