Changing Tides

Erica Eades, Assistant Arts Editor

Halifax-based artist, Stephen Kelly, is bringing do-it-yourself projects to a whole new level. His latest installation combines found materials, on-line data transmitters and audio devices to create an entirely unique artistic experience.

“Open Tuning (WaveUp)” involves a series of handmade mechanical devices that respond to buoys in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Two maps on the wall pinpoint the exact location of each of these buoys. “It’s quite a poetic piece,” says David Diviney, Curator of Exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Kelly accesses the information for the exhibit through the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website. Every 15 minutes, the buoys transmit data about wind speeds, wave movements and heights. Kelly has created a program that takes this data and translates it to motorized works in the gallery. The information from the buoys dictates the sound and movement of the mechanical pieces. The result is a collection of machines that sound and move like the sea.

The materials used in Kelly’s exhibit range from fabricated forms, such as steel, to a variety of found pieces, such as motors out of old computer printers.

Diviney says that though the exhibit appears simple and elegant, the technical requirements to facilitate it are highly complex. The need for Internet connections and intricate hanging apparatuses pose many difficulties for a curator.

But the gallery staff know the effort is worth it. “We’re working with artists at the forefront of contemporary art production, artists who are pushing the boundaries of what art-making is,” says Diviney. “That’s an exciting thing to be a part of.”

“Open Tuning (WaveUp)” will be showing at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia through to January 9, 2011.