This exploration stems from a curiosity of rock’s ability to exist in complex and contradictory spaces: an intertextual material existing outside of language; an immovable hard surface with agency enough to reshape the Earth's landscape; an epistemological tool that is simultaneously a site of alternative temporalities. How can dialogues between humans, other beings, and matter help map the complexities of systems of interdependence? How can this mapping be used as a way to open paths for understanding and imagining the possible futures?
“I was once seafloor” uses Montreal’s Francon Quarry as a research entry point. This open pit mine is centrally located in the Villeray–Saint-michel–Parc-extension burrough. It was deactivated in 1981, making way for a new life as the city’s largest snow dump.
An accompanying text by Lindsay Leblanc can be read here.
A virtual environment designed by Jules Galbraith accompanies this work and can be viewed here.
Research and creation for “I was once seafloor” was supported by my residency with Ada X.
Installation images by Vjosana Shkurti.