Scenic View

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:40:56 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

O’Callaghan, Anne

Artwork creator(s):

O’Callaghan, Anne

Text author(s):

Coleman, Victor

Text author(s):

Coleman, Victor

Installation year:

2001

Remarks on location:

Soper Creek Park (land on which the VAC is located and which is used to exhibit outdoor artworks)

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Anne O’Callaghan

Description:

Installation of four display cases which featuring text and image

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Text by Anne O’Callaghan

AMERICAN BEECH – FAGUS GRANDIFOLIA

AMERICAN HORNBEAM – CARPINUS CAROLINIANA

BLACK SPRUCE – PICEA MARIANA

BLACK ASH – NIGRA MARSH

CHALK MAPLE – ACER LENCODERME

EASTERN HEMLOCK – TSUGA CANADENSIS

EASTERN WHITE – CEDAR – THUJA ACCIDEMTALIS

ENGLISH OAK – QUERCUS ROBUR

GRAY OAK – QUERCUS RUBRA

HAZEL ALDER – ALNUS SERRULATA

JUNIPER – JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS

NORWAY MAPLE – ACER PLATANOIDES

PAPER BIRCH – BETULA PAPYRIFERA

RED MAPLE – ACER RUBRUM

RED SPRUCE – PICEA RUBENS

SILVER MAPLE – ACER SACCHARINUM

SLIPPERY ELM – ULMUS RUBRA

SMOOTH SUMAC – RHUS GLABRA

STAGHORN SUMAC – RHUS TYPHINA

STRIPED MAPLE – ACER PENSYVANICUM

TREMBLING ASPEN – POPULOUS TREMULOIDES

WHITE ASH – FRAXINUS AMERICANA

WHITE OAK – QUERCUS ALBA

WHITE PINE – PINUS STROBUS

YELLOW BIRCH – BETULA ALLEGANIENSIS

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THE ROAD OF THE

PAST AND FUTURE

POINTS PLACES IN

THE IMAGINATION

---

Text by Victor Coleman:

The son is a continuation of a line
unbroken since the fall of man
stretching out over the perceived horizon
to mark the integument
that lies on both sides of the littoral

where the bones of amphibious corpses
pile up resemblances along the beaches
unworldly cacophony of ghosts in the landscape
passing through trees as small animals bent
on their own destruction

Sometime tadpole . sometime toad
shape-changers licking their entrails
& recalling the long climb out
of boxes with popped locks
as the ebb tide sucks sand from under rocks
the size of the animal

which has nothing to do with its place in the order
it glides through the classifications
that separate it from all others
the small animals speeds
bored to death with species
shedding its skin to shape new life
dead cells in the swamp of the instant

Text theme:

Endangered or extinct species of trees (text by O'Callaghan); death of species (text by Coleman)

Artwork theme:

The disappearance of species of trees, loss, memory, history

History

History:

The work was exhibited as part of the public art program "Art on Public Lands Project" in Soper Creek Park, organized by the Visual Arts Center of Clarington.
The audio component of Scenic View was recorded on an HHB MDP500 mini-disk recorder, edited on a SAFDiE workstation with noise reduction through a CEDAR DNS1000 unit.
The male narrative voice on the soundtrack is poet Victor Coleman.
O'Callaghan's text juxtaposes familiar English words for endangered or extinct trees with their Latin names. Example: "Norway Maple - Acer platanoides".
William Norman, his technician, worked to create the soundtrack accompanying the installation. Scenic View biography in 2001 to 2002: Anne O'Callaghan (Rodgers 2002).
The work is being reconfigured. (Exchange with the artist).
Because it was conceived in-situ, this work has no history beyond its exhibition at the VAC.

Dimensions

Height:

0.71m

Width:

0.5m

Depth:

0.5 m

Other information

Note(s):

Terrific at Both Ends, in Coleman, Victor, Corrections: rewriting six of my first nine books, Toronto : Coach House Press, 1985, 247 p.

Artist's biography:

Anne O’Callaghan

Document(s):

Scenic View 2001 to 2002: Anne O’Callaghan

Scenic View. Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, Ontario

Anne O'Callaghan: Scenic View

Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - Scenic View

Scenic View

Text by Anne O’Callaghan