Inspired by the zebra mussel, and the histories of the St Lawrence River it has recently brought to light, this media installation investigates representations of transnational flows along the river and its international waterways. The St Lawrence Seaway, notably, has radically re-shaped access to the river from the 1950s, extending processes of colonial dispossession along the waterfront, while allowing ocean-going vessels to move cargo between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Such vessels also unwittingly carried along the zebra mussel, and thereby introduced the species into North American waters. Among many other consequences, their rapid proliferation has clarified waters, making flooded structures on the riverbed become newly visible from above.
The exhibition considers different ways of representing the river and its flows. It also considers different flows of data, drawing from images in social media (e.g. those using river-related hashtags) and bridge traffic feeds to create visualizations with Image Plot software.
Without Zebra
November 2017
Art & Media Lab
Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts
Kingston, ON
15 colour transparencies, Fish wire, spot light, two-channel video projection
2017
Curated by Stéfy McKnight