my friend, the don valley, zoom performance, 2020
During time spent in lockdown, I began to pay attention to the rhythms and the symbiotic relationship I held with my immediate environment. My apartment overlooks the Don Valley in Toronto -- I see it everyday, I walk along the bridges that hang over it, I fall asleep and wake up to the sound of its traffic along the Parkway every night and day. At the same time, I began fermenting foods and thinking about the responsibilities of taking care of hundreds of beings living inside my jars. And then I wondered: Can there be a relationship between these acts of existing within my domestic environment?
At the beginning of this video performance, I’m outside with the Don Valley, collecting rain that the Don and I both experience. Inspired by Eleonora Edreva and Leo William’s Family Jewels, I thought about the Don as my other queer co-parent in taking care of a culture of several beings living inside a bottle. I fed my mint plant with the rain I collected, and brought the mint into the fermented tea (kombucha) for its second fermentation. In the second part, I got the kombucha some sun with me, stretching its legs in the warmth.
At the beginning of this video performance, I’m outside with the Don Valley, collecting rain that the Don and I both experience. Inspired by Eleonora Edreva and Leo William’s Family Jewels, I thought about the Don as my other queer co-parent in taking care of a culture of several beings living inside a bottle. I fed my mint plant with the rain I collected, and brought the mint into the fermented tea (kombucha) for its second fermentation. In the second part, I got the kombucha some sun with me, stretching its legs in the warmth.
