Creation / Extinction

PROJECTED IMAGE DETAILS

The concert Creation/Extinction was performed on February 7 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Center as part of the Art in Action: Climate symposium. The images in this production drew on visual representations of creation stories and the natural world from diverse cultures and transitions spanning time and place, from the oil fields of Kuwait to the Sistine Chapel to the small desert community of Alhalkere. The images were presented to invite the audience to pause, reflect, and consider the consequences of our current trajectory and the ecological legacy we leave to future generations.

Excerpts from The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy

  1. Louis Fleckenstein, Landscape with Birds, c. 1907, gelatin silver print, 3 9/16 × 2 9/16 in.
  2. Shigemi Uyeda, Untitled, c. 1925, gelatin silver print, 4 × 4 15/16 in.
  3. Masahisa Fukase, Wakkanai 2 (birds at night over fence), 1978, gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in. 
  4. Robert Smithson, Asphalt Rundown, 1969, asphalt, earth (sculptural event). 
  5. Sebastião Salgado, The Gold Mine, Brazil, 1986, photograph, gelatin silver print on paper, 50 x 40 cm. 
  6. Simryn Gill, Channel #28, 2014, photograph, dye destruction on paper, 319 x 316 mm.
  7. Keith Arnatt, Miss Grace’s Lane, 1986-87, photograph, c-print on paper, 25.4 x 20.2 cm.
  8. Jess Collins, If All the World Were Paper and All the Water Sink, 1962, oil on canvas, 38 x 56 in.
  9. Brett Weston, Refinery, Owens Valley, 1956, photograph, gelatin silver on paper, 273 x 328 mm.
  10. Jonas Lie, The Conquerors (Culebra Cut, Panama Canal), 1913, oil on canvas, 60 x 50 in. 
  11. Louis Fleckenstein, [Children at Sea Side Watching Birds], c. 1907, toned gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.
  12. Louis Fleckenstein, The Weary Messenger, c. 1910, toned gelatin silver print, 9 7/8 x 7 15/16 in.

The Creation

PART ONE

Day 1

  1. Samuel Jackson, The Dawn of Creation, c. 1830s, brush and black ink with scratching out, 10 1/16 x 12 7/16 in.
  2. John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath, 1851-53, oil on canvas, 197 x 303 cm.
  3. David Howard Hitchcock, Pele, c. 1929, materials unknown, dimensions unknown.
  4. Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Earth’s Creation, 1994, synthetic polymer paint on linen mounted on canvas, four panels, each 275 x 160 cm. 

Day 2

  1. Jordan Nassar, A Mountain Looms, 2023, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 213.4 x 213.4 x 2.5 cm. 
  2. Muyiwa Osifuye, Riverside Shrine and Sacred Grove of Oshun, Nigeria, 2003.
  3. Lloyd Kiva New, untitled, c. 1980, acrylic on canvas, 34 x 34 in.
  4. Walter De Maria, The Lighting Field, 1977, 400 polished stainless-steel poles, one mile x one kilometer
  5. Franklin Carmichael, Grace Lake, 1931, oil on canvas, 102.87 x 123.19 cm.

Day 3

  1. M. C. Escher, The Third Day of the Creation, 1926, woodcut, 15 ¾ x 12 3/16 in. 
  2.  Victor Jupurrula Ross, Yarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming), c. 1980s, acrylic on canvas, 95 x 71 cm.
  3.  Vincent van Gogh, Irises, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 ¼ x 37 1/8 in.
  4.  Kazimierz Makowski, Defence of the Environment, 1983, lithograph on paper, 48.2 x 76.6 cm.
  5.  Alma Thomas, Lunar Rendezvous—Circle of Flowers, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 48 in. 

Day 4

  1. The Sun Stone (or The Calendar Stone), Aztec, reign of Moctezuma II (1502-20), found in 1790 at the southeaster edge of the Plaza Mayor (Zocalo) in Mexico City, stone (unfinished), 358 cm diameter x 98 cm depth.
  2.  Robert Delaunay, Simultaneous Contrasts: Sun and Moon, 1913, oil on canvas, 53 in. diameter. 
  3.  Jess Collins, The One Central Spot of Red, 1958, oil on canvas, 38 x 40 in. 
  4.  Ceiling (Mudéjar style sacred geometry), 16th century, wood; carved, painted, and gilded, 396 x 336 in. 
  5.  Alan Syliboy, Star Woman in Blue Dress, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 in. 
  6.  Fahrelnissa Zeid, Towards a Sky, 1953, oil on canvas, 593 x 201 cm. 

PART TWO

Day 5

  1. Frederic Edwin Church, The Iceberg, c. 1875, oil on canvas, 22 x 27 in. 
  2. Wayne Thiebaud, Ponds and Streams, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in.
  3. Lintel, New Zealand, 1830s to 1840s.
  4.  36 of 96 feather panels, Wari, c. 600-900 C.E., feather on cotton camelid hair, South Coast, Peru, 207 x 614 cm.
  5. Kiki Smith, Roses and Birds #5, 2003, ink on Nepalese paper, 67 5/8 x 38 1/8 in. 
  6. Robert S. Duncanson, A Dream of Italy, 1865, oil on canvas, 52.4 x 88.9 cm. 

Day 6

  1. Skunder (Alexander) Boghossian, Night Flight of Dread and Delight, 1964, oil on canvas with collage, 56 5/8 x 62 5/8 in.
  2. Glendalys Medina, Atabey, 2022-23, nails, thread, chalkboard paint, ink, oil, wire, and plywood. 
  3. Robyn F. Kahukiwa, Ko Ranginui, Papatuanuku Me Ruaumoko (Rangi and Papa), 1950, screenprint, 66 x 61 cm. 
  4. Alexandre Hogue, Crucified Land, 1939, oil on canvas, 41 ¾ x 59 7/8 in. 
  5. Hans Holbein the Younger, The Creation, c.1526, woodcut, 2 13/16 x 1 7/8 in.
  6.  Full page illustration of the creation of Adam and Eve, Moutier-Grandval Bible, c. 830-840, parchment.
  7.  Four Mandalas of the Vajravali Cycle, Ewam Choden Monastery, Tsang Province, Central Tibet, 1429-1456, pigments on cloth, 36 x 30 in. (estimated). 

PART THREE

Day 7

  1. Mariko Mori, Pure Land, 1996-98, glass with photo interlayer, 305 x 610 x 2.2 cm. 
  2. Madhumala Mandal, Woman with a Backhoe, 2019, acrylic on handmade lokta paper, 30 x 20 in. 
  3. Harmonia Rosales, Portrait of Eve, 2021, oil, gold leaf, silver leaf on panel, 36 x 36 in. 
  4. The Greenfield Papyrus, c. 950-930 B.C.E., papyrus, excavated at First Cache, Upper Egypt, Dier el-Bahri.
  5. Dick West (Wapah Nahyah/Wah-pah-nah-yah/Walter Richard West, Sr.), The Cheyenne Creation, 1981, tempera on paperboard, 101.5 x 72 cm. 
  6. Utagawa Hiroshige, The Floating Bridge of Heaven, c.1849-50, colour woodblock print, 5 15/16 x 13 1/3 in. 
  7. Brahma-Shiva, late 900s-1000s, granite, 64 x 18 7/8 in. 
  8. Pimo Miniatore de San Domenico, [Medallion from the Border of a Latin Bible] The Sixth Day of Creation, c. 1300s, tempera on vellum, 2 ¾ in. 
  9. Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-12, fresco.
  10. Norval Morrisseau, Mother To All Things, 1980, acrylic on canvas, 183.5 x 111.3 x 3.9 cm.

Reprise – The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy

  1. Emperor Huizong, Auspicious Cranes, 1112, Northern Song dynasty, handscroll, ink and color on silk, 51 x 138.2 cm. 
  2. Thelma Johnson Streat, Girl with Bird, 1950, oil and collage on paper, 51.4 x 36.8 cm. 
  3. One Hundred Birds, c. 19th century, hanging scroll; satin with silk embroidery, ivory rollers, 43 x 29 in. 

About the curator: Daniel Pacella is a multi-medium artist currently exploring time and memory, and place and space. He is pursuing an arts education at Brock University.