islands

synopsis

i wanted to create a gesture - in the form of this work - of respect, gratitude and love for the land and all the indigenous beings (including all non-humans) of that land. when people visit victoria, bc of 2012, they see a lot of homages to british culture: the infrastructure, buildings, tea-shops, manicured parks and gardens. but it quickly became evident to me, when walking in garry oak ecosystems or on less traveled beaches that these edifices are a mere recent ideological encumbrance, which were hypocritically and violently imposed.

a nuanced and poetic version of history is never ready at hand - its constantly reformulating beyond the sum of all beings’ imaginations. those who would attempt to have you believe in a static or true version of history are the same folks that designed the violent conquest of the americas.

with this work, and in all my work, i subvert ideologies of control, dichotomy and anthropocentrism to traverse into a space of vulnerability, liquidity and interconnectedness.

medium

installation & slow performance, western red cedar, photographs of appalling cenotaphs, written poetry, sections of the 1850 douglas treaties transcribed onto reclaimed pallet wood, drawings on wood, talking circle, solo drum kit performance.

curator

peter morin

artist run center

open space

location

lekwungen (victoria, british columbia, canada)

2012