I have long been fascinated by the night lives of places and the changes that arrive with the cover of darkness: the freedom it promises, the opportunities, the things we believe can, do, and will happen. These stories marry those things to particularly Winnipeggian nocturnal goings on…

This project was generously supported by the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council. First broadcast on CKUW during October 2013. Listen to the whole project

 

Hear/Say Story Exchange, Winnipeg; CKUW radio, Winnipeg.

This is a collection of contemporary folklore about Winnipeg.

Why do Winnipeggers always flick two pennies into the water when crossing the Redwood Bridge? Ever heard of the Gimli Ice Dances? On which of the city’s rivers might the buttons on your jacket pop off unexpectedly?

These stories have been created in response to some of the places, people, and objects happened upon in this strange Prairie city and its environs. Melancholy, absurd, credible, and wry: the stories reflect the character of a city one comes to love despite oneself.

https://hannah-g.bandcamp.com/album/dear-peggy-winnipeg-folklore

Made with the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council.

Press
CBC
Uptown

Publication
See Tanaby.com for the limited edition artist book.

Peformances
Queerlore, Genderfest, Winnipeg ; Microcosm, Cube Microplex, Bristol UK; Opening act for Rae Spoon’s book launch, Winnipeg; Reel Pride Festival, Winnipeg launch night; Circus of Objects, Plug In ICA; The Dalnavert Museum, Winnipeg; CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

Stories are important for a community to understand, own, and be enchanted with the place in which it lives and works. The Sidewalk Constellations project creates narratives in public spaces to celebrate, record, archive and make accessible the contemporary mythologies and issues which exist in various urban communities.

A few years ago I was walking round the ferry port of Toronto when I noticed a generous dotting of gumspots on the ground. It occurred to me that if those gumspots were joined together with white lines they would look like maps of constellations. I duly reached into my pocket and with a stick of chalk got to work.

The groupings of real stars are just as arbitrary as gum spots, pure pareidolia. It is stories which give them shape and meaning and the dirty blobs on the pavement are just as embedded in narrative. Each gumspot has been in someone’s mouth, a short part of his/her/their life that is discarded on his/her/their journey. When several journeys cross, a sidewalk constellation is formed.

When I go to a town or city to do Sidewalk Constellations, I chat to a lot of people. I think about what I’ve gleaned from them as I join up gum and draw the resulting constellation. I walk around the place and roll around the info-lint until the stories are made, stories that make sense of the random events that brought those pieces of gum together. I record the stories and leave them in places I’ve chalked or met people.

ArtScape International Artist Residency, Toronto; street performances, Montreal; Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax.

During the Artfest artist residency in Romania, I created 4 stories in response to the people and places I encountered. I collaborated with one of the other artists there, Mia Taylor, to develop a touring performance in which I told the stories while Mia drew illustrations on a digital tablet that were projected in real time onto a large screen behind us.

Yujiro Gallery, London; Autumn Festival, Exeter; Trinity Centre, Bristol; The Cube, Microplex, Bristol.

This performance was supported by Arts Council England.

Poster by Mia Taylor.