So-journe:  Tiki Mulvihill, work in progress: 2008 This installation presents a blend of fact and fiction.  It functions as a microcosm of many fundamental, yet disturbing contradictions of contemporary life in relation to the land.
All across the West, explorers discovered and followed gaps between mountains to enter valleys. They recruited aboriginals to guide them, conspiring to keep the land by measuring, recording and marking these routes. They stitched their own fictional account for the topography of mountain to valley so that others could follow, learn, know and exploit these places. In this installation, the impact of the cartographic record projects throughout the space on walls and floor surrounding viewers with lines. These cast topographical shadows derive from three large drapes, sewn with amber lines, and lit from above. As visitors to the space activate gentle wind currents in the room, subtle movement occurs. The result is a rather sensuous shifting of topography in the space enacted through the viewer’s presence. The installation So-journe is a ghostly habitation of visitors who remained briefly in these valleys before moving on, invariably leaving their mark as evidence of their presence. In this installation, multiple layers from each influx of these Sojourners form a cryptic three-dimensional map many times redrawn, where each constructed layer rests directly upon earlier notations incompletely rubbed out. Lyrical footpaths represented by cast root forms conjure images of small tribes of people traversing hillsides seeking game, leaving faint traces easily erased. Exposed roots crisscross thinner trails left by animals foraging in repeated patterns over the seasons. Translucent rock lanterns light these pathways for negotiation and exploration by the most recent of Sojourners, the installation visitors. A rail-line represented by cast ties ignores topography in favour of a human-designed S-curve route. So-journe responds to the stubborn fortitude of this landscape. Despite human efforts to transform and conquer these places, our valleys and adjacent mountains remain timeless. Our human disruptions inflict mere wrinkles in its eternity of gentle change. This installation bears witness to these events, as a fictional veneer floating upon a rich tapestry of both contradictory and harmonious fabrications that define the long life of these extraordinary places. It is my hope that viewers enter with their imaginations to uncover a bit of mystery here.
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