THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

Cyanotypes on reclaimed blueprint paper and behind reclaimed plexiglass, 26 x 32  

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Layered with clear plastics and other objects found on the beach, these cyanotypes, like the referenced nursery rhyme, document how the well-being of humans is directly and indirectly linked to other phenomena occurring in one’s shared environment. As such, these works ask the viewer to think about how patriarchal systems of capitalist greed work to engineer public and private spaces and the visible and invisible dangers that lurk beneath the surfaces of encountered materials.  The poem begins with:

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This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat, that killed the rat that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built...

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To read the complete poem 

 

Exhibited as part of my exhibition entitled From There to Here: Walking for Tomorrow held at the MacLaren Art Centre, the works also served as exemplars for community cyanotype workshops down by the waterfront in which participants used some of the trash I collected to create their own sun prints. To see more images from this exhibition visit the From There to Here project page. 

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