As the Dusts Settle
2012
This exhibition was at Mercer Union, A Centre for Contemporary Art in Toronto in November, 2012. I took the title for this show from a book of the same name that traces the Dust family history in Bruno, Saskatchewan.
As the Dusts Settle was curated by Sarah Robayo-Sheridan, and more information about the show can be found here. Many thanks to Sarah, everyone at Mercer Union, and to Toni Hafkensheid for taking all of these photos.
Top image: Installation overview of the gallery, with “The End of the World” videos projected on walls.
Next image: “Souvenirs (California), 2012.” This image shows two rows of rocks I collected from various locations along the northern coast of California, seen in the rows on the left, with my copies of each rock seen in the rows on the right. Each copy is hand-made in stoneware with underglazes and acrylic or guache paint.
The “Souvenir” and “Souvenir Return” project came about when I learned of tourists to Iceland taking lava rocks home with them, and then proceeding to have bad luck; evidently some tourists mail their rocks back to Iceland in an effort to change their luck. Though I’m not particularly superstitious, I appreciate the logic of reciprocity behind this gesture, and so have been making copies of rocks I have taken from various places, with the intention of eventually returning my copies as replacements of sorts for the rocks I took away.
Next image: “Souvenirs (Iceland)”, 2012. This image shows a row of rocks I found in Iceland on the left, with a row of copies I made of the rocks seen to the right of the originals. In the middle of the image is a row of gravel and sand from Vik, Iceland, shown with a pile of copies of the gravel and sand.
Bottom image, left: “Souvenirs (California)”, 2012. Some more rocks from California in left-side rows, with my stoneware copies in the rows on the right.
Bottom image, right: “Souvenir Return (Manintou Beach)”, 2012. This image shows two rocks I originally found in Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan, shown alongside photos of the copies I made of the rocks and left back in Manitou Beach where I found the originals.
More images from this exhibition can be seen on the previous page, and here.
