Clay Cove, Newfoundland

Description:

Clay Cove, Newfoundland was an audio-visual installation by Kate Craig situated on the thirty-first floor of Park Place, a glass-clad office tower in downtown Vancouver. The work expanded on a 1979 project by Craig created for the first video event in Newfoundland at Memorial University Art Gallery. Revisited here for the series Luminous Sites, the installation sought to evoke the textures and rhythms of life in Newfoundland.

The space, lined with windows, was transformed into a series of intimate viewing stations: chairs were positioned in front of selected windows, inviting visitors to sit and look out over the city while listening to a soundscape. Emitting from speakers, Craig’s audio featured the St. John’s harbour foghorn, the sound of a babbling brook, waves breaking along the shoreline, and music by the maritime ensemble Wonderful Grand Band. 

A black-and-white video played alongside, closely examining the intricate patterns of rock formations at Clay Cove, a small inlet in Bonavista Bay. These rock textures were further magnified and printed on phototransparencies mounted on the northfacing windows overlaid on the panoramic view of Vancouver’s harbour, mountains, and sky. 

Layering imagery from Newfoundland onto the West Coast cityscape, Clay Cove, Newfoundland collapsed distance through juxtaposition. The installation presented a record of a specific place—Newfoundland’s rocky beaches—and a point of resonance with the geological landscape visible from Park Place.

Presented as part of Luminous Sites.

Curated by Daina Augaitis and Karen Henry.

Video documentation is available upon request.