Elemental (2010)
A site-specific two-screen video projection installed on the second floor landings of the central split staircase of the Shaw/Givens Public School for the exhibition Art School {Dismissed}.

When I first visited the site of this exhibition, the decommissioned Shaw/Givens Public School, I was flooded by all kinds of memories of elementary school because the building reminded me of the school I went to in Toronto in the 1960s.

I decided to make a work that sprang from a memory about my Grade 5 teacher who undressed in class – a poignant moment that has stayed with me for over forty-five years. I had a hunch that other people would have pretty interesting recollections of this formative period in their lives, so I solicited memories and class photographs from my family and friends.

The responses I received ranged from sweet to heart-breaking: stories of crushes, friendships, embarrassing moments, break downs, punishment, bullying, and other formative incidents from the 1950’s through the 1980’s.

Elemental unleashes wide-ranging elementary school memories and personalities, while also echoing the architecture of the building.

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