United in a trilogy, Christopher Boyne’s recent works seek to identify a maritime “sensitivity” while exploring the artist’s very personal relationship to the Atlantic Ocean. Boyne creates a series of miniature boats, replicas of boats he once owned or with which he had a powerful experience. The scale-model boats are then placed in the water, whereupon they are whipped and carried away by the waves. This final step is carefully documented by the artist.
flotsam
Christopher Boyne’s contribution to Songlines will take the form of a six-foot model boat, which he will realize in collaboration with Island fishermen and boat builders, thereby drawing on local expertise and history while working with materials at hand, be it sea wood, wrecks, or recycled items. This boat-building will be conducted in collaboration with Plaisanciers du Havre on the historic site of La Grave (Havre-Aubert), the cradle of the Islands’ settlement and fishing industry. The boat will then be moved to Grande Entrée, toward the Islands’ eastern reach, for a launch ceremony coinciding with the closing event of Songlines. At this particular point the boat will begin its erratic journey, propelled by a sail or small motor—for the artist’s work begins … and the Songlines continue on their way.
Christopher Boyne (b. 1984, Halifax) uses found ideas, memory and fiction to create work with manifold complexities. His work has been shown across Canada and the United States. Recent exhibitions include boutilier marine & black nance at Ryerson Artspace (Toronto) and regia aeronautica at Open Space (Victoria). In August 2015, he participated in the 33rd Symposium International d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec. Boyne was recently chosen as an inaugural artist for the Twenty-Three Days at Sea travelling artist residency through Access Gallery (Vancouver). He holds a BFA from Ryerson University and an MFA from Concordia University, and lives and works in Montreal and Halifax.
Songlines 