Showing from March 21 to April 4 2022
Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch feeling lucky, it is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door.
- Rebecca Solnit
"An estimated 25 million birds die each year in just Canada alone, after colliding with windows during flight. This is because birds struggle to recognize that glass is solid, and attempt to fly through to the other side or become confused by their own reflection. The good news is that this conservation issue has an easy and affordable solution, one that everyone has the power to implement. Half Full Glass is simultaneously an invitation to feel optimism for the creative solutions to this ecological crisis that are at our disposal as well as the literal actionable step we can take.
These marks are made using white oil-based paint markers on the outside of the glass, no further than 5 cm apart, which makes the windows more visible to birds and disrupts the reflection while still letting us see through them. When it’s time to take down the window markings, they will wipe away with acetone.
If you are interested in creating your own Half Full Glass windows, visit birdsafeguelph.ca for instructions on how to best transform your windows into something safer for birds."
About the Artist
Shelby Bohn is an interdisciplinary artist and biology PhD candidate from the Red River Métis Homeland and Treaty 1 Territory, Dacotah, MB. She currently lives and studies here in Guelph, ON within the Dish with One Spoon Territory. Shelby's creative practice uses analogy, negative space, and repeating motifs to make connections across multiple media and experiences and contexts. As an ecologist, Shelby is interested in a deeper understanding of what we are connected to, including each other, our collective joy, and our relationships with other animals who share this habitat with us.
*This show will be installed across a span of 2-3 days*