Friday 20 September 2013

SUPERNOVA! Nuit_Blanche Ottawa+Gatineau - Skotoma

http://denis-mateo.squarespace.com/events/

Denis Mateo, Skotoma (Letting Light into the Blind Spot / Maculer la tache aveugle de lumière), ByWard Market Pedestrian Zone, William Street (between George and Rideau Streets), ByWard Zone
 
Skotoma is a political/musical candle light sacred labyrinth installation and interactive performance on William (between Rideau and George) through which participants will become aware of the homophobic campaign led by the Canadian Government in the 1950′s to 1990′s
Denis Mateo is a multimedia artist.
 
He creates figurative and installation art that deals with social issues and semiotics of the body and spirit of the GBLTTQ and Two-Spirited community. It is his goal to raise awareness of issues regarding the GBLTTQ and Two-Spirited community by creating a sacred space where truth and forgiveness can meet, and where all are welcomed. His exhibits enable participants to pledge their engagement towards healing, letting go of hatred and hurt, and intervening in any event where homophobia is present. These sacred spaces call for communion to bring everyone in love’s light to commemorate those who have left us too early, to listen to the stories of those who have survived, and to remember their courage, thus enabling healing to take place.

Sunday 23 September 2012

Photos of the Radar 88 (Hugs and Kisses) Venue During Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012

Thank you to my partner and my friends for having taken the following photos for me to share with you all!
Radar 88 Event Venue from Afar

Preparing the Site and Helping Light Candles

Crowd Gathers. Many Waves of People Came and Went.
Each Time the Venue Would Welcome Groups of 60 to 100 People at a Time.
Venue from Afar.
The Canvasses Were Initially Fastened to the Top of the Posts.


Once the Great Wind Blew, Many People Gathered to Help Me Unfastened the Canvasses from the Top of the Posts and Lower Them unto the Ground Level.
This was a Great Opportunity Since It Brought People to Actually Hug the Canvasses -
So Symbolic and Touching to Witness all this Altruism.
More People Gather. More Candles are Lit.
Around 300 Candles Were Displayed.
Provided Lighters Ran Out of Fluid Fast.
Sudden Gusts of Wind Surprised Us, and Still People Lit Insistently Candles.

People Circulated Introspectively: Reading in Silence, Lighting Candles, Sharing, Crying,  Pledging their Engagement to Change the World in their Own Way.
Solemn Music Was Played.
Encens Was Burnt.

Great Friends of Mine Helped Tend to The Canvasses When Winds Blew.
Also, They Helped Keep the Flames of the Lit Candles Alive.

View of the Venue from Across the Way.

Panoramic View of the Venue.

Another Panoramic View of the Venue.

People Reading the Sacred Oath of the Venue: Respect, Love, Forgiveness, Atonement, Engagement

Many People Liked this Particular Canvass and Took Many Photos.

The Venue Was Available to Be Seen By the Public Until Very Early in The Morning ( From 7PM to 3 AM!)

Another Panoramic View of York Fountain

Radar 88 - Hugs and Kisses - A Stupendous Success!!!


RADAR 88 - Hugs and Kisses - A Stupendous Success! Over 1000 Visitors and Participants!!!

RADAR 88 – Hugs and Kisses  / Câlins et Tendres BaisersScenes from the Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012 York Fountain Venue. Over 1000 visitors and participants!



What a stupendous success Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012 was!



On the night of September 22, 2012, something happened to people that, under normal circumstances, would not have happened in Ottawa. People came together as a group, a community of warm caring human beings.
In these economic and conservative political times, where we recognize the discourse of power and fear over essence of spirit.

The intallation drew in an estimated number of over 1000 visitors!!!  And this is the first Nuit Blanche in Ottawa. I can only imagine the numbers that the following years will yield. I must say I was awestruck to see so many people all throughout the night until the very early hours of the morning.

The Radar 88 venue had flocks and flocks of people coming to see, admire, learn, share, cry, heal, remember, foregive, atone, and especially engage. Many candles were light in memory of those who had been the target of homphobia and in sign of engagement towards ending it.

I must say, that as an artist, I have never been so profoundly touched by the beauty of  humanity as I did  that night. People would come in droves and witness in pure awsome silence each and every tableau, taking the time to read the postings above each one of them where were written statistics and facts about suicide and violence rates concerning people belonging to the GBLTTQ community in Canada and the world as well as some recent historical and current political GBLTTQ issues.

People arrived from all corners of the Byward market and circulated around the York fountain, and the circle grew more and more as the night progressed so much so that there were sometimes 3 to 4 people deep circulating introspectively while the solemn music excerpts of Benjamin Britten, Arvo Pärt  and Mozart’s Agnus Dei were played. These pieces were also interspersed with sonar sounds reminding  participants of the very real action  of the eugenicist program to which I refer in the Radar 88 artistic statement.

Incense was burned and all the elements of the sacred were present: the water of the fountain, the flames of the candles, the wind, the circle of life and sacredness of the circular motion of going from one tableau to the next akin to the religious stations one would be exposed to in church. Of course, this was not a religious experience as much as it was a spiritual one.  In fact, a very dear friend of mine who practices shamanic sacred rituals had previously opened a sacred space at the York fountain for the Great Spirit to take its place.  And what a great place it was! For example, much later, as the night progressed, the night brought on a slightly more conservative demographic maybe, but still very much interested in the art. And, interestingly enough, even when groups of drunken people were headed towards the installation from across the street, all laughing and screaming, something happened...they stopped. They tuned down, took in the art, became silent almost as if they had stepped into a church.
I knew I was compelled to create this space and this installation (Build it, and they shall come!), but little did I know what I was about to learn and the great gift I was about to receive.

First off, it dawned on me that there is no sacred space where one can bring one’s grief and hurt concerning this issue. And as all these people were demonstrating and one participant confirmed through her testimony, it was high time that such a space was created.  What I especially appreciated about this space was the fact that it was a space were no lies were told, no excuses were made; and that ordinary people were confronted with the beauty and humility of truth: a rare dialogue in a city where politics has permanent residence. Political rhetoric was debunked and laid naked for all to see, leaving participants with only facts and reflection upon their contribution to life in general.

I was also humbled to see how all these people came together in silence and while at the same time in deep introspection. All connected, acting, feeling, seeing, loving as one.

I was busy all night and very much preoccupied by managing all the havoc the gusts of wind were creating. At one point, one of my dear friends took me aside and asked me to sit down and look upon the crowd and take in the sights and sounds of the exhibit. I hadn’t noticed how the crowd had grown and the thick of the people there in front of me was just awesome. I was quite taken aback.

Scenes from the York Fountain

Just a few scenes from that night that forever be etched in my mind:

At first, my partner and I mounted all the canvasses high up on each post, but just when my partner had left to get some candle holders, I was left alone to deal with a very strong wind that came in and blew all the canvasses down. At this point, from everywhere, people that I didn’t know and didn’t know each other came together, rushing in to hold in place the canvasses, some even saving some canvasses from being drowned in the fountain. All these people of light coming together, holding the canvasses, waiting until I came to cut them down, lowering them to the ground level. And I thought to myself, this is what these canvasses needed all the long: Hugs and Kisses. And so it was. And as I saw them hug those canvasses with so much respect and love, I also imagined all the GBLTTQ people who needed those hugs, received them. I must say it was a touching experience for me.

I saw my friends coming together to help with candle lighting, setting up canvases, adjusting and helping in the tending of the venue. I am profoundly touched by their gestures and their presence, and very grateful to have them in my life. They too are part of the success of this installation on several levels since they allowed other people to process and be present in a sacred space without being preoccupied by momentary strong winds.

I saw some people fight against the wind to light their candle repeatedly because it meant so much to them.  Their tenacity spoke volumes about the importance this issue took for them.

I witnessed people teary eyed or crying and vowing to intervene next time they are witness to homophobia.

I remember telling one of them who came to me to tell me that these facts made her feel profoundly sad, that there was beauty in life – to look around her and all the lit candles on the ground and the people coming together naturally and in a good way without any effort. I asked her to keep this beauty inside her and give it and share it to anyone who was a target of bullying. One person can really make a huge difference. The beauty of a single lit candle is not as apparent in the daylight as much as it does in the heart of darkness.

I remember sharing my insights to a CBC radio journalist - still searching the web for it. I will put the interview soundbite on this blog just as soon as I can find it.  As well, I was approached by the National Gallery of Canada for a fundraising event! We shall see what tomorrow brings.

I remember standing back and watching the sea of faces and their expressions as they read the postings overtop each and every piece of art.  What I saw was concern, and genuine interest and compassion.

One of these witnesses came to see me and shared that she had a gay brother and sister, and was also a teacher. I was profoundly touched as she thanked me for this venue as her eyes swelled up in tears. We discussed about the current status of GBLTTQ issues in Canada and the world. We also talked about the semiotics of GBLTTQ architectural discourse within the city, how these buildings had shame associated to them because of the back alley entrances and the blanked out windows. Then we discussed about the suicide rates of GBLTTQ teenagers, and the profound differences between bullying and homophobia; how both are inacceptable but very different in nature and scope and how some powers try to later with former. Let’s make no mistake, bullying is unacceptable! However, being bullied because one is different but still belonging to a sexual oriented majority is not the same as growing up in a society where you cannot travel the world for fear of being killed, punished or mistreated, regardless of you age or status. Everyone who was there last night played a role that was orchestrated by a force greater and more generous than I could ever imagine. Thank you to all who participated and to the generous involvement of Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012 coordinators and curators for the wonderful experience! I would especially like to thank my dear friends without whom this event would have been quite different in its nature. This event wouldn't have been as touching had they not been there; and most of all it would not have allowed many many people to share in this important issue and go on to change lives. And lastly, I would like to thank my dear partner and husband to be, the greatest guy I could ever dream of having in my life. He was there at my side every step of the way, helping me with every little detail. I am truly blessed to have such beauty and love surrounding me.



Monday 27 August 2012

RADAR 88



As with Oscar Wilde, Alan Turing, Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, and Jamie Hubley, Gays, Lesbians, Transgendered, Bisexuals, and Two-Spirited people are being made the target of an insidious world-wide eugenicist project leading many thousands to their deaths every year.

They are killed or pushed to commit suicide, caught in the gears of an efficient social program which operates through alienation and relentless violence from early on, stitched into society’s fabric where stereotypes, pantomimes, and unchallenged “truths” reduce them to sexualized, scientized or sick bodies, robbed of spirit and of a common language, or of a holistic agency. 

The marginalizing gaze is a Labyrinth: a perfect circle from which it is impossible to escape.  At its centre, we find the panoptical radar which will deal with us as prescribed. We are imposed the role of Minotaur -- the Centre’s sexualizing reflection and mirror, a form monsterized by its own twisted gaze.


À l’instar des Oscar Wilde, AlanTurin, Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, et des Jamie Hubley, les personnes gays, lesbiennes, transgenres, bisexuelles, et bispirituelles sont la cible d’un projet eugéniste mondial insidieux de plusieurs milliers de personnes chaque année.

On les tue ou les mène à s’enlever la vie, car pris dans l’engrenage d’un programme social efficace d’aliénation et de violence sans relâche à leur endroit depuis le berceau, imbriqué dans le tissu social où pullulent stéréotypes, pantomimes, et idées reçues les réduisant à des corps sexués, scientisés ou malades, mais dérobés d’un esprit et dépourvus d’un même langage, ou d’une agence holistique.

Le regard marginalisant est un labyrinthe : un cercle parfait, où on est circonscrit dans l’impossibilité d’en ressortir. À son centre figure le radar du panoptique qui se chargera de notre fin. On nous lègue donc le rôle du Minotaure, reflet sexualisant et miroir du Centre, forme monstruosée par son propre regard retors.

Sunday 26 August 2012

RADAR 88 Hugs and Kisses - Câlins et Tendres Baisers







Nuit Blanche Ottawa
22 September 2012
6:22 pm – 4:23 am

RADAR 88 – Hugs and Kisses
Art against homophobia.
Vigil : Bring Back the Stolen Light.



Dearest Friends,


As an artist and member of the GBLT and Two-Spirit community and as a fellow human being, I would like to invite you and your friends and family to this art exhibition during Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012.

Whether subtle or blatant, homophobia is insidious and pervasive in our society. It is in our schools, our workplace, our laws and our government. As a reaction to GBLT and Two-Spirit youth suicide as a result of homophobia, I was compelled to do something to heal the GBLT and Two-Spirit community and those who love and support it.

In creating a space of support, sharing, witnessing and action we can directly intervene and stop homophobia on a daily basis, be it at school, work, in a family setting and in the world by publicly challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about the GBLT and Two-Spirit community.

During this exhibit, I will be painting figures representing those who have been, who are and will be put to society's pyre because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. It is unfortunate and profoundly disturbing to witness the loss of so many who will never be able to be a part of this world's beauty or share their love of it again.

At dusk, I will ask that anyone who has been the target of homophobia, witnessed it or been its author to light a candle and place it on the sacred space surrounding the symbolic pyre of this exhibit as a pledge of engagement towards healing, letting go of hatred and hurt, and intervening in any event where there should be homophobia from this point on. This will be a sacred space for communion to bring everyone in love's light. Let us commemorate those who have left us too early and remember their courage. The time has come for healing to take place.

Bring with you the warm memories and the courage of those who have been lost. Now is a time for healing and self-engagement.

Please forward this invitation to anyone who would be interested, but especially to those you know who would need to be exposed to the truth behind the many faces of homophobia.

I hope this event will allow everyone to share each other's stories, reach out to those who are struggling with homophobia in their lives as well as those who suffer in silence, and galvanize society against this type of violence before it is too late.

Homophobia has been too long accepted in Canadian society and in the world in general.

Art is love; it mends all broken spirits.

Hopefully, this event will allow for some mending to happen and a bit more love to flower within the world.

Denis Mateo