Sync or Swim, 2021
Bonavista Biennale
Champney's West, NL
Sync or Swim
Fish tub: 96" x 50" ; Life Savers: (14) 44" x 8"
polyethylene tank, 200 Denier TPU heat sealing fabric, recycled poly-cotton stuffing, reflective material, LED lighting, UV filtration and water pump.
(more photos below)
"Sync or Swim alludes to the ongoing challenges of the province (NL) and the Atlantic region: an aging population, out-migration, decaying infrastructure, and decline of key industries. Colosimo highlights the paradoxes of globalized capitalism:
‘Sync or Swim acknowledges the quagmire many Atlantic industries find themselves in: sending their products out for global consumption or further processing, then buying those or equivalent products back for their own consumption - or not to be able to find them at all.* The drowning life preservers represent the Sisyphean effort to keep industries alive and communities together. The water-filled fish tub is a placeholder for the government licenses and agreements that have made it challenging for Industries to be profitable locally.’
Colosimo borrows from the material language of life preservers and reflective material to crowd a repurposed fish-tub with inter-locking flotation devices. The ingenuity and playfulness of Colosimo’s work resonates with the context of Champney’s West, a community who has persevered through collaboration and care for the natural resources that sustain us.” - Matthew Hills & Patricia Grattan, Bonavista Biennale curators.
*Foster, Karen. Sustainable Rural Futures for Atlantic Canada, 2018, Bridging Import Replacement Theory and Practice: A sociological examination of the potential for import replacement in Atlantic Canada.
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council of the Arts, and Arts Nova Scotia. Technical Assistance: Greg Bennett.
Fish tub: 96" x 50" ; Life Savers: (14) 44" x 8"
polyethylene tank, 200 Denier TPU heat sealing fabric, recycled poly-cotton stuffing, reflective material, LED lighting, UV filtration and water pump.
(more photos below)
"Sync or Swim alludes to the ongoing challenges of the province (NL) and the Atlantic region: an aging population, out-migration, decaying infrastructure, and decline of key industries. Colosimo highlights the paradoxes of globalized capitalism:
‘Sync or Swim acknowledges the quagmire many Atlantic industries find themselves in: sending their products out for global consumption or further processing, then buying those or equivalent products back for their own consumption - or not to be able to find them at all.* The drowning life preservers represent the Sisyphean effort to keep industries alive and communities together. The water-filled fish tub is a placeholder for the government licenses and agreements that have made it challenging for Industries to be profitable locally.’
Colosimo borrows from the material language of life preservers and reflective material to crowd a repurposed fish-tub with inter-locking flotation devices. The ingenuity and playfulness of Colosimo’s work resonates with the context of Champney’s West, a community who has persevered through collaboration and care for the natural resources that sustain us.” - Matthew Hills & Patricia Grattan, Bonavista Biennale curators.
*Foster, Karen. Sustainable Rural Futures for Atlantic Canada, 2018, Bridging Import Replacement Theory and Practice: A sociological examination of the potential for import replacement in Atlantic Canada.
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council of the Arts, and Arts Nova Scotia. Technical Assistance: Greg Bennett.
Press
- Bonavista Biennale: The Tonic of Wildness/ Craig Francis Power | Billie Magazine, September 24, 2021
- Bonavista Biennale 2021 / Emily Pittman | Visual Arts News, Fall 2021
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