along a foundation, the weeds

Description

Listen to this artwork here

This artwork draws from field recordings, performed sounds, and plant material from within private property in King City, a township 30km north of Toronto that contains the sculpture Shift by well-known American artist Richard Serra. Commissioned in 1970, Shift is situated in the Oak Ridges Moraine—a landscape shaped by glacial deposits with a complex history of ecological conservation. Commissioned by a private collector, Shift is a large concrete sculpture installed in a field that is now owned by the Toronto investment company Hickory Hill Investments. In 2013, Shift became designated as a site of cultural heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act, which means it cannot be demolished or altered.  

The shape of Serra’s sculpture was created with artist Joan Jonas. Both artists walked towards each other across the field, paying attention to the geological formation of the land. Influenced by this performative strategy, Chris Mendoza’s sound composition and vinyl score follow sonic and performance cues that accentuate and attune to aspects of the environment surrounding the sculpture—bog, water, fences, “weeds,” and uneven terrain—transposing them from the field to the interior space and floor of Union Station. The artwork brings attention to the geology that sits under the station, which has been filled and manipulated in order to push back the shoreline that originally existed along what is currently Front Street. Mendoza’s commission contributes to the history of these two sites, asking what the role or value of public art can be in relationship to land, development, and private ownership.