A Vagrant Kind of Life
Slide projection and compositions with wooden letters and wall paint
70 slides, wall compositions: 39" x 26" (99 x 66 cm) each
2016
A Vagrant Kind of Life is a poem of 70 lines presented in the form of a slide projection, with selected lines also displayed as wall compositions. The poem is revealed rhythmically through photographic slides, one line at a time, forcing the viewer to engage in a meditative act of slow reading. Each image in the projection features a single line of the poem laid out in the Montessori moveable toy alphabet, a pedagogical tool used traditionally to teach young children how to read.
The poem presents the tale of a feral child abandoned in the woods, and draws upon excerpts from the 1802 book An Historical Account of the Discovery and Education of a Savage Man by French physician Jean Marc Gaspard Itard. This book details the true story of Itard's mission to “civilize” a child entrusted to his care, whom he mistakenly believed to be feral. As Itard devotes himself to teaching the boy how to communicate through language, he is ultimately left frustrated in his attempts, as the boy proves incapable of learning to speak.
Installation views: Burrard Arts Foundation, Vancouver, 2016. Photos by Dennis Ha.
