On The Road/ En Route
On The Road
Winnipeg, Peguis, Victoria Beach, St. Boniface, Manitoba_(2010)
In the summer of 2010, five artist run centres (Platform Gallery, Ace Art Inc., Urban Shaman Gallery, La Maison des artistes, and Video Pool Inc.) asked for proposals to deliver contemporary art in communities of Manitoba who are disconnected from the art scene due to geographic and cultural boundaries using a 1976 Airstream Trailer. My proposal sought to transform this trailer into a contemporary version of a traveling circus.
Using fiberglass rebar as a framing material, I explored how the woven network of patterns could elicit various forms to emerge from the material system when stresses were introduced to it. Because fiberglass behaves as a purely elastic medium, it is perfectly scalable (like light), therefore I was able to test several patterns of assembly at 1:10 before building it with the rebar. The results were identical, as were the techniques and procedures for the assemblies required for both.
Based on the pattern, force, and scale, the structures we created were site and programmatically specific. The communities at each of the seven locations in Manitoba became collaborators, helping to assemble and raise the structure into place to house a series of art performances and exhibitions for a short period of time. In this project, the “actions” of the designer/builder were exaggerated and amplified in the body of the architecture.
Project partners: Natasha Peterson, The Platform Gallery, Ace Art Inc., La maison des artistes, Urban Shaman Gallery, Video Pool Inc., the Creative Works Grant, the Faculty of Architecture - the University of Manitoba, Pultral, Hughes Bros., Mitchell's Fabrics and the communities of St. Claude, St. Boniface, Peguis First Nations, Victoria Beach, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Research Assistants: Zephyra Vun & Graham Taylor
