Showing a fantastical depiction of waste, “Elegy for Lake Ontario” imagines what it would be like if invisible contaminants were obvious, and could be easily removed from the water.
In this installation, oozing pools of pollution are piped in from the lake. Sucked back onto land, the flow of contaminants is reversed. These piles of toxic sludge are more beautiful than actual waste, and more visible than the microplastics that cannot be fully filtered out of our drinking water. They represent what is already there, beneath the surface.
This installation plays with a looped 20-minute song by JP King.
200 years of mining, development, industry, and population explosion along the lake’s shoreline have resulted in high levels of pollution, a significant loss of biodiversity, and ecological dead zones.
In reality, we’re in the midst of a mass extinction event, and have a few short years to make meaningful cuts on pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting our key waterways is an important task we cannot afford to lose sight of.
This piece was exhibited in the MIOTAS/MYTH exhibition at the Canada Ireland Foundation on the shore of Lake Ontario in Toronto, 2021. Curated by Eli Klein. Photos by Harry Choi.