Wednesday, December 2, 2015


My new digs at the corner of Princess and 7th.

I collected my first Dawson City bone story on the drive from the tiny Dawson airport into the village.

 

Side note: 
I almost didn't make it to Dawson on the first try, because the ceiling was too low when we lifted off from Whitehorse. That meant that the plane wouldn't be able to land, extending the flight to a round trip to the far northern reaches of Inuvik, in the hopes that on the way back back down south, the cloud cover would lift. In the end, by the time we reached the air above Dawson, the sky had lifted a bit and the plane was able to land. So, I arrived on time but some of my luggage didn't. The plane is so small that one must pay to bring anything weighing over the allowed 44 lbs. I paid an extra $50 for my suitcase full of art supplies, which arrived today after room was found on another plane for it.

Dan Sokolowski, the KIAC residency coordinator, picked me up from the airport and gave me a quick tour of the town before getting me settled in to the residence. And as he drove, he told me a story about one of Dawson City's landmarks. At the edge of town, overlooking the Yukon River, is a natural rock slide formation down the side of one of the hills/mountains, called Moosehide Slide. Legend has it that a long time ago, before the gold rush brought all the miners and settlers, an enemy tribe was camped out at the base of the mountain. The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in prayed to the tree gods for help, and so, the trees on the mountainside lifted their roots and let go, and a massive rock slide tumbled down and completely covered the camp of the enemy tribe, burying them all alive. Their bones are believed to be still all there.

Today's peak daylight, overlooking the frozen Yukon River. To the far right, the Moosehide Slide.
To the left, the lovely Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre.


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1 comment:

  1. GreenmoonDecember 3, 2015 at 6:27 PM

    Really interesting story about the mudslide. Can't wait to hear about your ghost encounters. The area looks beautiful, and I think we have more snow right now, strangely enough.

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Project Overview

The project will respond to the local landscape, cultural history and mythology.
Utilizing locally sourced biomaterials such as animal intestine, I will construct artificial bones that mimic the natural biological process of osteogenesis. These faux artifacts will be built using textile structures as scaffolds for mineral growth. Following this process of ‘mock-ossification’, I will build text-based osteobiographies (narratives) for each object, referencing and mutating the existing stories, mythologies and histories of the Yukon.

This project reflects an interest in psychogeography (affective space) and how existing spaces can be altered through the intervention of uncanny objects abandoned in public. Those objects will be marked with identifying information that leads to a website containing semi-fictitious but almost entirely-believable ‘mutated narratives’ (a term coined by bioartist, Katherine Fargher) that offer alternate explanations for the way things are.

My research in tissue engineering informs the work in its biomimetic process: bones are over 70% hydroxylapatite crystal, formed on a partly-collagen matrix. By sculpting soft tissue and using various crystalline chemical solutions to grow hard mineral matter on the surface and insides of the structures, beautiful and unknown forms emerge. The chemicals I use and the biomaterials are naturally biodegradable and will be allowed to disintegrate into the environment, leaving nothing but their osteobiographical trace.