The Powerplant - Annie Pootoogook

The exhibit was far better than I anticipated. Despite the crappy weather I'm glad that I made it down to Harbourfront to see the work of Pootoogook. What makes her work stand out from others is the variety of content that it contains compared to well; in this case a lot of static boring art that I've been seeing in various Second Cups (yes, it was getting very depressing). Her use of contemporary pop culture items to juxtapose images of natives dressed in traditional winter garments is a fascinating mixture. The perspective is then placed on how we perceive natives and their way of life, how they are fed popular culture through means of current media, but despite that still live in conditions that we all know could be improved from its current state. It saddens me to think that the “originals” to this land live in these conditions.

Content such as abuse (both substance and physical) and way of life are portrayed in such an indeterminate state that I cannot help but be thankful that these issues are addressed. Perhaps this is a silent outcry to the public that we really need to bring a more concrete way of life to the natives. Mass media feeds them what they feed to the rest of the developed fast paced world, but what they necessary is probably something a little different. The content simply does not compliment or enhance their way of life as their way of life is by far different than ours.

Hopefully this exhibition will enable others to think about those who share our land (who are ever so often forgotten), but who do not have all the luxuries (or so popular culture endorses) that we in Toronto have... To think about how we could help them. To think about how we could enhance their way of life without implying our own way of life, but instead to acknowledge their existing lifestyles; to ground that... instead of living in limbo states of happiness and despair.