Reception and Discussion: Monday, October 24, 2016 — 7:00pm

What bodies move alongside, within, and outside of the designated city boundaries? Who inhabits the spaces along the city limits? How is the border of Calgary inscribed on the land and felt in space?

Focusing on themes surrounding ecology and the relationships between individuals and their physical environments, artist Alana Bartol frequently engages walking as an artistic medium. Through performance, video, drawing, installation, and community-engaged art, her work aims to make visible the invisible forces at play in our everyday environments.

For M:ST8, Bartol has created a walking project to trace the limits of the City of Calgary on foot, covering a distance of over 174 km. In this work, the Google map developed by the City of Calgary becomes a virtual guide. Without sanctioned pathways or access points, the boundaries of the city are often experienced from a distance, from a vehicle, or not at all. While the city limit runs alongside roads and highways, it also demarcates the border along Tsuu T’ina Nation 145, dips and crosses both The Bow and Elbow rivers, runs directly along the Bearspaw Dam, moves across private property, farmlands, and sinks into ponds.

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