FOUNTAIN: the source or origin of anything
Images from the installation and website launch / public talk curated by Joni Low and commissioned by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation in 2014, in collaboration with the CBC Media Archives (Colin Preston); with guests Vancouver historian Bruce MacDonald, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper and Activist Cease Wyss and Vancouver's hidden streams researcher Celia Brauer. Video clips from the CBC News and our Indiegogo Campaign created to build a relational network.
LAIWAN
FOUNTAIN: the source or origin of anything
2014
Photographic mural, 30x40' vinyl
Fountain: the source or origin of anything is a public art project by Laiwan that explores the metaphor of fluidity within the city’s built environment, visible and invisible. Inspired by a residency in the CBC’s analogue media archives, Laiwan has created a project that inhabits public and virtual spaces.
The first element of Fountain is the large-scale, photographic mural at The Wall, CBC Plaza, on display at 700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver from March 2014 to November 2015.
The photograph is sourced from the 1956 CBC film Summer Afternoon, and shows the Georgia Viaduct seen from the intersection of Keefer and Columbia Streets in Vancouver's Chinatown when the False Creek waters flowed under the bridge.
The second element is an interactive web project, which extends the exploration of fluidity throughout the city, bringing together oral and natural histories of nearby communities and reflecting on the changing nature of memory – and archives – in our digital age. It is an exploratory virtual space open to contributions, designed to create a communal flow of ideas over time.
Visit the website: FOUNTAIN online
Read Joni Low's Curatorial Essay
View the original 1956 CBC Film Summer Afternoon
Read about the Georgia Viaduct Then and Now by local historian Keith Freeman
In 2015 I was looking to interview Chipper Mah, one of the boys in the film, to make a podcast. I have found him, and he literally lives around the corner from me (what amazing good fortune!). We have since been working on interviews, public talks (see Mobile Barnacle City), and I’m working toward a film project with Chipper.
See FOUNTAIN podcasts:
Vancouver Historian Bruce Macdonald speaks about Keefer & Columbia streets in Chinatown
False Creek Watershed Organizer Celia Brauer talks about Vancouver’s Lost Streams
Read the Hydrologic Blog developed by resident intern Renee Mok
And you can also enjoy Fountain's Facebook Page to receive updates on all Fountain issues and events.
Fountain's poetic lines were inspired by and sourced from the B.C. Government’s ‘Glossary of Water Quality Terms’. The scene shows the Georgia Viaduct seen from the intersection of Keefer and Columbia Streets in Vancouver's Chinatown in 1956 with the original False Creek waters.