Becka Viau

Agrarian Alienation is a series of works that reflect on concepts of  land labour, the work for food and our contemporary relationship to this process. The work in this series is created and presented with a focus on romantic ideals and pastoral myths.

Listed below are the titles and descriptions of the artworks in this series:

Hay Bale (2011):  A subtle and living monument to agricultural apathy expressed by the majority of the western population. This installation existed for 1 month in a pedestrian courtyard, Halifax NS.

43 Head of Cattle: 2,570 Gallons of Milk: 10,278,400 Gallons of Water (2011): A memorial to the loss of personal connection to the production of food and the labour of our food bearing animals. A self feeding ‘milk fountain’ hay bale memorial whose design and concept were influenced by the fact that in 2011 dairy farms in Nova Scotia working 43 head of cattle or more were receiving government funding to upgrade their milking barns for the use of robotic milkers. Included in the installation was a QR code that would take smart phone users to a youtube video of the robot milkers in use. This work was installed in a store front window gallery on a busy commercial street, next to a “slow food” and locally sourced restaurant in Halifax NS.

Monument (2014): A Living installation produced specifically for the group exhibition Somewheres (2014), curated by Pan Wendt and exhibited at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown PE. Monument consists of 8, 4’x4′ round hale bales, situated outside of the gallery. The installation exists for just over 4 months. The hay bales are left naked to the elements for the duration of the exhibition. As an object Monument stands in stark contrast with the surrounding architecture and the steadfast mandate of the Confederation Centre – it exhibits a sense of place whose meaning shifts with the passing of time.

Agrarian Monuments (2014): 8 Living installations created in situ, located around rural PEI, summer 2014. This project also includes an online/interactive component that uses virtual space and social media to provoke the desire to escape the city . Building from the experience of Hay Bale (2011) Agrarian Monuments are subtle and fleeting tributes to the pastoral or agrarian myth and the relationship between humans, the land/place and identity. Visit this project’s web site here: www.agrarianmonuments.com