Passages in an interactive projected video installation that visualizes human impacts within our natural environments in the prairies. In this installation I mainly focused on Hoodoo's found in Drumheller Alberta as a source of visual inspiration and a main area of critique. Viewers of this installation would see an alternate rendering of Hoodoo's but they can only observed when standing still. Because any form of activity would cause the rock formations to be displaced only to reform moments later.
Photo credits: Michaela Neuman
The rock formations found in Drumheller are almost all publicly accessible and as majestic as they are, it is almost natural for any of us to start playing around them. Most of which take hundreds of years to form but only takes seconds to break.
Passages wants us to be considerate of our actions in natural environments here in Alberta, It is important to respect the places we tread and to foster healthy relationships to the land we have access too. Because even though tourism is the main draw to such landscapes it is still a from of settler colonialism, which is an issue that is ongoing and we still continue to perpetuate.
I created this installation as a way to investigate other means of exploring these landscapes without directly tampering with it physically. Maybe this could be another way to sate the urge to play by digitizing the experience into immersive installations. For the case of the Hoodoo's with its local lore believing it to be petrified giants that rise up in the evening to hurl rocks at intruders. We should at best treat it with the respect it deserves because for the most part we are only guests passing through these lands rich with history
Passages was exhibited at Emmedia Gallery & Production Society during the Particle & Wave Festival from April 21st until May 7, 2023.
Passages wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the generous support of Calgary Arts Development. Thank you for providing me with the Individual Artist Grant for Creation and Development in the summer of 2022.