Rewind: Sylvia Safdie
Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound
As Walter Benjamin noted, Collecting is a form of practical memory, closely related to autobiography. In Sylvia Safdies exhibition Extensions, the evidence to support this idea is everywhere, most demonstrably in the largest work of the show. In a piece representing nearly three decades of travel, more than 400 small steel pots are filled with unique samples of earth collected from different parts of the world, then arranged on the gallery floor in a huge grid. This is the first occasion on which Safdie has shared this impressive collection outside her Montreal studio, where she has a room devoted to the work. Called Earth (1977), the piece is an archive that documents the obsessive ritual of collecting. These souvenirs become extensions of the collectors identity, reminders of individual experiences mapped against a developing life history.
Memory persists as a theme in two other sculptural works. Beer (1993) means well in Hebrew and the idea is created metaphorically in the work by two facing circular mirrorsone face-up on the floor, the other suspended face-down from the ceiling. Together, the mutual reflections create an infinitely receding spiral. In Sefer No. 60 (2000), a book is separated from a large bronze rock by a sheet of glass. The books empty white pages are reflected onto the rock, carrying reference to ancient writings and a surface prepared for inscription. In both works there is a sense of invitation. Safdie opens imaginative space through the use of reflection, encouraging viewers to pull their own memories and experiences into the work.
The themes of biography and the passing of time are carried into the darkened space of the second exhibition room. Tree No. 1 (2002) is a bare, 12-foot-high tree cast in bronze that hangs upside down from its roots, nearly touching the ground. It is accompanied by two videos. Walter/Leaves (2001) is a large, hypnotic video projection depicting an old man staring through a window. Moving leaves from a tree outside are reflected on the windowpane, at times veiling the mans face. Safdie slows down the image to match the pace of quiet breathing, which allows us to observe the harmony between the leaves and the opening and closing of the frail mans eyes. Slowly we become aware that we are viewing the same image seen by the man, and perhaps hoping that this shared scene wont be his last. On an adjacent wall is a piece called Gulls (2002), where seagulls hover mid-flight across a tiny screen. In another room, five drawings of trees, titled Notations (2002), are numbered or catalogued like diary entries, and might be interpreted as observations of rootedness.
Collectively, these works explore themes of stasis and mobility and are concerned with the contrast of continuation and interruption. Taken as a whole, Safdies exhibition Extensions is a conjunction of such opposite but parallel activities. The entire installation functions as a continuous alternating loop, circling from one generation to another, weaving places and seasons together with observation and experience. It is about the process of rememberingboth hers and ours.
Fall 2002
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