Unearthed is a series of artistic interventions/conversations/experiments that seek to unearth and make space for some of the stories of this place. From August 26-30 2023, six artists will bring diverse perspectives to converse with the history of the park and pressing contemporary social and environmental concerns. They will help us think about way-finding, home, identity, play, plants, and the land we stand on. Unearthed is a walk in the park with a twist.
Artists Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Jung-Ah Kim, Vince Ha, Noah Scheinman, Elyse Longair and Evalyn Parry will activate spaces in Belle Park on various days throughout the week through music, performance, temporary installations, and light. There will also be an exhibition running at the Art & Media Lab at the Isabel Bader Centre throughout the week. Together, the weeklong investigation of site seeks to open up conversation and invite more questions and visits to and about this rich space with an uncertain future.
For Unearthed, I created two projects Geocaching Belle Park and Belle of the Ball.
Geocaching Belle Park
I have created a community-based curatorial and art project, titled, Geocaching Belle Park. At the most basic, geocaching is a treasure-hunting adventure with ‘X that marks the spot’ replaced by a Global Positioning System (GPS). The longitude and latitude coordinates invite the ‘cacher’ to explore Belle Park, encouraging them to look closely and engage with their surroundings while having fun hunting high and low for the hidden geocache. As the Belle Park Project website states: “Sometimes, looking closely at a small space can tell you a lot about the wider world”. My hope is to encourage members of the wider community to have fun geocaching Belle Park, to inform a deeper connection to the land through social engagement and play, and to encourage a brighter consideration for the future of the park.
Image Title: Belle of the Ball Series, Elyse Longair, Cyanotype, 11.7 x 16.5, 2023.
Image description: A cyanotype of flowers, seed pods and foliage are ghostly silhouetted on a dark brilliant blue background.
Belle of the Ball
Belle of the Ball is a series of cyanotypes and a zine created during the week of the solstice. Cyanotype, to put it simply, is drawing by the sun. Essentially, you place an object or negative on paper or cloth treated with a special photosensitive solution. When exposed to sunlight, the magic happens, and your sun print is created: a white image silhouetted on a blue background. I focused on capturing plants that I considered the Belle’s of the Ball in Belle Park. Each cyanotype carries a history, a trace, a relationship from the land they were taken from, and the sunlight used to create them. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.
Schedule:
August 26th, 2023
Belle Park (731 Montreal st) 3:00-6:00PM -Opening and tours to artistic sites
August 27th, 2023
Belle Park (731 Montreal st) 3:00-6:00pm - tours and artists present
August 28th, 2023
Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts (390 King st West)
12:00-4:00 Art and Media Lab, Exhibition Open
3:00-5:00 - room 222, panel discussion with all artists
5:00-6:30 - Art and Media Lab, reception
August 29th, 2023
Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts (390 King st West)
12:00-4:00 Art and Media Lab, Exhibition Open
Belle Park (731 Montreal st)
3:00-6:00pm - Independent touring of artworks
August 30th, 2023
Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts (390 King st West)
12:00-4:00 Art and Media Lab, Exhibition Open
Belle Park (731 Montreal st)
3:00-6:00pm Independent touring of artworks
7:00 -8:30 Performance by Cheryl L’Hirondelle