44.649589,-63.574150: Halifax, Nova Scotia (2019)
Robert Bean and Barbara Lounder
Being-in-the Breathable: 44.649589,-63.574150
Robert Bean and Barbara Lounder, September 2019
Hermes Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. September 6-29, 2019
Public walk: Sunday September 22, 1-3pm
The departure point for this exhibition is a Halifax map stamped with the date May 16, 1973 by the Japanese conceptual artist On Kawara. Part of his 1968-1979 “I Went” series, Kawara’s map is a trace of his movements through Halifax during a visit to the city in 1973. Born in Kariya, Japan in 1932, Kawara was profoundly affected by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his elegant and fastidiously executed artworks from the mid-60’s to his death in 2014 are concerned with questions of everyday life, time, temporality, mortality and site.
According to recollections, Kawara and his wife Hiroko visited Nova Scotia in 1973 to go salmon fishing and play poker with friends at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
For this project by Robert Bean and Barbara Lounder, numerous locations and their atmospheres are cited using photography, objects and maps. In their ongoing Being-in-the-Breathable series of collaborative exhibitions and events, Bean and Lounder use mobility, haptics and annotation in considering the politics of atmosphere and public space.
The exhibition was accompanied by a public walk and conversation that retraced On Kawara’s 1973 map. The walk took place on September 22, 2019, one week after Hurricane Dorian had reached the city of Halifax.
Robert Bean and Barbara Lounder, September 2019
Hermes Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. September 6-29, 2019
Public walk: Sunday September 22, 1-3pm
The departure point for this exhibition is a Halifax map stamped with the date May 16, 1973 by the Japanese conceptual artist On Kawara. Part of his 1968-1979 “I Went” series, Kawara’s map is a trace of his movements through Halifax during a visit to the city in 1973. Born in Kariya, Japan in 1932, Kawara was profoundly affected by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his elegant and fastidiously executed artworks from the mid-60’s to his death in 2014 are concerned with questions of everyday life, time, temporality, mortality and site.
According to recollections, Kawara and his wife Hiroko visited Nova Scotia in 1973 to go salmon fishing and play poker with friends at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
For this project by Robert Bean and Barbara Lounder, numerous locations and their atmospheres are cited using photography, objects and maps. In their ongoing Being-in-the-Breathable series of collaborative exhibitions and events, Bean and Lounder use mobility, haptics and annotation in considering the politics of atmosphere and public space.
The exhibition was accompanied by a public walk and conversation that retraced On Kawara’s 1973 map. The walk took place on September 22, 2019, one week after Hurricane Dorian had reached the city of Halifax.
Robert Bean @2020