April 2017
More to See Here is a public art proposal that explores how to make visible the pluralities that have inhabited the space. The project considers the question: can the Renée Levesque garden serve as a bridge between public and private?
The installation focuses on three distinct moments in time through visualizing its inhabitants. In 1905, soon after opening, the Motherhouse accommodated 1059 residents including the nuns themselves, orphans, the elderly, and abandoned children. By 2013, after Concordia University had already purchased the property, that number had significantly dropped to 136 nuns. Today, 601 students live in the residence from September to April. The leaves of the trees depict the number of residents on the site throughout these three time periods. The image of each tree growing is projected on the acrylic panels. This further animates the space encouraging use at night.
This large-scale intervention bridges public and private space by providing different perspectives on this unique site throughout the day and night. It encourages users to reflect on the immense number of people who have inhabited the space, and those that will come after. A greater understanding of the experiences of those who have inhabited particular spaces is important for cultivating equitable environments. More to See Here aims to be a catalyst for a greater understanding of the experiences this site has held.
May 2016
if…else is a screen-based, generative art installation that combines computer programming and video played on loop. Using cells that have been programmed with human characteristics the piece explores potential factors that impact humans when interacting with others. A 60” LCD monitor acts as the display for the piece to play through a computer which is hidden beneath the monitor.
The piece is rooted in the idea that in order to transform society’s current structures we must look introspectively and evaluate the ways we function.
Within the context of movements that are working to shift from rape culture to consent culture if…else aims to provide some insight into the work ahead by delving into the ways our environment and experiences impact the ways we move through our daily lives.
October 2016
December 2014
Artist Statement
Poetry as a tool for expression has been an important cultural practice in women’s movements. Writing affords the ability to define new terms, share experiences, critique hegemonic norms and offer solutions and hopes for the future. Historically, these words are seldom afforded the same credibility as empirical data. (de)Coding Resistance gives credence to data that isn’t considered empirical but is just as important for measuring, describing and interpreting.
The piece visualizes three poems through illustrations that connect themes. In addition to each visualization the method through which these themes were analyzed is presented through code. Each poem, visualization, and code sample work together to critique and reflect on personal experiences, broad societal issues and the ways our identities intersect.
Technical Description
(de)Coding Resistance is a print piece comprised of 10 prints on 8.5”X11” photo paper. Each visualization framed is 21.1” X 17.1” each. The total dimensions of the piece are 7.65’ X 7.4’.
January 2017
www.safetystrategiesproject.org is a virtual exhibition designed to complement Safety Strategies, "a collaborative drawing project by Montreal-based artists, Caroline Alexander and Cynthia Hammond," (Alexander & Hammond, 2016).
The Safety Strategies exhibition was hosted at Studio XX from February 11th to 25th, 2017 and featured memory maps created by participants of two fall 2016 workshops. These memory maps were a representation of participants' marginalized experiences navigating safety in the urban environment.
Designed with an emphasis on clarity and simplicity, the goal of this project was to make images featured in the exhibition more widely accessible beyond the exhibition.
April 2014
Synopsis
There is a history of resistance and activism at the Olympic games despite bylaw 5O.3 of the Olympic Charter, which reads, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” In the wake of the anti-gay laws in Russia as the backdrop of the 2014 Sochi Olympic games Bylaw 5O.3 uses video and sound to immerse the participant in exploring the impact an act of protest can have when you are on the world stage.
Description
Bylaw 5O.3 is an interactive video installation featuring a three-tiered plinth, projected video, and sound. The plinth is in the centre of the room with a projector in front. Three capacitive sensors, each located on top of a tier of the plinth activates a different video when stood on by a participant. Each video is a short compilation of sound and video from iconic protests at Olympic games. The video played when the participant stands on the third place tier includes footage from the 1968 summer games in Mexico City, Mexico where athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised the Black Power salute. The video activated on the second place tier is a compilation of footage from the Indigenous rights protests at the 2010 winter games in Vancouver, British Columbia. The video played from the first place tier is footage regarding the anti-gay laws and censorship leading up to the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia.
Technical Description
Installed size 6ft x 2 ft, capacitive sensors, wide throw projector, speaker.
May 2015
Artist Statement
Power uses the aesthetic of data visualization to explore the relationship between women’s movements, poetry, science and technology. It is part of an ongoing exploration of the use of poetry as the data of women’s movements.
There is a power struggle that has traditionally existed between the natural and social sciences, with the latter usually losing when it comes to credibility. Meanwhile, feminist poetry has served as a science in it’s own right as it has been used as a tool to explore theories and coin new terms. To deconstruct the false dichotomy between the social and natural sciences, Power uses code to visualize three feminist poems two of which concentrate on one of natural science’s most famous woman physicist and chemist, Marie Curie while the third focuses on women’s bodies, academia and power. The images, code and poetry in Power work as a whole to explore the diversity of ways that women have claimed power while at the same time exploring its nuances and complicating power as a concept.
Project Description
Power is a graphic installation comprised of six framed data visualizations and code samples and a shelf that holds three poem descriptions. The shelf is fixed to the wall just below chest level with the the three poems placed on top and equally spaced out along the length of the shelf to be used as descriptors for the corresponding visualization and code sample. The three poems that act as the data set for Power are To Madame Curie by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Power by Adrienne Rich, and I am Enough by Carrie Rudzinski and Terisa Siagatonu. The data visualizations and code samples are each equally spaced along the same length of the shelf with the corresponding data visualization placed above the code sample.
Technical Description
Medium: Inkjet Prints
Size: Height 4’ 6”, Width 6’ 1”, Depth 2”
