Site Photography

In 2024 I was commissioned by Ebuild Construction¹ to photograph some of their in-progress construction sites, with the generous and exceptional brief to simply photograph what I saw.

After gaining and understanding of their work and approach, I entered the sites with both a medium and a large format camera, enough film for the day, and no plan. I photographed construction details, tools, the bones of the architecture, and the passing ephemera of the day.

Wista45SP
Fujinon w 125mm f5.6
Fujinon w 180mm f5.6
Ilford HP5+

2024-01

Graphic Transcription Scarf

A custom-printed silk scarf created as the final output of a multi-stage collaboration with Julian Yi-Zhong Hou.

The graphics on the scarf are the result of a transcription of an audio work by Julian Yi-Zhong Hou, Prayer for 4 Speakers.² The transcription was created with a shorthand whose symbols and syntax were improvised in a single pass. This improvised shorthand was then translated to a typeface which ultimately had a character set that closely aligned with the symbols that were created by hand.
 The transcription was made in preparation for a written work for Le Sigh, ‘a multilingual online exhibition space and art magazine that presents creative conversations on time-based contemporary art practices,’ ³ that responded to and was featured alongside Prayer for 4 Speakers.

custom-printed silk scarf
red and black ink
limited edition
published by second spring
36 x 36 inches

2023-01

Iris Bench & Iris Stand

Two objects co-designed with Eric Zdancewicz,⁴ starting from raw planks of red oak that were used as pedestals in the 2019 exhibition The Apparition of the Etheric Double at Support ⁵ in London, Ontario.

The designs were realized by establishing two set thicknesses and several set lengths for the individual planks. Compisitions were then workshopped and refined to establish both a resolved form and constantly shifting views. Each individual plank has a subtle chamfer to maintain a distinction between individual joined planks.

solid red oak
iris bench: 97 x 39 x 46cm
iris stand: 49 x 29 x 46cm

final photograph by eric zdancewicz

2022-01

Last Light (nocturnes)

Most nocturnes depict the night; these nocturnes document it. On eleven evenings, from April through October 2021, I started composing the minute the sun set. I stopped when there was no light left in the room. The music is exactly as written on those eleven evenings – no revisions, no edits.

Each section of this piece shifts in character, as a reaction both to the night during which it was composed as well as my awareness of the existing sections up until that point. There are however common musical materials that draw throughlines across sections, from the beginning to the end of the piece. The music took inspiration from that of Marin Marais, traditional Japanese Koto music, and Olivier Messaien's Quatuor pour la fin du temps.

piano, violin, violoncello
approximately 12–14 minutes in length

2021-04

Support Light

A light designed in collaboration with Wesley Chau ⁶ for my exhibition The Apparition of the Etheric Double at Support ⁵ in London, Ontario.

This lamp combines a rigid steel armature, welded together with 1/4–inch square stock, with a stretch-fabric shade. The shade is connected to the armature with magnets and can be positioned in an infinite number of arrangements, either pulling the shade taut or letting it drape. The light source is held by a 3D-printed component that can move laterally along part of the steel armature to accomodate different arrangements of the shade.

welded steel
stretch fabric
3d-printed component
electrical components

unique edition
100 x 62 x 38 cm

2021-03

Untitled Broadsheet

A text-based takeaway edition for my 2019 exhibition The Apparition of the Etheric Double at Support ⁵ in London, Ontario.

This broadsheet consists of found texts from a range of sources that have been edited together into a single narrative. The narrative traces a progression from a bright, sunlit world; through fading light; into darkness. The final text was set in three columns then re-edited to allow reading both down and across columns, creating new texts with changing reading paths.

newsprint
black offset printing 43 x 58cm

2021-02

Stoppage Vessels

A series of glass vases – based on Marcel Duchamp's artwork, Three Standard Stoppages ⁷ – in which a single mould is used to create an infinite range of possible forms, ranging from the geometric to the organic.

Stoppage Vessels were developed over an extended period of time in order to arrive at a mould that technically and conceptually achieved the aims of the project. The mould was ultimately constructed from many pieces of steel flat bar that are connected together with aircraft cable and clamped to a steel base plate. The mould allowed for a different number of steel pieces to be used, creating two set perimeter dimensions for the vases. After every piece was blown the mould was unclamped; reconfigured into a new, improvised form; then reclamped; all while the glass blower prepared the glass for the next piece.

hand-blown glass
variable and unique sizes,
 ranging from approximately
 6–10 inches in height
variable colours.

process photograph by jim ryce

2021-01

Minimum Tray

Commissioned by Kolab Project, this rolling tray is an answer to the question: what are the minimum qualities and functions of a tray?

The answer to the above question, in the case of this rolling tray, is that what is required is simply a surface for rolling and a means to capture and hold anything that may fall to the side. A perimeter track reminiscent of the actions of a rotary phone are machined into a slab of solid aluminum, with a single, semi-circular cut in the sidewall providing a means for clearing out the perimeter trough.

machined aluminum
clear anodization
rubber feet & hardware
43 x 58cm

images by graydon-herriot

2020-03

North-South Tray

A rolling tray commissioned by Robinson's Cannabis based on the topographic profile of the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, where their product is grown.

After researching the form of the Annapolis Valley, which is bound on two sides by North Mountain and South Mountain, a profile based on this geological section was extruded and shaped to create this tray. The piece was sand cast in manganese bronze then the top surface was hand-polished, with the variance in each cast yielding both pitting and undulations in the surface.

solid sand cast bronze
hand-polished top surface
43 x 58cm

2020-02

Letter Opener

An organic and precise letter opener that seamlessly transitions from a thick handle to a thin blade.

This letter opener was made by carving an original shape out of wood, without any preconception of the final form. This form was then sand cast in manganese bronze, with each piece hand polished to a mirror finish. The process of carving the original form by hand lends the object a direct relationship to the human hand.

sand cast and hand-polished manganese bronze
43 x 58cm

2020-01

Drift Incense Holder

An incense holder designed as a single piece of slip-cast ceramic that hides the incense stick from view, placing emphasis on the the rising smoke.

This object was designed to be produced as a single piece of slip-cast ceramic that uses the weight of the incense stick to hold itself in place. The form was carefully designed on 3D drawing software, 3D printed, then cast in limited quantities.

slip cast ceramic
various colours
00 x 00 x 00cm

2019-03

The Pebble & The Stone

A set of five bronze blocks designed for the display of dry flora and the temporary display of fresh flora.

These five bronze bloks were developed in collaboration with Flùr ⁸ in Toronto. All five pieces were designed with ovals of set proportions as their foundation, creating organic forms that were then sliced through to create a contrasting flat plane. The curved surfaces retained the textures of the sand casting process, while the flat planes were polished to a mirror finish.

sand cast bronze
hand-polished flat surface
00 x 00 x 00cm

arrangement in top photo by Carmel Floral

2019-02

Support /

A low stool in sand-cast and hand-polished manganese bronze.

Support / is a very low stool, about six inches high, inspired by a both a makeshift gardening stool observed along a major street in Toronto, and by the act of sitting on a curb or low step in the city as an improvised chair. This object provides support for the post of crouching down close to the ground. In making this stool, I was reflecting on the way in which the height of seating influences your relationship to your surroundings and as a result your state of mind.

sand-cast bronze
hand-polished top
00 x 00 x 00cm

2019-01

Composite Vessels

A set of three blocks and one dish for floral display.

This set of vessels – conceived primarily as a vase though it serves equally well as a open-function vessel – provides separation between the blocks that support individual stems and the vessel that contains water to sustain the flora. Taking equal inspiration from a Bauhausian pure geometry and the functionality of the kenzan within Ikebana, Composite Vessels takes the varied placement of stems within a vase and extends that openness of form to the vase itself.

slip-cast ceramic
industrially fabricated glass
machined and anodized aluminum
00 x 00 x 00cm

2019-01

Perimeter Pavilion

A pavilion for one person, commissioned by the Perimeter Institute ⁹ in Waterloo, Ontario.

This pavilion was designed to create a space for rest and reflection in a building that for many provided only shared space. The pavilion fit a single person, with a felt mat inside allowing one to lay down, leaving their shoes outside to indicate that the pavilion was in use. The structure was constructed so that it could be disassembled and assemled, allowing it to be installed in different parts of the building.

solid oak
oak plywood
cotton
felt
122 x 244 x 244cm

2017-02

Three Figures

A graphic and textual response to an exhibition by Didier Courbot.

This text was commissioned by Susan Hobbs Gallery ¹⁰ as part of their frameworks series where primarily written responses to each of their exhibitions are published. My response consisted of both graphic components and original texts in three sections that acted as inflection points that are consonant with but do not describe the exhibition.

graphic design, writing

2017-01

Notte Coralli
Support Structures

Exhibition design to support the work of Celia Perrin Sidarous,¹¹ for Notte Coralli, her contribution to the 2016 Montreal Biennial.

The structures were designed in close communication with Celia Perrin Sidarous, to coordinate with her exhibition plan for notte coralli. There were two large freestanding structures to act as surfaces upon which to display work as well as to frame works that were mounted to the walls. In addition there was a stand for a film projector and a bench for viewing the projected film.

MDF & plywood
glued and assembled
clear finish

2016-03

Walper Prints

Two digital collages created with the intent of exhibiting them as prints alongside a series of open-composition plant stands. These works were meant to be installed as part of a larger project in Waterloo, Ontario that was cancelled at the last minute.

digital collages

2016-02

Lightweight

Exhibition of sculptures and prints at Zalucky Contemporary.¹²

Lightweight was equal measure an exhibition of artworks and exhibition design as work; the pieces themselves depended strongly on their presentation and their relationship to the architecture of the gallery space, parts of which were painted to create an articulation of space as much as colour. The photographs suspended as part of the exhibition consisted of screenshots from films – the hustler, in the mood for love, the bitter tears of petra von kant – that were then re-photographed with the lights of my studio reflecting on the glass surface of a laptop.

brass, string, metallic paper, two-tone metallic wrap, photographs, paint

2016-02

Prop Dish

A tabletop dish designed and fabricated from a single sheet of brass.

Prop Dish uses a simple division of a circle along with industrial fabrication to create a vessel that constrasts the endless curve of the circle with two discrete lines. The resultant form echoes that of a hand shaped into two flat planes.

brass
laser-cut & bent sheet brass
00 x 00 x 00cm

photography &
art direction by
alley kurgan

2016-01

Three-Day Suspension Sculpture

Temporary sculpture installed as part of a larger exhibition.

This suspended sculpture was created and installed for three days as part of a project by Alexandre David that combined an architetural installation as well as works by other artists (note the erased drawings seen on the walls).

nylon cord, mirror acrylic, plastic tubing, brass hardware, white acrylic, black polycarbonate

2015-01

Maquettes Toward a Twenty-Four Hour Spinning Top

These maquettes were made parallel to and after the development process for a 24-hour spinning top. Following and invitation from Micah Lexier ¹³ to participate in his exhibition, More Than Two (Let it Make Itself), these maquettes were finalized as maquettes, with the development of the actual spinning top never brought to completion.

steel, aluminum, wood, paper

2013-04

Exhibition Tablecoth
for Art Metropole

Tablecloth featuring a custom-designed pattern meant to be used as an exhibition strategy for archive documents and objects, created as part of a larger set of tools for the display of Art Metropole's archive. ¹⁴

pattern design based
on 8.5x11 documents
custom-printed textile tablecloth

2013-03

Three Gs

Gallery vinyl signage intervention.

While creating exhibitions for a cooperative gallery in Toronto – whose origins were in a productively unsettled state of operations – I twice altered the logo of the gallery. The logo was originally set in a modernist geometric typeface. My first alteration was to adopt the modernist typeface created for the Toronto subway system; my second alteration was to set the logo in Giddyup. Even if only a gesture, I wanted to resist the unimaginative and tiresome professionalization that the gallery had undergone.

adhesive vinyl

2013-01

Notes to Between Two Things

Two short texts about the ampersand and the plus sign for F.R. David.

These two texts were commissioned by F.R. David after inquiring with its editor about whether similar writing already existed. This project was structured as two sets of notes and two finished texts, with the finished texts to be published in a later edition that didn't come to pass. Ultimately the finished texts were presented as a takeaway as part of an exhibition at Mercer Union.
 Notes to Between Two Things considers the divergent ways in which the ampersand and the plus sign combine – not merely as a distinction of typographic style, but as a fundamentally different articulation of the relationship between two things. At the foundation of the difference elaborated here is the way in which these two symbols are drawn.

essay

2013-01

Gendai Workstation Totebag

Totebag created at the closing of the Gendai Workstation gallery.¹⁵

This tote bag ¹⁶ took the entire volume of the exhibition space and divided it by the volume of the tote bag, so that if all 15,675 tote bags were sold, then the exhibition space would have been reconstituted as a mobile and distributed exhibition space.
 'This bag and up to 15 675 others / partition and distribute / the Gendai Workstation exhibition space¹ / that was active for 338 days² / with a volume of 158.25m³.'

graphic design
silkscreen on cotton

2012-04

Light Print

A small, text-only letterpress print created at the Banff Centre.

'looking with light is / looking at light, and / looking with light is also / looking through it— / its body is an aperture.'

letterpress print
green ink

2012-04

Lemon Envelope

A #10 envelope custom printed with a photograph taken of a lemon reduced to a shell.

Peeled lemons often appear in still life paintings, partially peeled, draping onto or over the edge of a table. My interest here was in the peeled lemon as a symbol within the vanitas genre. My own photograph took the lemon peel as far as possible, removing the interior of the fruit entirely then arranging the lemon peel to reconstitute a proxy of its original form. The envelope, whose fleetingness mirrors that of the lemon, embodies the same form, especially when ripped open.

custom printed
colour #10 envelope

2012-03

At Least Five Roads

A short text written as part of an exhibition I curated, Sediment.

This text was one of many components of the exhibition, Sediment. Beyond the group show itself, there was a workshop based around Jean-Luc Nancy's On the Commerce of Thinking: Of Books and Bookstores, out of which arose this text; a publication that acted as an invitation; and a post-exhibition poster. This text was commissioned for Art Metropole's Book Currency Prospectus in 2012. Like the multi-component exhibition of which it was part, this text consists as much of footnotes as of primary text.

exhibition support text
graphic design by chris lee

2012-02

Growing and Cut

Article exploring the varyingly static and active nature of exhibitions.

An essay for the design magazine, Volume, that was written as a reflection on curatorial / exhibition design projects that I was working on at the time. The essay presented two constrasting modalities for exhibitions by analogy with growing potted plants and with cut flowers, with the former suggesting the potential for exhibitions to be fluid, active things.

essay

2012-01

Self-portrait, 2024.

4x5 film photograph
wista45sp
fujinon w 125mm f5.6
ilford HP5+

2024-01

Notes

1 Ebuild Construction – ebuildconstruction.ca  2 Julian Yi-Zhong Hou – julianhou.com  3 Le Sigh Magazine – le-sigh.com  4 Eric Zdancewicz – ericzed.online  5 Support Project Space – supportsupport.ca  6 Wesley Chau – wesleychau.com  7 Three Standard Stoppages by Marcel Duchamp – Museum of Modern Art collection  8 Flùr – flur.ca  9 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics – perimeterinstitute.ca  10 Susan Hobbs Gallery – susanhobbs.com  11 Celia Perrin Sidarous – celia-perrin-sidarous.com  12 Zalucky Contemporary – zaluckycontemporary.com  13 Micah Lexier – micahlexier.com  14 Art Metropole – artmetropole.com  15 Gendai Gallery– gendai.club  16 Gendai Workstation Totebag at Art Metropole – artmetropole.com