Yesterday I had one of the best art experiences of the current COVID-19 lock-down when I visited Reformatted, an exhibition created by Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) in collaboration with Kanien’kehá:ka artist Skawennati for Concordia University in Montreal as part of their Indigenous Futures research cluster.
I had first encountered Skawennati’s work in the form of an installation and video Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’/We Extend the Rafters as part of Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel: Indigenous Contemporary International at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. It was an uncanny experience seeing both works from the virtual world of the video – specifically specially designed wampum belts – in the exhibition space, now returned to the virtual world, wherein I was an avatar myself!
So many of the works by Indigenous artists in Reformatted had resonances for me with earlier embodied experiences, both in Ottawa and beyond, which were especially meaningful to me in these socially distanced times. For example, being present for Maria Hupfield’s performance, activating her installation Electric Prop and Hum Freestyle Variations in Ottawa, contrasted with missing Peter Morin’s performance and only encountering his inactive installation Breath in the same exhibition.
Seeing Rebecca Belmore’s work in Reformatted transported me back to her work Biinjiya’iing Onji (From inside), both in Ottawa and on the Hill of the Muses in Athens (and reminded me with a special encounter with a hive of bees!)
Perhaps the most immersive work in Reformatted was that by Hannah Claus, whose Second Life manifestation offers some intriguing parallels with the experience of her work in ‘real’ life. While in Ottawa, you could look up and under the handing assemblage of glistening discs of our minds are one, at Reformatted you could literally walk through her Cloudscape.
Claus’ work reminds us more than ever that, as with any exhibition, photographs (or in this case screen-grabs) are no substitute for the experience of being there yourself.
Below are the instructions to make your own visit. Then you can enter the reformatted cloudscape of such uplifting and transformative art while enjoying some (virtual) snacks and champagne at the same time! I feel like I have seen a glimpse of the future of art exhibitions, neither virtual, nor real, but somewhere in between, at a place where we all (especially settlers like myself) have a responsibility to be led towards a markedly Indigenous Future of startling beauty, care and hospitality, far away from a land of extractive and transactional space.
Here is what you need to do to visit Reformatted:
1. First, you will need a Second Life account. If you don’t have one, it’s free and quick to get. Go here to do so: https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US
2. Once your account is created, you’ll be sent to a webpage where you can choose your first avatar. Just as you need a body in this world, you will need an avatar to interact in the virtual world of Second Life.
3. Download and install the Second Life application.
https://secondlife.com/support/downloads/
4. Open Second Life and Log in with your account name and password.
5. You will see your chosen avatar, with your username above its head, appear somewhere in the enormous virtual world. Now you have to teleport to AbTeC Gallery.
6. To find us, paste the following link into the field at the top of your window. You should appear in front of the gallery.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/AbTeC/104/195/1011
For more about the Reformatted exhibition, visit: https://www.concordia.ca/cuevents/main/2020/05/01/virtual-vernissage-abtec-gallery-presents-reformatted.html
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