2009

Think about the last time you bought something for your house…
Where did it come from?
Think about the last time you moved…
Remember throwing something away, donating something
or giving something to a friend?
Have you ever wondered where that something is now?
Or how many hands it has passed through since?

For many of us, living in a city means that our hunter/gatherer instincts are no longer crucial for survival. Many of us create homes in temporary environments and live beyond our basic needs. Over time, we inevitably collect furniture and knick knacks, attempting to fill our spaces with items we associate with notions of ‘comfort’. Over time, our ideas of comfort are discarded, alongside the items we once saw as reflections of this ambiguous concept.

What happens when you don’t have a space to express your ideas of comfort?
Being new to Vancouver, I quickly noticed the huge gap between rich and poor and how this correlates with ideas of ‘trash’ and ‘treasure’.

These “comfortable places in uncomfortable spaces” are created from items traded with homeless people, from lawns, storage lockers, dumpsters and thrift stores. Each stall makes new associations between time, place, comfort and discomfort while questioning what space is considered to be public and private. Some items have embedded stories, while others are lost.
At the end of the night I invite you all to help re-circulate these items.

~Zee Kesler

2009

In approaching this project for the Place de la Francophone 2010, I felt it is necessary to consider the elements that define Francophone culture; art, history and language. In designing the lighting for this event, I have taken into account the multi-cultural audience this festival will draw and have considered various symbols associated with Francophone culture that are easily recognizable and commonly used in all cultures. I have chosen a symbol that is familiar in its heritage and used internationally for a universal purpose: The Bicycle.
The designs I have rendered are interactive light boxes, each made of 2 recycled bicycle wheels connected by a 1.5 foot plastic cylinder. Affixed to one side of the cylinder is a pedal arm, outfitted with a reflective hand symbol that signals the participant to crank the pedal to spin the cylinder in order to view images and words on all sides of the cylinder. The lighting for the each of the boxes is contained within the plastic cylinder, secured to an axel that stays stationary as the box rotates around it. The boxes are supported by stands made of recycled bicycles frames, which stand about 3 feet off the ground.

2004