WESTERN FRONT – Desktop Compositions

A digital collage of overlapping images and video stills featuring natural and industrial scenes. The central focus is on two stills of a mechanical claw dredging water near a marina, with water pouring out as it lifts debris. Surrounding these are images of forest floors, beach sand, leaves, a dock, a music player overlay, and fragments of other natural textures. The background shows a clear blue sky and bay with sailboats and distant hills visible.

Western Front is pleased to present a live video performance by the artist filmmaker Holly Márie Parnell as part of the opening event for her solo exhibition Cirrus. A recorded version will remain on view during gallery hours through May 31, 2025.

In a world that demands progress but offers little clarity, what does it mean to move forward? Desktop Compositions (2014–) is an ongoing live video performance series, presented through the interface of a computer desktop. The work draws from over a decade of Parnell’s personal archives and collected internet detritus, with this iteration including samplings of pop songs about NATO and the EU by Mia Wennerstrand.

Through rhythms of repetition and reassembly, Desktop Compositions acts as an inquiry into the chaos of our current moment and reflects on what forms might emerge in its place.

A close-up image of a small snail with a brown and black striped shell crawling on ice. The snail's reflection is visible beneath it, and the background is out of focus, creating a soft, natural ambiance.

About the Artist

Holly Márie Parnell is an Irish Canadian artist filmmaker based between the United Kingdom and County Wexford, Ireland. Working in film and expanded cinema, her practice looks at ideas around connectedness and the ways in which fundamental needs are being threatened and eroded within our current economic and institutional frameworks. She is an alumnus of Film London’s FLAMIN Fellowship and an MFA graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, London.

Accessibility

The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. While plans for a full building upgrade to facilitate access for wheelchair users are still underway, events in the Grand Luxe Hall are made available virtually via high-quality livestream (see link above).

What to expect: The performance includes film with sound presented in a darkened room with seating.

Alternative formats: Live ASL interpretation will be available.

Further details about visiting and accessibility at Western Front can be found here.

Acknowledgements

Commissioned by Western Front with support from the Arts Council, Ireland; Canada Council for the Arts; and the Audain Foundation.

Holly Márie Parnell, still from Desktop Compositions series (2014-). Courtesy of the artist.

Holly Márie Parnell, still from Desktop Compositions series (2014-). Courtesy of the artist.
Holly Márie Parnell, still from Desktop Compositions series (2014-). Courtesy of the artist.

Holly Márie Parnell, still from Desktop Compositions series (2014-). Courtesy of the artist.

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.