Sanguine Through the Storm takes a hard look at the unsettling times that we live in; acknowledging the breakdown of evidence based discourse and ultimately finding inspiration and hope in human ingenuity. Robyn Moody’s ambitious installation began as an homage to clever repair for leaky pipes – strings of linked buckets drip water from the ceiling, activating lights within and music from a vintage organ. What began as a joyful treatment of space and material results in a cacophony of light and sound that reflects our collective anxiety.
The installation takes advantage of the double height volume of the Reid Gallery, juxtaposing the coffered wooden ceiling details and vintage stained glass clerestory windows with multi-coloured hardware store buckets and utilitarian tubing. The experience of Sanguine Through the Storm manifests the cognitive dissonance surrounding the current global political and ecological climate, eliciting conflicted emotional responses.
September 3 - November 16, 2019
Not Extinct presents an immersive audio experience of Sinixt stories. The exhibition invites you to step inside the pages of the book by the same name. Enlarged illustrations and original artworks provide a backdrop for recorded readings while quotes from the book give a contextual background.
The heritage courthouse that houses Gallery 2 is fundamentally a symbol of colonial power whose legacy continues to underpin everything that we do. Within the larger national conversation about Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous people, it is often difficult to know where to begin. Not Extinct provides a step – through hearing the stories we can begin to acknowledge that there were other people here first. Indigenous stories are an oral tradition; this exhibition is first and foremost an audio experience. As with all stories, there are lessons to be learned – in order for that to happen, the stories must be told – and heard.
Within the large plywood box, you look over a miniature model movie theatre constructed in hyper perspective. A western noir plays on the screen. Put on the headphones, and you become immersed in a classic theatre experience. Recorded using binaural audio, the audio gives you the sensation that you are sitting in an actual movie theatre. Beside you, there is rustling and your companion asks if you’d like popcorn. A multi-layered storyline emerges that combines the content of the film with the whispering of your accomplice. All the elements converge on a surprise ending. As a viewer, you become by turns a voyeur, witness, and participant in the narrative. Ultimately, this piece will displace you and question what constitutes a “real” experience.
In response to the devastating flooding of the Kettle River in 2018, Leta Heiberg has created a multi-medium series of drawings based around aerial footage taken during and immediately after the floods. The works depicts water flowing from mountain snow pack at an impressive speed - gaining volume and speed as it inundated areas previously considered high ground.
Water is its own entity in the work, multi-coloured and dynamic, contrasting surrounding landscapes in shades of black and white. Cheerful rainbow hues reveal as range of contamination washed in the watershed. As colour drains from the landscape, the shift in power becomes clear - control of the environment is impossible in an increasingly erratic world. Flood (re) view is a call to action to process what has happened on a deeper level and re-examine our relationship with a landscape that, while familiar, can become bewilderingly hostile in an instant.
River Relations is an interdisciplinary artistic research project undertaken as a reflection of the damming and development of the Columbia River in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, and the upcoming renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty. Five artists, two writers, and a geographer began by investigating and comparing historical and contemporary imagery and documentation of the river. Exploring the ideas and story line that emerged, the project contributes to ongoing dialogue around the river through visual art, writing, and public engagement. Through the creative process, the team synthesized personal experiences along the river with material found through research. The exhibition acknowledges the benefits of hydroelectric development while questioning the cultural and ecological costs of basin-wide industrial development. The resulting artwork uses real-world information that resonates metaphorically and allegorically, creating a space for the imagination and contemplation of human/nature relationships.
Post Diluvian is a partnership between Gallery 2 and the Boundary Flood Recovery (BFR) team. During the Boundary Showcase, we invite the community to share experiences and reflections on the flood, adding a layer of community -aggregated content to flood data and documentation. The culture form a larger narrative along with collected watershed information, satellite images, and flood documentation in an interactive map.
Throughout the summer season, visitors to Gallery 2 will be able to navigate the map, scrolling through the narrative focusing on different points depending on personal preference - seeing both the bigger picture and zooming in on the hyper-local. June 8 to August 17, 2019
See the visualization