OtterWoman Breathing

Cherie Moses   Gilles Morissette

 

May 2nd - 30th

Reception May 2nd 1pm - 4pm

 

 

 

This audio environment is based on the dialogues of Brenda Jones. The scripting (Voice #1) is spontaneous and follows a set of points/questions we mutually agreed upon. Brenda’s discusses her illness, her desire to communicate some wisdom for future generations, her mixed heritage and how that plays into her thinking. Interwoven with Brenda’s words is the story of her Ojibway name: OtterWoman. Geeseesoukqua and Brenda have written this for the production. Geeseesoukqua is Voice #2 and she is the elder who gave Brenda her name. Voice #3 was needed to create the architecture of surround sound in an effective manner. Together, Brenda and I wrote prose poetry and had that translated into Ojibway. This text is a fragmented commentary on notions of “a story”.

 

Embedded in this piece is a personal history of Brenda’s psychological adaptation to the duality of two cultures, to chronic illness and to her life. The title of this work reflects both Brenda’s First Nations’ name as wellas the illness that has taken away some of her breathing capacity. Her voice reflects this pulmonary condition. As she continues to breathe, she is able to contribute meaningfully to the world with her wisdom and spirit.

 

My audio works are a form of archiving oral histories and wisdom from those around me. I see the oral tradition complemented and maximized by the interface of sound technology.

-Cherie F Moses

 

The visual installation is made of ash from boreal forest wood, born from flame and transformed into a new state of being, that of materia prima. The ashes carry the traces of their origin, while transcending their origin; they are both all matter, and can bring about all matter. In its fundamental nature, each particle of ash constitutes a whole. It is the matter of the world, of the cosmos.

 

Breathing In - Breathing Out is the material prima of human existence. It constitutes our rapport with the world: taking in our environment, and most importantly, giving back to our environment with our energies, our fears, and our hopes.

-Gilles Morissette