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On December 1, 2003 (World AIDS Day), Sidney-Pacific took part
in spreading awareness by hosting an art installation by Jason Deneault,
entitled "GRID - 11/91". Below is the artist's statement and pictures
of the exhibit.
GRID - 11/91 Jason Deneault
"Being witness to what today is called the AIDS Epidemic -
remembering back to the beginning in 1982 when it was
called GRID - [Gay Related Immune Disorder] - there was very
little understanding of what was happening and not a glimmer
of any possible treatment - a dark time of no hope and great fear.
"Now 21 years later this epidemic has become global in its
scale - there is no selectivity as to who becomes infected - the
concept that this disease is now a treatable chronic illness has
lessened any fear and in turn it has diminished the fact that
education and awareness are still the most valuable tools we have
to stop the spread of this epidemic.
"December 1st is World AIDS Day marking the beginning of
AIDS Awareness Month - Initially it began years ago as a Day Without
Art - to bring attention to the fact that whole generation of artists
were being lost - however art is a very powerful teaching tool in
helping to create awareness and understanding and its presence
became a vital part of this day of remembrance; which will occur
every year until the epidemic is over.
"From the perspective of being a long-term survivor - I use my
work to bring awareness to the impact of this epidemic - a reflective
eye of a particular time in our histories. When something happens
that deeply alters your perceptions, experiences and the pursuit
of life; its impact cannot be absent - AIDS is part of my life - this
work is a memorial to what has been lost...lest we forget what
came before.
"This installation GRID - 11/91 is an outgrowth of an earlier
project of 'Paper Prayers' created in 1991 for an annual
fundraiser at the Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston, to benefit
the AIDS Pediatric Unit at Boston Medical Center, now in its
fifteenth year. 'Paper Prayers' were created as my reflection on
what; at that point, was nine years of living with AIDS - they in
turn became the legend for this installation created in 1997 for the VAB
Invitational - an art exhibit of work by 6 artists living with AIDS.
"The glass artist Richard Posner has elegantly expressed what I
feel about my work: '...serendipity is the mother of invention...form
and content are in a perennial wrestling match with one another. It
is no coincidence that my formal study of glass coincided with my
study of Zen practice. Both are empty vessels to be filled and
released like the tide, with public interaction and discourse...
My tools are a clean slate, an open mind and a penchant for
serendipity'."
(click for larger images)
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