SHORE/LINES: Between Land & Water

Between Land and Water by Alfio Bonanno

One of our four favourite Shore/Lines installations, Between Land and Water, looked like an infestation of giant pods making their way into Kempenfelt Bay.

The mysterious pods. This installation may draw the most questions of the four I have presented here. Being situated on the water on a well-traveled path lends it to lots of viewing and lots of perplexed people. My favourite approach to this exhibit was by kayak from Minet's Point Beach. The artist choose the site on its own merits, then later discovered the milkweed plants growing around the area and took a connection from that.

The milkweed pods were my starting point, giving my forms meaning and direction but the final forms have taken on their own identity and life, that's the way it should be! From the very first sketches, I envisioned the five forms filled with fire and smoke giving them and added dimension for a brief moment at dusk. Fire and water, smoke and air, light and sound with the Barrie skyline in the background initiated the pods to their site.

- Alfio Bonanno

Unfortunately, we missed the fire part! (That's at least three installations in the exhibit that were torched -- must be some kind of trend.) The pods -- like the other installations -- will be left to decay back into their surroundings. The remnants of the pods will remain for at least a few years to perplex more casual visitors who happen upon them.

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