Lizzie Fitch/Ryan Trecartin. Priority Innfield

Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin: Priority Innfield
Young American artists Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin are among the most iconic artists of their generation who, according to John Zeppetelli, "chart with great dexterity and courage new social and aesthetic territories." Since meeting in 2000, the two artists have employed video, sculpture, sound and installation to brashly address the changing nature of interpersonal relationships brought about by technology and social media. The resulting works present a potential vision of the future where our sense of place in the world is determined by an increasingly difficult to navigate set of factors. As Trecartin says: "I love the idea of technology and culture moving faster than the understanding of those mediums by people."

The MAC is presenting the North American premiere of Priority Innfield, a "sculptural theatre" composed of four movies, each projected in its own pavilion. These movies—Junior War, Comma Boat, CENTER JENNY and Item Falls (all from 2013)—each represent a chapter in a pseudo-science-fiction narrative that relates a history of future civilizations inspired by an inventive recasting of the theories of evolution. Comprising sequences filmed by Trecartin in the 1990s when he was still in high school, Junior War documents the excesses of adolescence and serves as a prologue to the series. In Comma Boat, Trecartin casts himself as a dictatorial filmmaker ineffectively directing an apathetic cast. CENTER JENNY and Item Falls showcase students (all called Jenny) learning about the "human past" while aspiring to climb the rungs of society.

Organization and partnership
Exhibition organized by the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal and co-produced with the Zabludowicz Collection, London. Priority Innfield was produced and presented at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 and the Zabludowicz Collection, London, in 2014. The presentation at the MAC is organized by Mark Lanctôt, curator at the MAC.