Where We Were Not; Feeling Reserved, Alexus’ Story
Documentary Animation Quebec 2011 2017 English / sous-titres français disponible 0:06:00
An experimental animated documentary about criminalization in Canada.
In “Feeling Reserved” Alexus shares her story of a ‘starlight tour’, a practice of police brutality against First Nations peoples in Canada where individuals are driven out of town, stripped of their coats and shoes and left to freeze to death. In Alexus’ case a couple happened to drive by her and she was saved. Nonetheless the emotional scars remain, and many people were not so lucky. The realization that these murders are a continuation of the genocide of First Nations peoples today is horrifying for all. This work highlights the systemic violence at play and the silencing effect it produces.
Un documentaire expérimental d’animation sur la criminalisation au Canada.
Alexus partage son expérience d’un « starlight tour », une pratique de brutalité policière au Canada envers les peuples des Premières Nations qui consiste à conduire un individu hors de la ville, l’abandonner sans manteau ni chaussures et le laisser mourir de froid. Dans le cas d’Alexus, un couple est passé en auto et elle a été sauvée. Mais d’autres ont eu moins de chance. Il est terrifiant de réaliser que ces meurtres sont aujourd’hui une continuation du génocide des peuples des Premières Nations. L’œuvre met en évidence l’usage systématique de la violence et le silence qui l’entoure.
Working with animation, video, painting, drawing, installation and intervention, Jessica MacCormack’s interdisciplinary practice examines the complex position of culture within neoliberal capitalism and critiques modes of social control, while exploring the potential for art to function as a site of resistance. They are specifically interested in how modes of violence are perpetuated collectively through popular narratives, concepts of justice and denial of accountability. MacCormack’s practice has included an ongoing commitment to working with women and youth who are in conflict with the law, through the creation of art projects in prisons as well as at numerous centres that support marginalized people.
Combinant l’animation, la vidéo, la peinture, le dessin, l’installation et l’intervention, la pratique multidisciplinaire de Jessica MacCormack observe la relation complexe entre la culture et le capitalisme néolibéral, en critique les méthodes de contrôle social, tout en explorant le potentiel des arts à servir de vecteur de résistance. Ille s’intéresse particulièrement à la façon dont les modes de violence se perpétuent collectivement par les récits populaires, les concepts de justice et le déni de responsabilité. MacCormack travaille étroitement avec des femmes et des jeunes en conflit avec la loi, par la création de projets artistiques dans les prisons et de nombreux centres d’aide aux personnes marginalisées.
Alexus has been a videomaker since 2005, when she began working on projects with professional mentors at Crossing Communities Art Project in Winnipeg. She is two-spirited, hails from Swan River, Manitoba and recently moved from Winnipeg to Toronto. Her work has been screened nationally and internationally at ImagiNative, Inside Out LGBT Film Festival and Bildwechsel (Hamburg, Germany) to name but a few.
Categories: 2015-2019, animation, documentaire/documentary, English, MacCormack, new 09-17, Québec, Young A. Tags: autobiographie / autobiography, luttes•racisme•resistances•violences / struggles•racism•resistances•violences