Description:
Intersections was an artistic inquiry into social and economic convergences, geographic landmarks, and reminiscences about current and historical thoroughfares.
Two writers, Sarah Buchanan and Caleb Johnston and two composers, James Maxwell and Brady Marks, were invited to create musical, sonic, and literary commentaries in response to geographical locations. This culminated in the creation of two works, 2055 Clark Drive and A Storied Sea, presented in three stages involving a public intervention, concert setting, and online dissemination.
A strange abandoned concrete monument at the corner of Clark and Grandview Highway—nestled between two main trucking routes, a rail yard, and a SkyTrain station—was the first site and subject. As the work developed, previews and information were seeped out through tweets and later documented online as a literary and audio podcast.
The shores of Jericho Beach was the second setting of an audio-literary work that wove oral histories from Caleb Johnston’s grandfather, whose childhood was spent as a squatter on Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver. Composer James Maxwell provided a musical arrangement for trombone performed by Jeremy Berkman.
Additional musical-literary collaborations and interventions included a presentation of Kaspoit! by Dennis E. Bolen and Soressa Gardner; and Not Sent Letters by Jeremy Todd, with music by Graham Meisner. These performances were co-presented as part of Western Front’s concert series Clamour: GPS.
Presented in partnership with LIVE Performance Art Biennale.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.