I digress, this post is really dedicated and motivated by the following:
In 1999 Gary Genosko, my current academic supervisor, developed a concept of FULL/empty while spending a one month writers residency at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
The purpose of the residency was to follow suit with the WAG's commitment to "engaging and meaningful interpretations to our collections" (3).
FULL/empty
Superficial Abundance and Profound Loss
June 16 to September 24, 2000
Since this curated collection of images was mounted in frames bearing 'glass,' the show has never traveled outside of Winnipeg and has likely found its way to the bottom of the basement among countless other 'treasures' and 'archival' artifacts. In this post and the following I attempt to cast a light into the dark recesses of hollowed out corners to illuminate a conceptually captivating essay.
This following image is by David McMillan
Rehabilitation pool, children's hospital, October 1998
Although this image is not in the WAG collection, it may contain traces of similacrum reminiscent of the described images.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOir6XzQ0Q4V5fEnMq9hrwhTcHz1SjUkekjwusmHCUs_ui3MLF58__Y2b4zp-kexXfNCRC2TKBNl7xUxXitHNbdpMQcDjDOY2GMuBCnv0pleM3a3d48fiI_WqCFGykWTaS0wNPZFvOKKE/s400/1998-Rehab-pool.jpg)
"empty is a photographic invitation to sadness. emptiness is not a thing but an emotional texture into which viewers are enticed through complicity; a shared complicity in which there is a desire to explore a profound emptiness as long as it is bearable" (26).
"empty is really deeply empty, but never vacant" (27).
"unintended desolation... we are in need of a new word, a variation on nowhere: perhaps 'newhere' will suffice... 'Newhere' is diametrically opposed to real estate because it contradicts the law of location. It is where you end up in the course of being rendered redundant by change, the result of which is that you can no longer find your way around. Tuck yourself into an interminable holding pattern. Out here, there is simply nowhere to go: and such newness is an aggravation some people apparently enjoy" (31).
1 comment:
I can't wait to read your thesis.
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