I am presenting my interactive installation “Wishful Thinking” for one night only!

“Wishful Thinking” uses projection, sound reactivity and sculpture to walk visitors through an ancient “clootie well.”

Check out this brand new work, enjoy some refreshments, and sit in on a discussion on the process and intention hosted by Jordan Baylon (they/she). Get extra immersive and participate in the audience talkback.

Please RSVP for catering estimates.

AGENDA:

6PM: Doors, installation active

7-7:45PM: Mackenzie and Jordan artist discussion and talkback

7:45PM: Installation active

8:30: Event end

Supported by Calgary Arts Development.

ARTIST STATEMENT

This work is a place for ruminating on what it takes to make wishes come true.

Inspired by Celtic wishing wells, or “clootie wells”, “Wishful Thinking” acts as a projected portal to the wishing realm, where uttered dreams and spoken desires manifest into visual energy.

It is a tumultuous time to be alive; climate disasters sandwich the news of multiple genocides across the world while fascism rises at home. The Earth and humanity need collective healing.

Clootie wells were places for sick people to go and ask for healing. A cloth, or a “cloot” was tied to a tree near the stream as an offering. It was believed when the cloot degraded back into nature, the affliction would be gone.

Once a commonplace landmark across English, Irish and Scottish landscapes, clootie wells quickly diminished with the introduction of Christianity to the isles.

Worship and water rights were contested as these healing spaces were claimed by Catholicism. Some wells were destroyed in order to discourage “false god” worship, while others were converted to shrines of Catholic saints.

While some of these wells have crumbled away or have been paved over, a few remain. In fact, many surviving wells suffer from the weight of hundreds of plastic cloots tied to surrounding trees as modern day wishes are made.

With the introduction of plastics into fabrics, contemporary cloots do not deteriorate as easily. Does this mean the wishes don’t come true?

Despite the state of the wells, the water does not forget, and people still wish for change. The energy remains.

The offering to the well is important, whether it’s a cloth, a coin, or something else. In the case of this installation, the offering will be action. The first action you can take is speaking the wish into the world.

Otherwise, it’s just wishful thinking.

Materials: Interactive installation; multi-channel projection, multi-channel microphone, recycled chandeliers, fabric, sound.