Coyote Illuminated

It was a cool grey weekend in the Tay Valley Township with continuous precipitation fluctuating from drizzle to showers. The animal filled weekend was full of strange coincidences that oddly resonated with my installation at FieldWork. My work generally explored ideas of how boundaries between the constructed and natural world are constantly shifting and the way in which these defined spaces are challenged and transform over time.

The weekend stay at our annual summer getaway at Lochdale Farm , near the FieldWork site, had an ominous start. Driving past the gates of the farm we discovered, to our dismay, a coyote corpse intertwined in the fence. The propped up position of the animal suggested it was killed while trespassing - it's body used to frighten and prevent other coyotes from entering the property.

We were struck by the irony that, in our trunk, we were transporting a 3D coyote decoy used to “rid an area of disease carrying Canada Geese”. The plastic coyote was one of several objects incorporated into FieldWork installation which was a nod to Joseph Beuys famous 1974 performance, I Like America and America Likes Me, where the artist spent three days in a NYC gallery with a felt blanket, a flashlight, a cane and a live coyote.

Beuys acknowledged the spiritual significance of animals, the meanings and symbols they convey and how their disappearance and decimation is a sign of global and societal ills. The animals that are thriving, coyotes being in this group, are the ones that have adapted to an expanding urban environment. Back in Toronto, soon after the install at Fieldwork, were reports of a raccoon killing attempt by an irate home owner claiming to protect his garden. The article suggested Coyote urine an effective repellent to urban raccoons.

For more photos of Coyote Illumination click here and/or visit the gallery on this website in the menu to the right called 'spring/summer 2011 - coyote illumination'