Dominique Sirois

In the installations U Can’t Touch This I and II, Dominique Sirois examines how the question of value relates to artistic contexts. In these installations, the artist has duplicated a collection of works denoting wealth. The collections are displayed in such a way as to emphasize both a classical kitsch style and a bling-bling aesthetic. Raw-style golden sculptures are protected by a surveillance system not unlike those found in museum spaces. As visitors approach the sculptures, they trigger an alarm that plays segments of MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This. Laminated ­photographs depict costumes worn by rappers; these stereotyped images link popular culture to the world of museums. A multidisciplinary artist, Sirois has shown her installation and performance work in Canada (Centre Clark and Centre des arts actuels Skol) and in Germany. In 2009, she obtained an MFA from the Université du Québec à Montréal, as well as a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.