Annette Mangaard & Nathan Bruce: After the Flood

After the Flood, installation view

After the Flood
Annette Mangaard + Nathan Bruce

Various Dates, November 23 – December 6, 2024
Charles Street Video, Toronto

Opening Reception
Saturday, November 23, 6 – 10pm
Register for free ticket

Exhibition
Wednesday, November 27 and December 4, 12 – 4pm
Thursday, December 5, 6 – 8pm

Closing Reception
Friday, December 6, 6 – 9pm
Register for free ticket

Panel Discussion
Thursday, November 28, 6 – 8:30pm (gallery opens 6pm, panel takes place 7 – 8pm)

Technical Workshop
Saturday, November 30, 12 – 3pm

This interactive art installation uses projection mapping, motion tracking, sound design, and footage of the natural world to explore water and climate change from an artist’s perspective through the lens of intergenerational creative experience.

Artists Annette Mangaard and Nathan Bruce come from two different generations, each shaped by their own experiences of the environment. Mangaard has witnessed the rise of climate activism and the ongoing damage to our planet, while Bruce, born into a world already affected by climate disasters, will likely face even more severe changes as time goes on.

Through this intergenerational creative collaboration, the installation poses an essential question: How do we, as individuals and as a society, navigate the inevitability of environmental change? How do we reckon with our role in both its cause and its response?

The installation features creative footage from Mangaard’s global travels, captured with a variety of cameras, including underwater and microscopic lenses. Audiences will glimpse first-hand glaciers, steaming mud pools, underwater sea and ocean life from Patagonia, Australia, New Zealand, the arctic and North America’s coastal regions—each offering a uniquely creative and intimate glimpse of the fragility of our planet’s ecosystems. These images help remind us of the vulnerability of our natural world and the urgent need for action.

Bruce’s technical expertise brings an interactive layer to the experience. Viewers navigate a landscape of floor projections that shift and evolve based on their movement within the space. This interactive element underscores the central idea of After the Flood: that we, as individuals, play an active role in shaping the environment, just as the environment continually shapes and responds to us.

By implicating the audience in the visual transformation of the space, the installation highlights the delicate balance between human actions and the natural world—reminding us of the profound and reciprocal influence we have on each other. After the Flood is not just an art experience; it’s an invitation to consider how we can better care for the world we live in, and how we can make a positive difference for future generations.

After the Flood, installation view

Panel Discussion with John Lorinc, Angela Demontigny and Luke Moslenko
Thursday, November 28, 6 – 8:30pm (gallery opens 6pm, panel takes place 7 – 8pm)
Register for free panel discussion

Key Topics:

• The role of art and community engagement in raising awareness about water conservation.
• The impact of urbanization and climate change on water systems.
• Water pollution and the role of science in monitoring and mitigating it.
• Indigenous governance models and traditional knowledge in water management.
• Policy solutions for safeguarding freshwater ecosystems.
• Watersheds, how they work. Facts about our local watershed.

Panelists:

John Lorinc
John is a Toronto journalist and editor. He writes about urban affairs, climate and planning for various media, including The Globe and Mail, Walrus Magazine and Spacing, where he is a senior editor. John has written extensively about urban/municipal infrastructure, including water and waste-water systems, conservation authorities, watershed management, landscape architecture, and the GTA’s river/ravine/moraine ecosystems.

Luke Moslenko
Luke is a water quality scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, focusing on the impact of human and climatic drivers of primary productivity in thousands of lakes to comprehensive monitoring of local Ontario watersheds to understand the dynamics of nutrients and winter road salt. With a strong background in environmental science and data-driven approaches, Luke bridges the gap between research, policy, and practical solutions to protect freshwater ecosystems

Angela Demontigny
Award-winning Cree/Métis artist and designer Angela DeMontigny offers an indigenous perspective on water as humanity’s most essential resource. Drawing from her heritage, she will discuss the cultural and spiritual significance of water, highlighting its role in the interconnectedness of all life. Her recent large-scale artwork All Our Relations stands near Hamilton’s harbor, surrounded by its many waterfalls, river systems, and Lake Ontario, further emphasizing the vital importance of water in sustaining life.

After the Flood, installation view

Technical Workshop with Nathan Bruce
Saturday, November 30, 12 – 3pm
Register for free workshop

Led by Toronto-based New Media artist and designer Nathan Bruce, this workshop will employ TouchDesigner to explore point cloud generation and manipulation using footage and/or photos. We will experiment with colour, luminance, and generated noise patterns to pull a two dimensional image into a three dimensional space. Throughout the workshop, there will be explanations on what point clouds are, their practical use, their use in New Media art, and how we can control them to suit our needs as artists. Experience in TouchDesigner is not a required prerequisite but is certainly an asset. If you have the time, doing a quick general tutorial of TouchDesigner (which can be found on Youtube) will be helpful for first timers.

Required materials: laptop with a GPU, mouse (not necessary but extremely helpful for navigating TouchDesigner), digital videos or photos (we will also have some hi-res videos that we can provide to workshop participants). If you have a laptop it is recommended to bring it. However, laptops and projectors can be provided. Please download a free version of TouchDesigner on your laptop before you come.

All events are free and open to the public at Charles Street Video.

Charles Street Video
76 Geary Avenue
Toronto, ON M6H 2B5
charlesstreetvideo.com
416-603-6564

Special thanks to the Ontario Arts Council, The Government of Ontario and Charles Street Video for all their support.