Dana Claxton

February 19 - March 19, 2005
Opening on Saturday, February 19 at 5 p.m.

Curator's talk: Oboro new media lab, Saturday,
February 19 at 3 p.m.

Language of Intercession presents a group exhibition of Aboriginal artists working within the mediums of video, digital manipulation, web-based, and new media installation art. [The artists] use a range of technological and digital mediums to construct sites of meaning and perception. Although not thematically linked by specific content, these artists typify the rigorous examination and experimentation in technology based mediums by Native artists.
Steven Loft

In a special collaboration, Articule, Dazibao and Oboro are presenting Language of Intercession: Native Media and New Media Artists, a touring exhibition from the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Curated by Steven Loft, this project includes Archer Pechawis, Skawennati Tricia Fragnito and Stephen Foster at Articule; KC Adams and Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew at Oboro; and Dana Claxton at Dazibao.

Rattle, Dana Claxton's four-channel video presented at Dazibao, is an installation using new technology to portray an elaborate visual prayer. With the use of traditional cultural items such as rattles with horse hair and beadwork, the images are projected to create a mirrored vista representing infinity. The artist has chosen to work with rattles in order to combine aboriginal sound and electronic technology to create a sanctified space in which the viewer can engage. The work considers the spiritual Lakota belief that "The Heart of Everything That Is" and the above skyworld are mirrored directly on the earth below. The doubling of images emphasizes the notion that creation on earth and in the sky, reflect each other to create an existence of timeless continuum -with no ending.

Dana Claxton is an award-winning director, media artist and member of the Hunkpapa Lakota Nation residing in Vancouver, Canada. Her work has been screened internationally in more than 15 countries, and her media art installations are in public collections, including the Vancouver Art Gallery. Her media artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis. Claxton combines filmmaking with elements of visual art, traditional Lakota knowledge, and surrealism. She has directed projects for the National Film Board of Canada, CBC, VTV, and APTN. She teaches Aboriginal Art history at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and is a founding member of the Indigenous Media Arts Group - a non-profit cultural arts organization dedicated to self-representation.

Currently the Director of the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg, Steven Loft is a Mohawk of the Six Nations. He is a curator, writer and media artist. Formerly First Nations Curator in Residence at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Artistic Director at the Native Indian/Inuit Photographers' Association, Loft has curated The Very Soul of Me: Modern Artists Exploring the Spiritual, Unity of Nations: Contemporary First Nations Art and Language of Intercession. His videos have been screened at festivals and galleries across Canada.

Dazibao thanks the artist for her generous contribution and its members for their support. Dazibao receives financial support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Dazibao is a member of the Regroupement des centres d'artistes autogérés du Québec.

The Art Gallery of Hamilton gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council of the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Hamilton and the Canadian Heritage Museums Assistance Program.