Channel — Supposed To

Supposed To

Aleesa Cohene (CA 2006, 7:26)

Supposed To examines how work in a capitalist system divides us from ourselves. Work often succeeds at limiting our individual agency while promoting individual freedom. Lack of agency breeds apathy and despondency: we feel guilty for things we didn’t do and shirk responsibility for things we made happen. Reediting images and dialogue from science fiction films, thrillers and corporate training videos, Supposed To builds a hybrid narrative of characters exhausted by work, acting out, escaping conflict and misdirecting blame, and ultimately returning to an inevitable “deep wordless knowledge”.

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Aleesa Cohene

― Artist

Aleesa Cohene’s work with video, sculpture, and scent reconfigures and reframes cinematic material to investigate the clichés, codes, and stereotypes that make up dominant cultural narratives. Her work has been exhibited in festivals and galleries internationally, with recent solo exhibitions at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto), Gallery Suvi Lehtinen (Berlin), Glasmoog Gallery (Cologne), and Reykjavik Photography Museum. She holds a Masters of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto and completed a fellowship at the Kunsthochschule für Medien (Cologne) under German experimental filmmaker Matthias Müller. She has participated in artist residencies in Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and has won grants and prizes in Canada and Europe. Her work is part of the permanent collection of Oakville Galleries and numerous private collections.