FIVE ARROWS POINTING SOME WAY, SOMEWHERE
And when you’ve lost your power as a weapon, there is nothing left to do but turn into a symbol. And as a new symbol you often have to shed past used parts – maybe your shaft, your point. And you come to terms with that reality of turning into a shape. And your new shape creates new friends. And your new friends create new neighbourhoods. And your new neighbourhoods create new worlds. And before you know it, you are universal. And your ancient identity since ancient times, which acquired different meanings based on the culture you were in, becomes a universal lesson today. And you think about how you were a symbol of life and protection, yet also conquest and war.
And in a gleam of an eye, you became love and desire. And elsewhere you were courage, concentration, strength and perseverance. And all those attributes eventually gave way to a single supremacy, the power of navigating obstacles. And you find your way – some way. And you find the notion of here, there and eventually where - somewhere. And as a marking you continue to point to elsewhere. And you hear the murmur from the crowd, their feet or tires downwards on you. And you think about how you were and still are vibrant, achieving purposes or goals. And all those hurdles you surpassed implied that anything can be overcome. And then you realize that you are infinity. And the opportunities and the chances you beckoned are in fact and in hope, endless. And so, all is well.
And then it happens.
And when you lose your power as a symbol there seems nothing left to do but turn back into a weapon. And you have no other strategic thought. And you despair.
And then you remember...you have your art.
The notion of the ‘everyday’ is significant within line marker works. Ideas surrounding the routine, natural or habitual seem to align with the contemporary interest in the everyday and of the constant communication of the general public’s pursuits. Exploring the implications and significance of an everyday, omnipresent, visual transportation code we live with; the line marker’s contemporary meaning and future possibilities seem still to be compelling. Examining the connecting surface which links our movement is an opportunity to attempt to produce an exceptional creative experience. To define this resulting experience has been vast.
One aspect of THE LINE MARKER PRACTICE has been performance. The repainting of existing lines on a road as a performance component began as a diarist endeavour in 1996 on the Trans-Canada highway, just outside of Canmore, AB. The performance time, location, weather, latitude, surrounding landscape and length of painting time was noted in a ledger, akin to a topographer’s journal. This process eventually gave way to a photograph, primarily documenting the specific action of repainting, rather than place.
Repainting is a purposeful term since the performance’s inception. The reaffirmation of existing lines – not changing colour or code – posits the act within the history of performance art as intervention; while continuing its conceptual applications. Performances developed and continue as a sole endeavour or have been affiliated with exhibitions and festivals. Locations of performances are tied to specific project narratives, landscapes or other autonomous meanings.
The performance of FIVE ARROWS POINTING SOME WAY, SOMEWHERE is a new departure in this conclusive chapter of the performance’s history. New, in the sense of two elements: one, the acting of painting rather than repainting will be undertaken – creating a schematic where one did not exist. This decision is self-monumental within a practice that has been described as reductive. Like riding a tricycle in a barrel where every movement/decision is meaningful; the gesture of creating rather than recreating on a surface that has been examined as a (re)creative opportunity is of significance. This examination is acquiesced; mitigated by the decision to paint an arrow rather than a line. Two: the act of painting / repainting has always been done with a free hand. No guide, fence of template has been used for over twenty-five years. To employ a template created for such industry use is a necessary design and logistic nod, but more than that industry wayfarer; the opportunity to eliminate the hands sense of exploration or gesture is to nod to the projects history of a civic provided language that is post-aesthetic.
Further, there has always been something Renaissance-like attached to my process. The road as plaster wall...the painting fresco like – one shot, no preparation. The preparation is within the writings, planned drafts and composed multiples. Although the painting (noun) and act of painting (verb) have been of interest; within Renaissance frescoes the preliminary drawing is often filled with invention. The drawing laid on the surface perforated and then pounced to guide the hand is perhaps my cardboard template. The constructed multiple, SPOLVERO produced as an accompanied work to the performance, is a direct nod to this dialogue.
Finally, the notion and schematic history of the arrow as mused above is also underscored and found in the labour of painting. Ideas of and definitions applied to the notion of labour, are as diverse as one’s encounter with arrows. On the road, the arrow is as direct or imaginative as one’s state of mind. What is essential in observing an arrow, is to imagine the places and the people to where it points. What is essential in watching one paint an arrow is to imagine that possibly, they know what lies ahead.
CW, 2022