Facing North: As Inspired by Sounding Bodies
Arch 570 with Jonathan Tyrrell
Light projection, digital photography, print on bond paper 36x42 inch, wood, chairs.
Come sit and face the North.
Around the promise of warm, we sit and are confronted with the North.
We claim the North; the ice, fire, and lights that it holds.
We cannot take what it offers and remain complacent to the destruction that is present; The physical environment and to the people who depend on it.
Be confronted, be invited, be advised.
Silently, we face the North.
Around the promise of warm, we sit and are confronted with the North.
We claim the North; the ice, fire, and lights that it holds.
We cannot take what it offers and remain complacent to the destruction that is present; The physical environment and to the people who depend on it.
Be confronted, be invited, be advised.
Silently, we face the North.
Confrontation of the North in our Canadian identity
Within our Canadian identity, we embody this idea of being of the North. However, majority of Canadian population do not live within the physical landscape and social realities that exist in the North. Many Canadian Southerners have adopted and co-opted a romanticized fantasy as to what it means to live on this land, becoming increasingly disconnected and ignorant to the realities within the Northern communities.
Canadian identity is a muddled concept to pinpoint, as it a place that incorporates a vast diversity of people and cultures. Each individual experience, and their experience in this country, is unique and valid. However, to belong to this land, it is irresponsible to have a conveniently selective view of its on goings, both the positive diversity and ways to live, as well as the negative circumstances that exist for many, some due to this ignorance.
It is no great feat to simply step outside of your world view and open your mind to what else in the world, the country, is transpiring right above your head. The message that Facing North embodies is a simple concept of confronting, embodying and opening your mind to think about one’s relationship and knowledge of the North.
Many events are transpiring in the North, some to be celebrated, and some that must
be addressed. With climate change increasingly threatening the livelihood of the ecosystems in northern climates, it not only impacting the glaciers, and the rising sea waters, but directly effecting the communities who live within that climate. Many indigenous people face challenges that Southerners do not face, nor acknowledge. It goes beyond only the threat of the environment, but also to the infrastructure and social services that are necessary to their community, and the lack there of.
Inspiration of the interpretation and representation of ideas inspired by Glenn Gould’s We The North into the sound installation Sounding Bodies can in the form of the concept of recon-figuring a message to be delivered in a medium that is unconventional as well as striking. The visual, auditory and spatial presentation of what the North means to an individual is explored effectively by enveloping the viewer in an abstract experience. Although the message is not direct, written in ink on paper, it touches parts of one’s mind and soul that only art can.
Blissful ignorance is a state we all live in, to certain degrees. How can we break through the barrier, into the mind, and evoke feeling? How can you reach into some one’s soul, and allow them to embody the realities around them, that can break the barriers of scientific reports, academic reading, and bias research? Although the true goal is action, there are steps before that can be achieved. One needs to be informed, educated, first. But the sometimes-invisible precursor to even that, is to evoke the drive; to get someone to care.
Original photos by David Kilabuk.
The installation on the gallery wall was the last step to this process. An image existing only digitally, does not have the power or control of presentation that a physical manifestation can provide. For the images to have the desired effect, the presentation needed to be as curated as the creation for full effect. The prints displayed under good lighting, and a formal setting of a pin up, exhibited and evoked a presence that is formal and to be taken seriously. The prints were large, bigger than life, to have a dramatic presence and demand attention.
The placement of the chairs, close to the prints, invites the viewer to get close and intimate with the faces. A conversation between viewer and prints is encouraged, silently. The intimacy of space between the face and the viewer, and the pause of physically stopping to sit, allows for a deeper connection and viewing of the pictures. The wood placed between the two symbolize an inviting fire, a common human connection both between two people, as well as a physical connection to the natural world.
By creating a spatial reality within the installation of the portraits, a different viewing experience and emotions come with it. The serious tone of being presented as a traditional and formal art piece is then broken by the invitation to get closer, look closer, take a moment and engage.
The placement of the chairs, close to the prints, invites the viewer to get close and intimate with the faces. A conversation between viewer and prints is encouraged, silently. The intimacy of space between the face and the viewer, and the pause of physically stopping to sit, allows for a deeper connection and viewing of the pictures. The wood placed between the two symbolize an inviting fire, a common human connection both between two people, as well as a physical connection to the natural world.
By creating a spatial reality within the installation of the portraits, a different viewing experience and emotions come with it. The serious tone of being presented as a traditional and formal art piece is then broken by the invitation to get closer, look closer, take a moment and engage.
Sit with them, see them, hear them.
Thank you to my models, Max Schramp, Katherine Cybulski, and Madeleine Lachance.
Special Thanks to Jonathan Tyrrell
Special Thanks to Jonathan Tyrrell