THE STORM AND THE CALM
HD video installation, 2010
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Watch video documentation of The Calm at the 2010 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.
The Storm and The Calm is a video installation that takes its initial inspiration from the wreck of the Lord Ashburton, a cargo schooner that crashed against the towering basalt cliffs of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick in 1857. From that starting point, I explore into the broader archetype of the “castaway”. From The Odyssey, to The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe, the lone survivor of a shipwreck is a potent metaphor for exploring self-discovery through isolation. Shot and developed during a two-month research trip to Grand Manan, I was researching how this particular tale of a shipwreck has become mythologized on the island and why the mythology of the castaway continues to be fascinating and relevant in the contemporary world. Part 2: The Calm premiered at the 2010 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche as an Open Call project. It was installed as two video projections in the lobby of 36 Toronto Street, a 10-storey atrium of two adjoining office towers. The Storm and The Calm was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. |
