Mixed-media gallery installation
Materials: N/A
Dimensions: Entire gallery (80 ft x 50 ft)
Completed 2010.
This work, curated by Robin Metcalfe at the Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, represents a significant exploration of history and memory. In the summer of 2008, a local chapter of the Free Masons sold their 150-year-old building in downtown Halifax and relocated across the city. I was fortunate to befriend the building's new owner, a businessman who began the gradual process of transforming the historic site into usable retail space. Over the course of two years, I explored the building and collected various objects, detritus, and refuse left behind by the Masons after their move.
The abandoned items—such as church pews, antique doors, and broken symbolic objects—were re-contextualized and imbued with new narratives, forming the fragmented material backbone of my installation. This architectural “ruined environment” was sectioned into interconnected rooms throughout the SMU Gallery. Remarkably, 60% of the materials used in this installation came directly from the Masons Hall, while the remaining 40% were sourced from various locations, including hardware stores, junk shops, and thrift stores. This fusion of materials further obscured the tenuous connections the Hall items had to their original context.
Through this work, I aimed to investigate the syncretic origins of various systems of ritual and belief, creating a working allegory that engages in dialogue with an unknowable and unreachable past. The installation invites viewers to reflect on the layers of history embedded within these objects and the stories they carry, prompting a deeper contemplation of how we construct meaning from the remnants of our collective experiences.