Paying Attention

As mentioned in my last post, what I am trying to do with this project is to create an art installation about biodiversity loss in my part of Québec and present it — les Fantômes de nos forêts — to the public as part of a regional Earth Day celebration in 2027. Ambioterra, a local environmental non-profit organization of scientists, wildlife and forestry experts is helping me with the research aspect of the project. 

While I was waiting to hear about the project's funding — which, as you'll recall from my last post, I ultimately failed to get — I had already begun doing some research myself, with a plan to create a list of potential species. I found the available online government information quite challenging to pick through.  What's more, the  Quebec and Canadian  governments also have their own specific definitions of what susceptible, vulnerable, threatened, and endangered actually mean, and how those categories get applied. So it was all a bit confusing — at least for me.

Fortunately, Ambioterra invited me to their office to discuss the project back in late June, because I really needed their help. After we discussed my goals for the les Fantômes, they compiled a list of species in my region that are either under observation for their declining numbers (i.e. susceptible), or are already considered vulnerable, threatened or endangered. Some of the species are things I have known all my life and was shocked to see on such a list (e.g. Wood thrushes), but many were new to me and quite mysterious. Cut-leaved Toothwort, anyone?

The list for turtle species and my project sketchbook with a white cutout of a wood thrush on the cover.

One thing I discovered in my preliminary research is that the Quebec government maintains a map showing the location of these species which one may consult, although some of the information is hidden from the public. Even the wildlife agent at Ambioterra was not permitted to tell me anything specific in those cases to protect the species from human incursions, damage, and theft.

 Humans, man…we’re the worst!

Biodiversity map for the Haut-Saint-Laurent. https://biodiversite-quebec.ca/en

So what I have now thanks to Ambioterra ( stagiaire Alice in particular. Thanks, Alice!) is a list of species to consider — plants, birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and some insects — along with general information about their habitats. Between this list, the government websites I have bookmarked, and the online community of iNaturalist, which I have recently joined, I am piecing together a picture of the types of animals and plants in decline in my own backyard: why they were rare to begin with, or were once common and are now losing ground, and the types of forest habitats where they might be found.

I am learning so many new things. Like what mesic means (a habitat of moderate, consistent moisture); the difference is between a swamp, a seep, and a seepage swamp (seriously, don't ask, lol); and  what calcareous soils are (soil formed from or containing a high proportion of calcium carbonate — limestone, essentially). 

And while we are on the topic, check out this cool geological map. We seem to be solidly in the Lower Ordovician and Upper Cambrian dolomitic and quartzitic sandstone regions. The limestone is a bit further north, so no calcareous soils for us, I guess!

https://gq.mines.gouv.qc.ca/documentation_en/additional_information/geological-map-of-quebec/

As the project's title would suggest, I am focusing on forest species and have chosen to limit my excursions to the woods nearest me, since even locally there is a remarkable variety of forest habitats. It also saves me time driving around looking for locations and trying to get permission to walk on other people's property. And truthfully I am enjoying this deep dive into the land I already know and love, but what I am realizing is that my knowledge is superficial at best. I am discovering new and amazing things almost daily by looking more closely. 

Wintergreen growing in feather moss (I think).

As the poet Mary Oliver says, attention is the beginning of devotion.

À bientôt.

I am a B+ artist or Making Art Without Money

"We  truly appreciate the time and effort you put into your application. Unfortunately, it was not selected for funding this time. It did not score highly enough compared to others. All decisions are carefully considered and are final." - The Canada Council for the Arts

My most recent grant requests to CALQ and Canada Council have both failed, meaning I will receive no public funds to make the Fantômes de nos forêts project. This is bad news— although not entirely unexpected  — but at least both granting bodies were incredibly nice about it and gave me some feedback.

For those of you just tuning in, Les Fantômes de nos forêts is an installation I have been hoping to make about biodiversity loss in the forests of Montérégie-Ouest, where I live. Although it is about a specific place that I know intimately, its message is meant to be universal — the biodiversity crisis is a global emergency, one that is frequently overshadowed by climate change but just as potentially devastating for our planet and for us. 

I conceived of Les Fantômes de nos forêts as a series of ten wooden sculptural panels. These panels would combine assemblages made from natural materials collected in the woods as well as graphite drawings on translucent mylar of nature mounted on LED lightboxes like this:

Fantômes prototype panel for an Ash tree.

 

Everywhere a rare or threatened species of plant, animal, or insect should appear in the drawing, a ghostly white silhouette would be found instead – illuminated by the glow of the LEDs — thus the project title. 

Bellwort and Rusty-Patched Bumblebee pencil drawing on mylar illuminated by LED lightbox.

A ten-minute soundscape created from on-site field recordings was to complete the work:  a viewer entering the space would trigger a webcam motion sensor and start the soundtrack. As the viewer took in the drawing panels, one by one the sounds of nature – birds, insects, animals – would be removed until the installation is left in silence. My aim with the sound is to reinforce the idea of biodiversity loss and to express the way we are all complicit in it through our actions. I also wanted to create an artwork that would turn this crisis into a personal experience rather than a statistic. 

Both granting agencies agreed that the project is timely. Both agreed that I am capable of creating a realistic budget and work schedule, that I have a strong track record of getting projects made, and that making this work would help me grow as an artist. Canada Council now gives you your score out of 100. I scored 77.25. 

I am, officially, a B+ artist. 

And honestly? That is not bad — especially at a national level. Art grants are brutally competitive. Only 20 to 25 percent of applicants receive funding. 

CALQ rejection letter with helpful explanations of the result.

The jury's conclusion was that, while my work is generally interesting, the proposed concept and artworks were not quite compelling enough to clear the bar. This is useful information, even when it stings. It also forces me think. I believed I knew what I wanted the installation to look like and sound like. Apparently, the jury was not convinced — and if the jury wasn't convinced, perhaps I also would have let down my audience. 

Not having the money to make the project you want to make frankly… sucks. BUT, sometimes financial constraint can force an artist toward better, more creative solutions than their original well-funded vision would have produced. I speak from experience. When the overgrowth gets stripped back, sometimes something stronger (and stranger) emerges. I am choosing to believe that is what will happen here. So Les Fantômes might be ghosts, but the project is not dead. 

All of my project partners have agreed to continue, and I remain committed to presenting the work for Earth Day at Chateauguay Valley Regional high school in 2027, and possibly beyond. The scale might be smaller. The aesthetics may change a bit. The project will probably be better for it. 

My immediate challenge is finding enough money to pay for the sound and computer technicians — the one element I cannot create myself.  

In the meantime, while I figure the finances out, I plan to keep writing about the process of making this work — the decisions, the mistakes, and  unexpected discoveries — because I think there is value in making visible what the life of an artist actually looks like. Not the finished work on the wall, but everything that happens before it gets there.