Expanding the Field
Expanding the Field presents a series of public banners that consider the intersections of public space, symbology and collective memory of the Citizens Park site. I have used drawing, camera-less photography and digital design to reimagine the idea of civic belonging and to playfully question ideas of identity and connection to place. I have captured ephemeral moments and unstable traces of public life through documenting direct encounters with the park's textures and temporal qualities, along with elements of archival material and lines of sight from the park. Through processes of deconstruction, tracing and reconfiguring, I have applied features of the coat of arms of the Corporation of the City of Richmond with references to the history of the site as a place of trade, leisure and mutual exchange. Expanding the Field invites viewers to reconsider how banners (and flags), traditionally instruments of proposed civic identity and classification, might instead become vehicles for exploring the fluid, overlapping territories of public space, identity and shared memory.
Famam extendere factis, et mon droit
Spread the word of the facts, and my right
Expanding the Field, Seventh Gallery, Richmond, 2024. Custom designed banners on vinyl. Dimensions variable.
Photos: Astrid Mulder