Melissa S. armstrong, Transmute ([5.19:11.20]  ∆ [7.22:2.23])/[5.23:6.23], 2023
animated loop
9 m 18 s
Courtesy of the Artist

Melissa S. Armstrong’s work Transmute ([5.19:11.20]  ∆ [7.22:2.23])/[5.23:6.23] (2023) runs on the Belkin’s outdoor screen daily from 9 am until 9 pm (5 May-4 June 2023).

Armstrong, who is currently a PhD candidate in zoology at UBC, was invited by the 2023 MFA candidates to present their work alongside Things that do not come by the road: Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition, acknowledging the interdisciplinary nature of the MFA program and the importance of connections made outside of institutional structures.

Transmute is the first in a series of animations that the artist produced by capturing images revealed when sanding through blocks of diaristic materials that were de/re-constructed from scientific laboratory notebooks. Pages from the notebooks are interleaved with objects and materials associated with experiments, experimental subjects and events that occur within the timespan presented on the pages. The resultant block of material is obliterated during the sanding. The list of sanded materials includes: canvas wrapped board, laboratory notebooks, Joelle’s shark sticker, zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) feathers, acrylic medium, ashes, origami crane, bird seed, Mudge Island sage (Salvia officinalis), chrome flakes, fabric dye, dust from Title Unknown, metallic thread, ink, bird feces, paper tape, Vancouver lavender (Lavendula officinalis), retroreflective movement tracking markers, Hayden’s compositions, nesting material, acrylic paint, mica powder, Mudge Island foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) dried and pressed inside The Body Keeps the Score.