Methodologies for Tourists Maine (MFTME) 02013
MFT is a project about identity, territory, space/place, intention and action.
What draws us to a place and how do we navigate to and through it? What makes us feel like we belong to a territory? How do we perceive territories and their boundaries?
Through these actions and performances, I question the arbitrary nature of boundaries and how we transect them. Throughout history, we have seen boundaries change through conquest and through conflicts. All boundaries are temporary in nature and in time.
Judith Schalansky, in her book Atlas of Remote Islands, Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will, speaks about how Germany's reconciliation of its territories changed her notion of nation: "Ever since then, I have not trusted political world maps, in which countries float on the blue ocean like vivid scarves. They grow out of date quickly and give barely any information apart from who is currently running which scrap of colour."
This phase of the project was created during a residency at Bakery Photographic Collective near Portland, Maine, USA. The artist would like to thank Artsnb for their generous support of this project through the New Brunswick / Maine Creative Residency Program. The artist would also like to acknowledge the Maine Arts Commission for their role in this cultural exchange program.