HUMAP, 2009 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2009 Toronto. Graphite and acrylic on plywood flooring, 44' by 34'
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The map was laid out on the sidewalk on the corner of Simcoe and King st. for the duration of the evening. The rivers and wooded areas are completed in acrylic while the roads and urban areas were drawn with unfixed graphite. As pedestrians walked on the map and explored it, skate boarders, roller-bladers, even bicyclists they all moved the graphite about, spreading the urban areas, darkening the rivers, pretty much mudding the map.
The map is now on a wall at a private studio near Shelbourne, ON almost in it's entirety.
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The PEOPLE'S MUSEUM of Windsor, 2010
Storefront Residency with Broken City Lab 10' by 16', acrylic and markers on paper.
A large map of Detroit to Leamington area of Southern Ontario was hand drawn on the floor on heavy craft paper. Visitors to the People's Museum helped to draw out features of the area, the waterways, and highways, labels, and folklore.
Symbols were created by the the artist and participants using hand cut potato stamps and paint, including them on the legend. Participants also wrote, drew, and painted their own stories and histories that were included on the wall.
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This was an exciting project and challenge, to bring people into an area with many storefront vacancies, to make active a un-used space outside of the capital model.
People really got into it, all sorts of local history and stories, found a way onto the map, a process which would have taken months of research if i were to takle this alone. Alot of the more colourful details of an area became expressed, that's what i was really after.
Of particular note is the Nautical history of the area, riddle with ship wrecks and stories, folklore and myths, surrounding the St. Claire River, Lake St. Clair and the mouth of Lake Erie. I had a few visitors to the museum who would return every couple of days with more shipwreck history.
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photo credit: James Bastow
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The NORTH AMERICAN ABOVEGROUND SUBWAY
Sound and Performance Installation
Aboard the Waterloo Central Railway
Steel Rail Sessions III, June, 2012
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photo cedit: James Bastow
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The Waterloo Central Railway historical railway equipment becomes transformed once a year in the Steel Rails Sessions' Art and Music Railway Bizarre. For the 2012 instalment, I turned one of the streamlined passenger cars into a subway car using sound as the prominent contributor.
Using a collection of subway sounds recorded from TTC commutes, and an old intercom system from the 50's or early 60's, I DJ'ed the train trip from Waterloo to Elmira and back, complete with live station announcements, door chimes and stand clears, shuffling and wheels squeeling. Also included in the installation, the flanges of the trucks underneath the passenger car were mic'ed and a sound clash begun between the subway sounds and the live flanges. Passing over trestles and across roadways, the exterior noise flooded the passenger car, amplifying the passing environment.
Thinking of the historical railway equipment transformed into the public infrastructure of a subway system isn't that far fetched of an idea. In reality the rail transportation network of Canada and the US was extensive, with most communities within 30 km of a rail station. We can look to the future of urban rail networks by examining the historical rail transportation aspirations, high-speed service between Montreal and Chicago, via Toronto, Kitchener, Windsor, etc. not to mention, it's all connected on the same track.
One could travel from Elmira to Panama on one rail network, the North American Aboveground Subway System.
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MURAL JAM, 2012 Downtown Kitchener Community Centre Acrylic and mixed media on wood panel, 48" by 96"
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Constricycle Crew, 2012
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Toronto. Zone B, curated by Christina Ritchie
Performers:
Don Miller Jared Johnston Paloma Von Feilitz Seth Scriver Robert Hengeveldt Todd Campbell-Cooper Jefferson
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Mechanically operational construction equipment built almost entirely from salvaged bicycles, called Constricycles, are used to pick up recyclables during the evening. The front-end-loader and dump truck Constricycles are both two-person operated, with pedals and hand cranks modest amounts of material can be collected and moved about. All operators on the Constricycles will be wearing appropriate construction safety gear including high-visibility vests, hard-hats, and steel-toe boots. The Constricycle crew will maneuver the streets of Zone B, collecting mostly print and paper material from Nuit Blanche promotions. Scheduled breaks and lunch are woven into the designated route, which the crews will repeat for the duration of the event, up and down Yonge.
Watch for the sights and sounds of pedal powered waste management; make way for collection by the cycling clean-up crew.
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