APPEAR NEUTRAL
APPEAR NEUTRAL
Paper, Hot glue, String, yellow tape.
This banner works through several possibilities within the phrase “appear neutral”. I am interested in the idea that something or someone may not necessarily be neutral, but be forced to appear neutral out of necessity, fear, protection, or a desire to hide their true intentions. I chose an extremely un-neutral font but made it white and glued the letters to white bunting and placed the banner in a white setting to express an attempt at ‘appearing’ neutral.
White textile bunting was used on ships as a way to call for a truce, ceasefire, negotiation or surrender. In that context, appearing neutral is much more important than being neutral.
The space my banner occupies is a neutral environment. Often spaces of neutrality are the places that people who wish to appear neutral may want to position themselves for several reasons.
APPEAR NEUTRAL is just an attempt at expressing the several layers to such a short but hefty phrase.
Hold for Four
Hold for Four
Found/stolen footage
(best enjoyed at high volume with headphones or ear-buds)
Cold Water for Honesty
Cold Water for Honesty
This spot on Lake Ontario has been an important one for most of my life, and we’ve been swimming here for close to eight years now. The beach is also a hydro corridor, and while you swim under the towering power lines, you can see the factories, the massive steel lift bridge, the Skyway, and, on a clear day, even Toronto in the distance. It’s unlike any other beach I’ve ever been to—it’s possibly the most “industrial” beach in Ontario, maybe even in Canada. This makes it a space that feels completely unique, distinct from other beaches, standing in its own category within memory.
I wanted to document my parents in this space because it is equally as important to them as it is to myself. The cold forces a genuine reaction that i think is hard to get from people who know they are being filmed.