• different projects
  • CV
Menu

benesiinaabandan:projects

  • different projects
  • CV

cloth, quill, ghost lands (2021)

cloth, quill, ghost worlds consists of nine photographs and a sound work.

installation details: installed photographs are 60”x60” or larger
audio media: 2.1 stereo

media: photograph, 3d print, aluminum, cloth, porcupine quill

Both the images and sound work exist synergistically, centred on ideas of intra-actions, entanglements, enfoldings and assemblies. The image informs the language and language is built from the image. Each image was constructed based on the conceptual framework of the Anishinaabe language itself. Anishinaabemowin, being an agglutinative language, is built upon the fragments of other words or morphemes. This lends itself to an incredibly rich framework from which the speaker can precisely and eloquently express and manifest a complexity of worlds.

The fluidity inherent in the language forms a critical method from which to consider the cyclical process of assemblies/[dis]assemblies and [dis]memberments/ remembrances. That is, the space and movement between these spectra are the generative spaces that inform this work.

Colours. It is hard to avoid a long explanation about how important specific arrangements of colours are for the Anishinaabe. It is a critical aspect of Anishinaabe onto-epistemology . Specific and critical colour arrangements accompany specific ceremonies including the naming ceremony. Each name is also given a series of colours that provide additional meanings to the name.Though precise meanings might vary from name to name, each colour is attached to the light at certain times of the year, times of day or certain orientations within the Universe. Each name and its colour sequence is tied together by a story given to you at the naming-ceremony. Each colour sequence serves as an intimate portrait of you and one Midewiwin elder told me at my naming ceremony, "Without names and colours, the spirits cannot see or hear you". Even here we find fluidity and flux. Each of our names has the possibility and probability of change over the course of our lives. As we grow so does how we appear to both the human and spirit worlds.

It is with this background that the assemblages of cloth, colour and language all provide a fluid matrix useful for examining ontological engagements. This attempt to engage and incorporate ideas from a more personal perspective sets this work apart from previous series and forms a new praxis from which to consider future works.
Beneath the conceptual work, the topographic image work began as a notable accident.

Last year I was learning how to do some porcupine quill | gaaway work at home. I dropped a red quill on my bed and did not notice. Some time later I noticed it had embedded itself through multiple layers of dark grey sheets. It was a simple yet beautiful found sculpture. Taking a photo of it, I recalled a time when I was sixteen and initially attempted to learn quill work and, again, dropped a quill onto my bed. That quill ended up stuck in my arm. The wicked design of porcupine quills is that the harder you try to pull it out, the more it works its way into flesh (or cloth). I never got the quill out of my arm, that quill worked its way into my arm and became part of me, in a literal way.

Taking the photograph of the red quill/grey cloth made a powerful physical connection between decades. This moment of recollection prompted a consideration of the ideas presented by Karen Barad, namely ideas of entanglements, enfolgings, intra-actions and agential realities, and decoupling the linearity of historical time though the performative action of the photograph and spontaneity of remembrance.

012.jpg
    AUDIO LINK for they appear this way

AUDIO LINK for they appear this way

1_resize.jpg
002_resize.jpg
003_resize.jpg
004_resize.jpg
005_resize.jpg
006_resize.jpg
007_resize.jpg
008_resize.jpg
009_resize.jpg
001_12x12.jpg
011.jpg
010.jpg

newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (2018)

Commissioned for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2018.

“Monuments often function as a way of validating and reinforcing the stories we tell about a particular group or community. Montreal-based artist Scott Benesiinaabandan (Obishikokaang Anishinabe First Nation) explores the historical complexities that are often buried under the metaphorical weight of memorials, statuary and other structures that commemorate colonial stories.

His practice is informed by Indigenous belief systems that suggest that the land itself retains and communicates fragmented layers of past events, and his methods are derived from what he calls “an intuitive psycho-geography that re ects notions of the subconscious effects and stories of monuments, histories, and spaces.”

Egerton Ryerson held beliefs that influenced the establishment of the Indian Residential School system that has had a devastating impact on First Nations, Metis’ and Inuit people across Canada; and the two-billion-year-old boulders were displaced and “imported” from the Canadian Shield to the man-made pond.

Benesiinaabandan’s abstractions offer new material interpretations of a metaphysical perspective, enacted through contemporary transformations of this historically charged site. By reimagining the land through counter-narratives, his installation is a gesture toward acknowledging these histories and reclaiming Indigenous legacies—thereby framing powerful and imaginative trajectories for a possible future.”

~Bonnie Rubenstein, Artistic Director

   dimensions: 50'‘x50’  media: print media  year: 2018

dimensions: 50'‘x50’

media: print media

year: 2018

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

 Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (installation view), 2018 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

newlandia: newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (Ryerson's shadow)
newlandia: newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (Ryerson's shadow)

installation photo by Jen Park

work commissioned for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2018

Location: Ryerson University, 5 Gould Ave. Toronto Ontario.

media: street vinyl

dimensions: ~20’10’x5’x3’

1rock_tex_01_web.jpg
2rock_tex_002_w_blue_web.jpg
3rock_tex_03_118x170_brighter_FNIAL_webveiw.jpg
shadow_ryerson_003_web.jpg
shadow_twosides_web.jpg

Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)

Animikiikaa 10-97 (2017)
Animikiikaa 10-97 (2017)

Work created for Insurgence/Resurgence (2017)

installation shot from Insurgence/Resurgence Winnipeg Art Gallery, September-April, 2017. photo courtesy of the artist.

2.1 channel audio, freestanding walls: 10’x10’x2’, acoustic foam, blue spot lights

legnth: 6min.

credits:

​Narration: ​Theresa Eischen-Chartrand

Contemporary translation: Roger Roulette

Partial Text excerpt- Mary Syrette from Ojibway Texts vo.2 (1910)

Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)
Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)

Work created for Insurgence/Resurgence (2017).

installation shot from Insurgence/Resurgence Winnipeg Art Gallery, September-April, 2017. photo courtesy of the artist.

2.1 channel audio, freestanding walls: 10’x10’x2’, acoustic foam, blue spot lights

legnth: 6min.

credits:

​Narration: ​Theresa Eischen-Chartrand

Contemporary translation: Roger Roulette

Partial Text excerpt- Mary Syrette from Ojibway Texts vo.2 (1910)

Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)
Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)

New work created for Insurgence/Resurgence (2017).

installation shot from Insurgence/Resurgence Winnipeg Art Gallery, September-April, 2017. photo courtesy of the artist.

2.1 channel audio, freestanding walls: 10’x10’x2’, acoustic foam

legnth: 6min. (looped)

credits:

​Narration: ​Theresa Eischen-Chartrand

Contemporary translation: Roger Roulette

Partial Text excerpt- Mary Syrette from Ojibway Texts vo.2 (1910)


installation shot-Animiikiikaa 10-87 (Paved Arts, June 2018)
installation shot-Animiikiikaa 10-87 (Paved Arts, June 2018)

Work created for Insurgence/Resurgence (2017)

installation shot from Insurgence/Resurgence Winnipeg Art Gallery, September-April, 2017. photo courtesy of the artist.

2.1 channel audio, freestanding walls: 10’x10’x2’, acoustic foam, blue spot lights

legnth: 6min.

credits:

​Narration: ​Theresa Eischen-Chartrand

Contemporary translation: Roger Roulette

Partial Text excerpt- Mary Syrette from Ojibway Texts vo.2 (1910)

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky (2016)

“miini-baashkiminasigani-biitoosijigani-bakwezhigan anaamayi'ii mayagi-akiiyaang geshig”

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky is a virtual reality (VR) artwork that will take place seven generations in the future, when human beings are able to travel through wormholes. It will follow that young boy as he journeys back to his people’s place of origin.

​The background for the piece comes from the artist reflecting on the idea that the Anishnabemowin term for “blueberry pie” did not exist until relatively recently (blueberries having been around since time immemorial, but not pie). Benesiinaabandan wondered what other words will need to be created over the next seven generations to describe yet newer technologies, environments and our relations to and between them. He has also been exploring how Anishinabe stories resonate with recent scientific theories that suggest that time, rather than being like an arrow or a river, is actually more like a blanket: it can fold, and two points can even touch, connecting two points in time via wormholes.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky was produced in conjunction with the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF) and the 2167 project. IIF conducts research and creation aimed at encouraging Indigenous people to imagine our lives seven generations from now. 2167 is an immersive media series that commissioned Indigenous filmmakers and artists to create VR projects set 150 years in the future. These works serve as a counterpoint to the 150 years of Canadian confederation celebrations that took place throughout 2017. Scott’s residency, from April 1, 2016 to March 30, 2017, was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

  Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

 Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

 Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

 Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

 Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.

 installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

2017.04_AbTeC_Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky 01_300dpi_17x9.png
 installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

 installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

installation for SPECULATIVE CULTURES. The New School / Parsons, NYC. February, 2019.

monumentalims (VR/Scupture/Photography) 2017

“All cities are geological. You can’t take three steps without encountering ghosts bearing all the prestige of their legends. We move within a closed landscape whose landmarks constantly draw us toward the past. Certain shifting angles, certain receding perspectives, allow us to glimpse original conceptions of space, but this vision remains fragmentary. ”~Formulary for a New Urbanism, Ivan Chtchglov-1953


 

This work continues my investigations into monuments and the psychic/subconscious landscapes they inhabit and histories they inform. This photo and VR based work is an investigation into providing interventions and counter-narratives to contested spaces, in this case using ideas of a parallel imaginary.

 

This landscape was re-created out of 600 photographs of two monument locations, The Jacque Cartier monument in St.Henri and the Chomedey-Maisonneuve monument in Old Montreal. Both sites contain problematic elements about the colonial stories they represent and the histories they submerge. The (vr)landscape the viewer inhabits, the abstract geometries, the places where the regular meets irregular is all based on the information present in the photographic data. Digital noise makes crests and granulations, bokeh creates smooth fields. The resulting aesthetic is an intuitive psychogeography that reflects the notions of the subconscious effects and stories of monuments, histories and spaces.

 

The installation is an investigation into (de-re)construction of these spaces, meant to serve as a bridge or a portal into and from newlandia. Small 3D rendered sculptures are re-manifestations of the virtual constructions. The three large photographs are a gradiated disassemblage of the two monument spaces, an exuviated map of the the images and the symbologies that clothe these spaces..

fragments from the future
fragments from the future

fragments from the future

3d printed model directly excavated from the digital VR landscape

landscape shot from Monumentalisms
landscape shot from Monumentalisms
fragments from the future
fragments from the future

fragments from the future

A print of a scan of a hand cast aluminum fragment excavated and re-manifested from the digital VR landscape.

fragments from the future
fragments from the future

fragments from the future

A digital print of a scan of a hand cast aluminum fragment excavated and re-manifested from the digital VR landscape.

3D print of Monuments sites (Chomedy, Cartier, Cabot)
3D print of Monuments sites (Chomedy, Cartier, Cabot)

3D print sculpture.replicating the digital VR landscape

it accompanies.

dimensions: 10”x8”x4”

monuments: circle.  an image map of circle
monuments: circle. an image map of circle

 

media: variable print media/installation media

dimensions: 138cm x 138cm

monuments: an image map of Chomeday
monuments: an image map of Chomeday
monuments: chomedy.  an image map
monuments: chomedy. an image map
monuments: an image map Chomeday
monuments: an image map Chomeday
landscape shot from Monumentalisms
landscape shot from Monumentalisms
landscape shot from Monumentalisms
landscape shot from Monumentalisms
 works in progress.monumentalisms, newlandia   media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF  A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

works in progress.monumentalisms, newlandia 

media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF

A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

 works in progress; monumentalisms, newlandia  media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF  A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

works in progress; monumentalisms, newlandia

media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF

A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

 works in progress.monumentalisms, newlandia   media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF  A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

works in progress.monumentalisms, newlandia 

media: digital print media: 110cm x 110, light fixtures 116cm x 116cm, MDF

A mixed media VR installation: scalable and portable digital media and light  and audio installation

little resistances (2016)

little resistances is new work by Benesiinaabandan that investigates the relationship between the geneses of an individual’s personal, daily acts of resistance and the incidents, stand-offs, and crises that typify the monumental, historic ones. He begins with family snapshots of seemingly personal memories, pairing them with journalistic shots of well-known Indigenous resistances. However, the location of the personal and the historic in these couplings is flipped, illustrating the fundamental connection between the two; showing how one can inform, instigate and ignite the other.


Once paired and printed, the images are crumpled and creased, calling to mind gestures of violence, but just as easily implying empowerment. The personal and the historical meet, collapse and reconfigure.  Now objects, they are placed on a scanner, whose unique image-making qualities reconvert them from three-dimensional forms back into two-dimensional pictures.  The result is a map, or mapping, of the memories and meanings coded in each image to the stories and histories of Indigenous struggle. And vice versa.  

little resistances: marykennethagnes|oka (2015)
little resistances: marykennethagnes|oka (2015)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

 

little resistances: mary|ezln (2015)
little resistances: mary|ezln (2015)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

little resistances: norman|ipperwash (20105)
little resistances: norman|ipperwash (20105)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

little resistances: martha|burntchurch (2015)
little resistances: martha|burntchurch (2015)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

little resistances: homecoming|charlottetown (2015)
little resistances: homecoming|charlottetown (2015)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

little resistances: inm|mary (2015)
little resistances: inm|mary (2015)

digital media

installation dimension: 49x49

print dimension: 24x24, 12x12

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

 

installation shot from little resistances @Platform Gallery (WPG) 2015.
installation shot from little resistances @Platform Gallery (WPG) 2015.

Images were vinyl adhesive on seamless wall mounts., 54x54. Textile piece is 36#x15X ink on cotton.

littleresistances_MG_9490.jpg
littleresistances_MG_9469.jpg

Psychic Histories/Blood Memories ( 2013)

"Blood Memories: Psychic Histories layers data in a computing logic that visually mimics the psychic tangents of blood memory, wherein Indigenous histories and  meanings are physically imprinted in a complex transindividual consciousness." -Jessica Jacobson-Konefall

Psychic Histories/Blood Memories is a result of a year long New Media residency made possible by Canada Council for the Arts, through OBX Labs/AbTeC/Hexagram Concordia.

 

documention from exhibtion: echoes @ Burnaby Art Gallery
documention from exhibtion: echoes @ Burnaby Art Gallery

echoes
The Burnaby Art Gallery
November 29, 2019 - January 26, 2020
Photo by: Blaine Campbell

BAG_Echoes_23.jpg
ak_sunrise_scan.jpg
Psychic History (home montreal)+Blood Memories (2013)
psychic history(projection)

video and audio mix (2013) 

Driftv2 Mount Royal

Processing programming+webcam hack +audio mix. 

Barricade (all languages) 2013.
Barricade (all languages) 2013.

print( 44x44) and digital screen capture of video, 2013.

3d 1.jpg
3d 2.jpg
AK(2013)
AK(2013)

laser etched on multi-layered plexi. 3.5"x 3.5"x 4"

3dprojections 01.jpg
3d projection 02.jpg
blod memories.jpg
blood-memories
blood-memories

digital print from video.2013.

blood-memories(2013)
blood-memories(2013)

digital print from video. (2013) 

blood-memories (2013)
blood-memories (2013)

digital print from video. (2013) 

blood-memories (2013)
blood-memories (2013)

digital print from video. (2013) 

blood-memories (2013)
blood-memories (2013)

digital print from video. (2013) 

img8.jpg
img8e.jpg
ak_sunrise_scan 001.jpg

Blood Memories installation @ Project Space-RMIT, Melbourne, 2013

Exhibition work made possible with the generous support of  Canada Council for the Arts, through OBX Labs/AbTeC/Hexagram Concordia.

Blood Memories is experimental work that was exhibited at the Project Space at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, June/July 2013. This work was a result of the investigation and research into new media technologies during a year long residency with OBX Labs/Ab-Tec at Concordia University.

The images are the result of a Processing based program adapted and developed  to use cameras to create a hybrid of still image, video and scan. Light, time and motion become interpreted in new ways in the resulting video and image making.

 

58 seconds til Toronto
58 seconds til Toronto

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video. 2013

blood memory no.2
blood memory no.2

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video.2013

blood memory no.3
blood memory no.3

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video. 2013

blood memory(trees in point douglas)
blood memory(trees in point douglas)

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video.2013

blood memory ( Mont royal)
blood memory ( Mont royal)

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video.2013

blood memory
blood memory

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video.

DSC_4012.jpg
DSC_4013.jpg
DSC_4014.jpg
blood memory( Mont Royal skylight)
blood memory( Mont Royal skylight)

Processing based webcam scan-photography. Digital print+video. 2013

blood memory ( lighttimetrees)
blood memory ( lighttimetrees)

Processing based webcam scan-photography/video. Digital print+video. installation shot from Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne, AUS. June 2013.

DSC_4023.jpg
DSC_4025.jpg
Blood Memory installation 2013
Blood Memory installation 2013
DSC_4034.jpg
DSC_4036.jpg
DSC_4027.jpg

Psychometry: conversations with a Psychic History (2014)

psychometry: conversation with a kangaroo bone, indigo inked sticks and long wounds.
psychometry: conversation with a kangaroo bone, indigo inked sticks and long wounds.

digital media

print dimension: 24x24

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

conversation  with a kangaroo bone and photograph from canada
conversation with a kangaroo bone and photograph from canada
 digital media  print dimension: 24x24  media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

digital media

print dimension: 24x24

media: heavy cotton rag/archival ink

psychometry 003 media.jpg
psychometry 004 media.jpg
psychometry 008 media.jpg
psychometry 006 media.jpg
psychometry 009 media.jpg
crumpled 013 media.jpg
psychometry 011 media.jpg
psychometry 012 media.jpg

interland:memories

This series was created during a 2014 residency in Parramatta, AUS. I was spending a lot of time thinking of  ideas of land, migration and translocation and how these inform  and shape ideas of Indigeniety  from a global perspective.

interland:memories no.1
interland:memories no.1

title: interland:memories no.1
year: 2014
dimensions: 24x16
media: digital print

interland:memories no.2
interland:memories no.2

title: interland:memories no.2
year: 2014
dimensions: 24x16
media: digital print

interland:memories no3
interland:memories no3

title: interland:memories no3
year: 2014
dimensions: 24x16
media: digital print

mii omaa ayaad/oshkii enendemowin(2012 Australia)

mii omaa ayaad/oshkii  enendemowin( someone lives hereénew thoughts)

This work was created during a residency at Parramatta Artist Studios in Sydney, AUS for the Canada Council-Parramatta Urban Indigenous Artist Exchange.

The work is centered around global Indigenous concerns of colonial History, Land and Language and the points of contact between.

Some of the video and print work was created from a collaborative approach with Indigenous artists in Gerladton, Western Australia. Using the symbolical and politically heavy dot paintings as a visual basis for a discussion of our shared issues, we created atypical dot-paintings on top of earliest colonial maps as a form of political protest and action. 

 

IMG_7635.JPG
aus map editted 02v2.jpg
mii omaa ayaad(someone lives here), 2012
all hands
all hands

print/video from AK-sunrise.2013

mii ommaa ayaad reclaims 2.jpg
mii ommaa ayaad reclaims.jpg
it takes all paths.jpg
Ak-Sunrise projection 2012
Ak-Sunrise projection 2012

installation shot.AK-Sunrise projection on trees @ Parramatta Artist Studios, 2012.

IMG_8296 web.jpg
IMG_8326.JPG
IMG_8311 web.jpg
IMG_8352.JPG
IMG_8374.JPG
IMG_8388.JPG
mii omaa aayd-someone lives here, 2012.
mii omaa aayd-someone lives here, 2012.

detail.paint on map.installation shot.2012

mii ommaa ayaad 2.jpg
mii omaa aayd-someone lives here 2012.
mii omaa aayd-someone lives here 2012.

installation shot.video+print/painting. 2012.

mii omaad ayaad its all realative.jpg

unSacred (2011)

“unSacred explores liminality through an investigation of the Windigokaan, a contrary figure in traditional Anishinabe society. Operating on the fringe of traditional Anishinabe culture, the Windigokaan represents the opposite of accepted norms. Benesiinaabandan contends that, like clowns, misfits and outliers in other cultures, Windigokaan use their perceived backwardness to teach others and that their contrary nature represents a powerful symbol that has received little attention to date, both within and outside of Anishinabe society. The landscape studies suggest the imagined physical and psychological spaces from which contrariness might originate and the depictions of material manifestations of the Windigokaan will open discussion about the ideas of the contrary, the sacred and the psychological implications within the broader contemporary society.”


unSacred:Ego
unSacred:Ego

from the exhibition unSacred (2010)

unSacred Axis Mundi 4m30s

dual channel/ from the unSacred ( 2010) works

09_sb_gc103install02.jpg
02_sb_gc103install.jpg
03_sb_ego.jpg
04_sb_wilderness.jpg
05_sb_clowninstall.jpg
unsacred ego2.jpg
unsacred ego.jpg
passingthelayers.jpg
passingthelayers 2.jpg
unsaced passing axis.jpg
edgeofthewilderness.jpg
unSacred wlidnerness.jpg
unScared installation Context Gallery, Northern Ireland
unScared installation Context Gallery, Northern Ireland

light box commission. Context Gallery, Northern Ireland.2011.

2-State Solution

Work made possible by generous funding of Canada Council for the Arts.

2-State Solution is an ongoing work that suggests possible histories and futures that might have happen or might still happen. Specifically located in relation to Indigenous sovereignty and Canada but also any State/Indigenous relationship in the world. 2-State Solution develops works of a suggested or alternative histories in a struggle that has continued since Contact, though through certain histories and timing might have turned out very differently.

Using propaganda style posters both in the exhibition and in accompanying public arenas 2-State suggests current political situations and very real undercurrents.

The works also make use of subversive video and audio elements, using frequency modulation and tones to reference "direct-action re-learning" technologies such as the MK-Ultra programs of the 60's. The idea is mass-psychological reprogramming of dominant societies to undo years of creeping ignorance around Indigenous rights, sovereignty and location within nations states. The insidious and stark technologies serve to highlight the serous nature of the issues and problems from Indigenous perspectives.

 

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

2-State Solution -security-
2-State Solution -security-

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

2 State Solution

projection piece. no audio/looped (2013) 

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms

 

Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.

Joint installation work with Theo SIms

poster-series
poster-series

36"x44".poster print

poster series
poster series

36"x44".poster print

insurgent state of canada with sig.jpg
poster series
poster series

44x36".poster print

poster-series
poster-series

36"x44".poster print

 36"x44".poster print

36"x44".poster print

 36"x44".poster print

36"x44".poster print

 36"x44".poster print

36"x44".poster print

 digital print.44x44.

digital print.44x44.

FNCTI
FNCTI

36x36 poster paper.

AK-Sunrise (2012)

 

Ak-Sunrise 8m 07s(2012)


AK-Sunrise is a video animated piece that was created during a residency in Parramatta Artist studios in Syndey Australia.

The work was created and designed as a large scale projection piece for public spaces.

Ak Sunrise deals with the complexities of land, history and  language and intersection with sjared colonial histories. Benesiinaabandan create this piece as a element in the exhibition titled mii omaa ayaad/oshkii enedamowin ( someone lives here/new thought). The show and the work emerging from the residency dealt with issues that overlap both Indigenous Canadian and Indigenous Australian communities. The same policies that inform the current cultural, political and social situations in the respective communities are found in a shared history of terra nulluis and the imperialist mindset of the colonial powers.

The true  history goes unnoticed in the respective mainstream societies, with educational systes failing to inform and contextualize the true history of their states and the original people of that land.Ak-Sunrise seeks to occupy public space, being hard to go unnoticed as a counter strategy  to the current situations.The slow hypnotic rotation referencing the hypnotic nature of our acceptance of the status quo and the ways we both are hindered by the low level drone of educational  apathy in our relationship to the state and the stark potential of a subconscious reprogramming and suggestive methods to further counter and reverse this apathy. AK-Sunrise seeks to place the idea of a multi-level strategy of resistance through self-education and individual resistances alongside of  and in conjunction with more direct actions. The presence of the AK-47 ( the people’s weapon, known as such for its easy access, cheap price tag and ease of care) has made itself it’s own symbol of guerrilla resistance across the globe, from the Zapatista Movement, the Mujahideen in Afghanistan vs the Russians and then USA and the OKA Crisis to name only a few.

AK Sunrise (2012)[no audio]

An outdoor projection created during an Syndey/Parramatta AUS residency (2012). 

it takes all paths-AK Sunrise. 2012. 24x24 print.jpg
ak sunrise cook  black.jpg
ak sunrise print layers on black.jpg
animation mii omaa ayaad step 3 copy.png

HIstorical Landscapes (2012)[collaboration]

A collaborative project with Kerri-Lynn Reeves, originally conceived for Prefix Mag in which it was published, then executed for a show at Martha Street Studios. Winnipeg, MB (2012).

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

HL_1876_1345.jpg
Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (2011)
Historical Landscapes (2011)

collaborative works with Kerri-Lynn Reeves.Digital print+screen print+embroidery. 36x24 (2011)

Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011
Historical Landscapes (installation @ Martha Street Studios) 2011

Appleby's (2011)

SAFE-EUROPEAN-HOME-15.jpg
Crystal Ball Genocide (2011)
IMG_6387.JPG
IMG_6445.JPG
IMG_6512.JPG
IMG_6851.JPG
IMG_6894.JPG

North of Ireland/Uprising/Flags ( 2011-present)

a small note from the north of Ireland
a small note from the north of Ireland

test based work from 2010 residency at Context Gallery, Derry,Northern Ireland. 36x36 digital print/screen print. 2011

An Uprising(2011)
flag god save install.jpg
Solidarity Flag-Free Derry Corner, Derry, Northern Ireland (2011)
Solidarity Flag-Free Derry Corner, Derry, Northern Ireland (2011)

An Anishinabe Solidarity flag that came out of a 2010 residency at Context Gallery in Derry Northern Ireland. The flag was flown on this famous site of the origins of the Troubles for 2 weeks in 2011 and now hangs in the gallery.

 

16 anishinabe proclamation.jpg
flags of ourfathers marches.jpg
flags of ourfathers g20 derry.jpg
flags of ourfathers bonfires.jpg
flags of ourfathers.jpg
Romany-Anishinabe Solidarity Flag
Romany-Anishinabe Solidarity Flag

offshoots of a collaboration n between myself ( Anishinabe)and Delaine Les Bas ( Romany Traveller)..installation shot Vienna ( 2011) beside archived footage of treaty days in Manitoba (1886)

incoming.jpg
08.flags_g20.jpg
G8-G20 protest flags
G8-G20 protest flags

photographs of rallies at the G8-G20 protests in Toronto,Ontario.2010.

 

Idle No More-Flags ( 2013)
Idle No More-Flags ( 2013)

photographs of Idle No More rallies in Ottawa, ON January, 2013.

Idle No More-Flags on Parliament (2013)
Idle No More-Flags on Parliament (2013)

photographs of Idle No More rallies in Ottawa, ON January, 2013.

repository of projects-wild reference

7a OBORO 35e DSC03706.jpg
7c 2019-11-19-OboroFutur-028.jpg
7_IMG_20191115_154302.jpg
IMG_20171122_153113.jpg
IMG_20171107_145411.jpg
lightsculptures01.jpg
6b lightinstall (4).jpg
7_IMG_20191115_154302.jpg
IMG_20170420_210450338.jpg
IMG_20170420_210434615.jpg
IMG_20170420_210446852.jpg
light.jpg
69919583_429040627756552_5451483473485234176_n.jpg
Belkin_To_Be_Here_Always_25_e.jpg
7_lightarchives_bones.jpg
light (6).jpg
10_skyblue_rounded_jpg.jpg
cedasagesunsky_image_WIP_benesii_18x18_300dpi_colour.jpg
IMG_20180417_181531.jpg
IMG_20180415_173943.jpg
IMG_20210113_162622.jpg
USG (11).jpg
USG (7).jpg
USG (8).jpg
prev / next
Back to different projects
deceive.jpg
0
media, interviews, writing
14
cloth, quill, ghost worlds (2021)
   dimensions: 50'‘x50’  media: print media  year: 2018
14
newlandia: debaabaminaagwad (2018)
Animikiikaa 10-97 (2017)
4
Animikiikaa 10/97 (2017)
  Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky screenshot from inside the VR experience.
9
Blueberry Pie Under a Martian Sky (2016)
cartier_pano_web.jpg
14
monumentalims (VR/Scupture/Photography) 2017
little resistances: marykennethagnes|oka (2015)
9
little resistances (2016)
documention from exhibtion: echoes @ Burnaby Art Gallery
20
Psychic Histories/Blood Memories ( 2013)
58 seconds til Toronto
17
Blood Memories (@ Project Space-RMIT,Melbourne) 2013
psychometry: conversation with a kangaroo bone, indigo inked sticks and long wounds.
11
Psychometry: conversations with a psychic history (2014)
interland:memories no.1
3
interland:memories
18
mii omaa ayaad/oshkii enendemowin(2012 Australia)
unSacred:Ego
15
unSacred (2011)
    Installation shot from the exhibit GHOSTDANCE,  Ryerson Image Centre, September-Dec 2013.  Joint installation work with Theo SIms
19
2-State Solution (2013)
AK Sunrise (2012)[no audio]
6
AK-Sunrise (2012)
Historical Landscapes (2011)
18
HIstorical Landscapes (2012)[collaboration]
SAFE-EUROPEAN-HOME-15.jpg
7
Appleby's (2011)
a small note from the north of Ireland
15
North of Ireland/Uprising/Flags ( 2011-present)
24
repository of projects wip etc