Fogo Island

Browsing the Fall edition of Canadian art, we just came across a very nice description of the project we undertook in Fogo Island 2 years ago:

"...Later, Gunnarsdottir gives me a present from the Arts Corporation: a publication the foundation produced, a booklet of an artist project called 4 dimensional mapping that she curated in August 2009.
The project included artists from France, Scotland and Switzerland, [rather anonymous, basically us and Erika Irmler] and involved local residents. It documented an investigation of the material culture of Fogo Island, and contained locals' verbatim descriptions of geographical markers and the sea, recipes of traditional dishes like Jiggs' dinner, drawings of local architecture and other cultural points of interest, photographical portraits of residents, and copies of postcards sent to Glasgow detailing aspects of the island life. In its careful documentation of the culture, the 4 dimensional mapping project was not so different from the careful documentation undertaken by the original Fogo Process."

Rock Haven, Fogo Island’s Newfoundland art-residency experiment
by Lisa Moore

4 dimensional mapping

The publication from our experimental workshop on Fogo Island last year has arrived.
The work was developed with Erika Irmler (who also designed the publication) and was part of the Production Program of the Fogo Island Arts Corporation.


Here is a wee preview:

Fogo Island, continued 2

Fishing stage with a corner made of 2 stones, Tilting

Flake (timber walkway used as access and for drying salted fish), Tilting

Bluberry crisp, made by Joy, Joe Batt's Arm

Vegetable garden, Tilting

Store door, Tilting

Porpoise tails, Barr'd Islands

Tilting

Joe Batt's Arm

Barr'd Islands

Fogo Island, continued

Fishing stage in Deep Bay
Caribous
Door handle on Aidan's stage, Joe Batt's Arm
Inside Aidan's stage, listing the previous years caribou hunts, Joe Batt's Arm
Salted cod drying on the flakes, Joe Batt's Arm

Fogo island project

We are documenting some of our ongoing project / research in Fogo Island in another blog: http://fogomaps.blogspot.com/

fishing stages

The fishing stages in Fogo Island were built as a place to prepare the fish, gut it, then salt it. Most of them are still in used today. The bridge, or flakes, were also used to dry the salted cod.
Beautiful small structures, with a very light hold onto the rocks.

punts half models

The local boat building practice for the traditional rowing fishing boat, the punt, is being revived through the punt race. Some of the boat builders use "half models" of different scales and of different constructions to measure up the boats. One of the type of half model has layers held together with pegs, the other has slots in the hull in which inserted cards work as sections to scale up.

Iceberg ice

picture by Erika Irmler

In one of our visit we were offered "iceberg ice" as a drink, literally a bit of ice carved out of iceberg bits that pass by in spring and kept in the freezer.

Fogo island

We're just starting three weeks in Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, for an art project with the Shorefast Foundation, and we'll be posting pictures as the weeks develop.