Vague / Waves
- Denise DUMAS
Waves/Vagues
Sculpture, video and sound.
This installation is a visual poem I offer you, so you can let yourself float with the waves. Take your time, walk around, sit down and imagine you are at the theatre. You are both spectator and actor. I share my story because I am asked to tell ; but it is your own story that will speak to you.
Waves/Vagues is inspired by the climate of fear and insecurity prevailing in the USA these days. Whether politically, socially, ecologically or economically, there is always a crisis. The tension is palpable, and I question how this unsettling context affects our daily lives. Beyond the particular social and contextual circumstances, which inform this project, underly cultural identity issues. Living within the culture and the language of the other means that we are divided, so we become observers, translators, and we compare. Why is it that in Quebec, we do not feel the American stress? Is it that the wave hasn’t yet crossed the border?
The tension of duality is a recurrent theme in my work. Being a twin plays a role in the origin of this desire for TWO. The installation’s dynamic is based on the idea of a dividing line. Combined with the displacement of the familiar, where sea waves animate the surfaces of an over-stretched kitchen table, illusion and reality are orchestrated to challenge our perception. Being the core of the display, the dividing plane operates as an imaginary mirror, where the illusion of perfect synchronicity only lasts a moment, depending on the point of view.
