Centre

For many artists, questions of identity and self expression are central to their work. While there is a tendency to think of identities as labels that undermine the complexity of our personalities and emotions, the word itself speaks to the notion of belonging.

For instance, “educator” is an identity shared by many professionals, yet each person’s unique pedagogical approach and perspective, when it comes to teaching others about visual art for example, is deeply rooted in their individual memories and preferences. Similarly, people of colour have racialized ethnic identities, but how they experience and embody those identities is also shaped by their upbringing, cultural background, gender, sexuality, etc.

It is important to consider that our identities are not necessarily static. Rather, they can shift and express themselves differently over time.

In this essay, we will look at two artists who use various kinds of technologies and technological performances as a means to express both the individual and collective identities that they inhabit.

Dismembered Fixations is paired in the space with the sculpture Special Delivery (2023) by Nico Williams. This work by the Anishinaabe artist, while analog, also tackles themes of collective identity.

The artist uses beading as both a crafting and ornamentation technique to recreate objects of personal and cultural significance.

The Amazon box seems to be an intentional choice, since the artist has a fascination with found objects. It is also a reference to how containers are thought of as being the first technology⁠—specifically the vase as a mode of transporting water⁠—integral for life and the sustainability of human societies.

Like the selfie in González-Rosas’s work, the Amazon delivery box has become a ubiquitous object, bordering the mundane. By underscoring the presence of the box in this way, Williams brings attention to how Amazon has deeply influenced culture as a networked, consumer technology.

The beaded representation of the Amazon delivery box also recalls the ways in which the natural environment and resources are reconstituted to create modern technologies. The brown of the cardboard is most evocative of this, as it resembles the wood used to make the material. However, all modern technologies, including our phones and computers which are made of metals mined from the earth. The beads in Special Delivery were themselves originally created from sand that was then transformed into glass.

This allusion to paper, wood, and trees is also reminiscent of the importance of birch trees to the Anishinaabe in the creation of birch bowls and baskets. In this sense, the beaded box becomes a contemporary re-design of a traditional practice and technology.

Movements: Terms of Use is a tool designed by the PHI Foundation’s Department of Education to encourage visitors to develop and elaborate on some key concepts of the exhibition Terms of Use.