Doug Dumais, Evan Furness & Bren Simmers
Doug Dumais is a camera-based artist working in Charlottetown, Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island.
A self-taught artist, Dumais holds a master’s degree in art history from Concordia University (2019). He has exhibited at The Guild, the City Hall Art Gallery in Ottawa, this town is small, ARTCH Montréal, and Galerie La Castiglione.
His work has been collected by the PEI Art Bank and the City of Ottawa Art Collection.
Evan Furness is an interdisciplinary artist from rural Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island. His practice uses DIY approaches to image and bookmaking, audio, video and performance to explore space and place through the lens of popular culture and his rural upbringing.
Evan has worked for artist-run centers and art institutions such as this town is small, Confederation Centre Art Gallery and is one of the co-founders of Ch’town Zine Fest.
In addition to his work in the visual arts, he has worked in film and television as a sound recordist and art director.
Evan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University in 2018 and his work has been supported by the PEI Arts Grants program and Canada Council for the Arts.
Bren Simmers is the winner of the CBC Poetry Prize and the author of four books, most recently, If, When.
She has worked as a fire lookout, a naturalist, and an editor. Her writing is informed by place-based sensory observations.
Palimpsest III
Visit three outdoor observation cubes, where three artists working in different mediums are conducting experiments in close looking and deep listening; inviting viewers to participate in profound acts of attentiveness.
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An extension of Doug Dumais’ 2021 project Shoreline Palimpsest, Dumais introduces Palimpsest III through an invitation to artists Evan Furness and Bren Simmers to reactivate components of the original project. Observation cubes and handouts are used as a methodology to interpret their surroundings through their mediums of choice.
Dumais will be photographing the changing shoreline and surrounding area at Beaconsfield Carriage House from 6 - 11pm. He will be printing photographs and hand-outs onsite and producing a small zine that is meant to teach others how to set up their own observation cubes.
Furness will be located at Rochford Square and he will be drawing his surroundings and objects dropped off by visitors via a deposit box from 5 - 10pm. He will also be generating an ambient soundscape that will be manipulated between drawings. Furness invites the audience to keep drawings from the installation.
Simmers will be hosting a listening lab in Victoria Park from 4 - 9pm. Simmers will be producing small handouts with poetic prompts that invites viewers to sit in the area around the cube and listen deeply to their surroundings. Her project invites participants to experiment and record their own sound log or sound map.