(un)lucky horseshoes: Midi Onodera and Kim Fullerton

Video, 1:00, 2023
Viewable starting July 1, 2023 at midionodera.com

(un)lucky horseshoes is a collaboration between Midi Onodera and Kim Fullerton and is the 7th video in Onodera’s 2023 series, There is superstition.

2023, the 23rd year of the 3rd millennium, is, according to the UN, the international year of Millets. Millet is a super grain – high in protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals. It is grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human consumption. As the global climate emergency worsens, the war in Ukraine continues and economic disparities rise, we all face degrees of food insecurity.

In these uncertain times, superstitious beliefs can provide a false sense of control over our lives and provide some relief from anxiety. These unscientific beliefs may be religious, cultural, or personal but once you know that a superstition applies, most people don’t want to tempt fate.

This year’s series, There is superstition is a collaboration between Midi Onodera and 12 guest artists including Jason Soesilo, Christiana Ceesay, Millan Singh Khurana, Ruba Alwakeal, Myuri Srikugan, Reem Al-Wakeal, Kim Fullerton, Julian A M.P., Christopher Paolo Dela Cruz, Naomi Fraser, Noah Hanyue Qin and Erin Lam. Each video focuses on a superstition proposed by one of the artists. Through different collaborative methods short videos are created and presented the first of each month. So, we dare you to step on a crack, break a mirror and schedule an important event on Friday the 13th.

(un)lucky horseshoes: Midi Onodera and Kim Fullerton

The superstition around horseshoes is that hanging one over your home’s threshold will bring good – but possibly bad – luck, into your home, depending on how it’s hung. Hanging a horseshoe ends-up, like a ‘u’ means it keeps all the good luck inside and from running out of the cup. Hanging a horseshoe ends down can either mean good luck flows down on anyone who walks underneath it or that all the luck runs out. So-called pagan cultures believed that the iron in the horseshoe saved them from witchcraft & evil, and that its crescent moonlike shape was a symbol of fertility and luck. A medieval blacksmith is credited with making the devil promise to never enter a dwelling that had a horseshoe hanging over its door. Legend has it that witches were so afraid of iron horseshoes, they traveled on broomsticks instead of on horseback.

Midi Onodera is an award-winning filmmaker and media artist who has been making films and videos for more than 35 years. She has produced over 25 independent shorts, ranging from 16mm film to digital video to toy camera formats. In 2017, she received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Kim Fullerton works in drawing, animation and video and has been involved in disability justice work for several years. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

For more info:
kimmarie.fullerton@gmail.com
@midi_onodera
@kim_m_ful

Images: stills from (un)lucky horseshoes