Driftwood
Kinetic Sculpture · Live Data
I collected the weathered driftwood from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and transported it to my studio in Montreal. There, I built a microelectronic system that ties it back to the water it left: live data from a buoy in the Atlantic is translated into motion, so the wood responds in real time to the ocean’s movement. The driftwood moves rhythmically through the negative space, just as it would in the water.
Taken from its shore and set in a gallery, the work parallels resettlement: government programs uprooted people from isolated outports into “growth” centres. Communities were left behind. People started over in new locations, yet remained tethered to their homeland and to lives that could not be fully uprooted. Driftwood makes that invisible connection perceptible. Geographically distant from the ocean, the wood is still moved by it: the ocean remains its lifeblood, carrying it along on invisible waves.
