Michelle La Flamme began this sound walk about Vancouver’s creative hub Mount Pleasant in August 2021. Walk through the area and hear how this location and the people here shaped her artistic path.
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La Flamme Reflection
This project unearthed many memories for me. In my mind and heart, it transformed from an audio project to be shared with others into an interior journey into memories triggered by key places in the community. I had thought I would follow a script but once I arrived at each setting, new feelings were evoked and feelings bubbled up so the flow was more organic than I had anticipated.
This workshop was a cathartic experience and I would highly recommend this workshop for anyone who has deep links to place and space. It brings one into contact with self and chips away at the corroded hard-drive of our memories to re-ignite the link between self and space and place. It also brings others who will access the app onto that journey and into those shared memories.
Working with Lorna and Sebnem felt very easy, comforting and supportive to me. The process included regular check-ins, autonomy and an openness to feedback. Most importantly, they both had a great deal of regard for the emotional and spiritual process required to excavate and hold memories. In a way, they became much more than technical support and producers, I felt like they were witnesses on a small but significant journey with me.
After completing this workshop, I feel like I have stitched together three phases of my life by story and location. I am truly excited (and nervous) to share these with others. I hope this little walk with me will inspire others to mark their journey by taking this workshop and storying their links to space and place.
This prototype sound walk was funded by the City of Vancouver through the grunt gallery.Our walk takes place on the unceded, traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.
Credits
Photos: Sebnem Ozpeta
Created during grunt gallery’s 2021 Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen Digital Storytelling geolocation audio workshop as a prototype. grunt gallery was founded in 1984 in Vancouver, BC with the vision to become an internationally renowned artist-run centre and further the practice of contemporary art. Through the exploration of our diverse Canadian cultural identity, we are able to offer public programming in the form of exhibitions, performances, artist talks, publications, and other special projects in the community. Our mandate is to inspire public dialogue by creating an environment conducive to the emergence of innovative, collaborative, and provocative contemporary art.
Michelle’s sound walk was inspired by her earlier video, Searching for my Sister’s Eyes, completed during another grunt gallery workshop.