My Global Warming

Living with Multiple Sclerosis has been a process of adapting to a changing environment in which some of my physical abilities, my career and many friendships were eroded. I had worked in the arctic and was shocked to note the resemblance between the glaciers and the plaques on my brain from the MRI scan. What now?
 
At the crossroads of my demyelination journey, I had to choose – to succumb to the elements or to embrace my circumstances and move on in the art of living. I had no map to guide me.

Credits

Digital Storyteller and Video: Harris Taylor
Editor and Mentor: Lorna Boschman
Ambient Audio sources include ZapSplat and Pixabay
Photoshop image created by Harris Taylor during QUIRK-E workshop Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders at Britannia Community Centre
Thanks to feedback during our digital storytelling workshop!

Created during grunt gallery’s 2023 Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen Digital Storytelling workshops with Mount Pleasant residents. 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.

Comments

Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed the combination of the imagery, soundscapes and the message of course. Very well done.
Dr. Aaron Jager
 
Thanks for giving me your two digital stories. I think they are beautiful. You describe MS in a new way for me to think about and you tell a story about your roots and ties to land and family that I admire. The digitalstories.ca website is great. I will brouse it.
Caroline Leaf
 
Thank you very much for sharing both of these stories, Harris. I very much enjoyed them. What a history in Agawa Canyon!!! And your comparison of MS and the northern climate is amazing.
Jill Nelson
 
Thank you for sending your video. I love the imagery and your comments, especially, “Transform a challenge with art”. You’re good at that!
M. Brooks
 
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
Emma Kivisild
 
Your video is amazing.
Shasta Crombie
 
Very well done. Congratulations!! Emotional presentation and the imagery really resonates. Glaciers and rivers – kayaking or canoeing – movement. Going with the flow even when we feel out of control.
Fatima Correia
 
Beautiful and powerful. Thanks for sharing.
Jean Hershey
 
Thanks Harris. It is powerful.
Marsha Ablowitz
 
Very powerful, inspiring and informative. Thanks to you and to Lorna.
Ellen Woodsworth
 
Congratulations Harris.
Paula Stromberg
 
Impressive Harris. Thank you for sharing. You have a perfect voice for narrating.
Farren Gillaspie
 
Thank you for the work and the association with Quirk-e.
River Glen
 
Very nice. How is it to be used? It’s very short!
Jacqueline Levitin
 
I am writing to you about your work My Global Warming: your piece was selected and will be shown in our Digital Stories showcase on the screen from April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025. Congratulations!
 
We enjoyed your piece about MS, and the visual metaphors you conveyed with water, icebergs and your own personal experiences.
Alger Ji-Liang,
Curator – Mount Pleasant Art Screen, Grunt Gallery

Your digital story was amazing.  
I listened with headphones and wanted to keep on hearing the water & your voice for ages.  
Listened to it twice, so far!  
You have the most beautiful voice!  
When I drive past the Grunt I will stop and look for it.  
I presume that it will be on a loop with others.
Karen Fleming

6 thoughts on “My Global Warming”

  4. I’m so impressed, Harris! Thanks for sharing this! Sorry for this beautifully described transition!♥️
    Ashtare Fishman

    Thanks for the short video and the beauty of your prose.
    Georgeann Glover

    Reply

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