
TBA Projects
How Do You Say GoodBye to a Volvo?
Barbara Reimer
February 09 – February 28, 2015
Meet the artist: February 28, 2pm
Barbara Reimer writes: “Working with Clint Neufeld and the 2014/2015 Carfac Mentorship program, I am spending the year documenting my 1978 Volvo in plaster (cast molds) and handmade recycled papers while learning to disseminate and work in the 3D space. The specific work(s) I will be workshopping are the paper doors. Using the TBA Project Space allows for exploration and solidifying of design methods and installation at a key point of production. I hope to change the installation at least once during the time period as schedules allow.”
Barbara Reimer steps away from the flat space of photography and forays into the third dimension for How Do You Say GoodBye to a Volvo? Working with artist Clint Neufeld through the 2014/15 Carfac Mentorship program, Reimer has spent a year “documenting” her 1978 Volvo with plaster molds and handmade paper. How Do You Say GoodBye to a Volvo? explores a range of emotive thematics through a sequence of works and text. The result is a captivating project that on the surface is genial, but one that quickly provokes a dialogue of memory and loss. Throughout the project, Reimer has continued her engagement by modifying and reworking the presentation and text. As viewer, we are privy to a sort of grieving process and possibly a type of systematic nullification of memory.
Starting with the ubiquitous Dear John, as an open letter, or the most common and generic of goodbyes, the text has been partially painted over and the text Ozymandias affixed to the wall. Here, Reimer evokes English romantic poet Percy Shelley whose work explores the fate of history and the ravages of time. Like it or not, Reimer is reinforcing our impermanence, decay, and unavoidable oblivion. However, on the bright side, at least for the moment, goodbyes can be said, nostalgia evoked, and memories cherished. How Do You Say GoodBye to a Volvo? is afterall a public viewing.
The artist would like to thank the Prairie Sculptors’ Association, the Chapel Gallery / PSA Sculptors’ Symposium, the Carfac Mentorship Program, and, most recently, the Saskatchewan Arts Board.