Scott Saunders wants to maintain an almost Masonic level of secrecy about his show at Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery. It’s appropriate, since his installation Grand Lodge is derived from Freemasonry and built out of artifacts taken from the former Freemasons hall on Barrington Street.
When the Masons left the building in 2008 because they couldn’t afford necessary repairs, they left behind furniture, objects and architectural fixtures. Saunders lives in the building next door and knows the building’s new owner, Steve Caryi, who let Saunders into the space to investigate. Saunders was astonished by the architecture of the hall and the sheer volume of stuff left behind. The project grew from there. “I was absolutely blown away by what I saw…all kinds of crazy shit, man!”
The installation is taking over the entirety of the gallery, constructing new walls, spaces and sculptures from materials salvaged from the Masonic hall. Antique doors, church pews, organs, lighting and signs are used in the construction—Saunders cites Swiss installation artist Thomas Hirschhorn as an influence. He speaks of art history and Walter Benjamin’s ideas of allegory. “The Masons are simply the surface tension of this project,” he says. “Everything has been really carefully considered—rooms, narratives. I’m creating an allegory, if you will.
“What’s interesting is that the material I’m using from the Masons is what they considered could be left behind, considered to be garbage.”
Saunders studied film and multimedia at NSCAD, and is also incorporating video and audio work into the installation, though he won’t go into specifics. Saunders’ projections have been exhibited on Barrington at the last two Nocturne festivals; this is his first solo gallery exhibition. He negotiated with the building owner to buy the material left behind by the Freemasons, and was given a temporary holding space in the basement of the Roy Building down the street.
“For the last year I’ve just been conceptualizing what I’m going to do with this stuff,” he says. He used the Freemasons as a starting point to delve into the themes he wanted to explore. “The Masons are themselves an allegorical construction. They bring together elements from religions around the world.”
Due to the clandestine nature of the Masons, the objects take on a mysterious feel, coming from this space few Haligonians ever had the chance to see or understand the rituals of. They feed into a more general idea of religion and ritual; Saunders wants the viewer to take what they will, not necessarily any specific view of Freemasonry. Masonic beliefs centre around a belief in a Supreme Being, not specific to any one religion; though the society has strong Christian undertones, this ambiguity of belief works well with the ambiguity of the project.
He tried to get in touch with the Halifax Freemasons at the outset of the project, to let them know what he was doing, but his messages went unreturned. He was nonplussed: “I wasn’t interested in what the Masons actually did with the objects, I was interested in the aura they had. The objects were telling me where they want to go.”
The weekend before the show opens, Saunders is deep into the installation process, three-and-a-half weeks of moving material into the gallery, construction and 250 hours of work. “The exhibit will feel as if it could only be set up the way it is set up,” he says mysteriously; fortunately, no initiation will be needed to get in.
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This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.
Its a shame the materials were left behind to be used like this.
I think this is a fascinating project and any artist who is engaged with the mind of Walter Benjamin is going to be doing interesting projects. I’ve been pondering allegory as well today in an interpretation of a song called $1000 Wedding by Gram Parsons which, like Giorgione’s The Tempest, is a puzzlement to scholars–the elements are presented in a mysterious way and don’t readily give themselves over to literal or figurative meaning. I think the song is definitely an allegory for Parsons’ life (but I digress). So excited was I to see Saunders’ show advertise that I interpreted associatively, not literally, what the Coast article wrote : “opening” August 28 – September (whenever) and showed up there for the “opening” Saturday night!! The information that the opening (which I read as in “reception”) is September 10 was missing. Ah language! Nice to see an artist working with Benjamin’s ideas. The previous poster’s comment referring to it being “a shame” that the materials are being used like this” is also enigmatic. What does “like this” mean for this poster I wonder. Is reconstructing form into new form a negative activity? Is so, I guess recycling could be considered a shame. I know some objects are given sacrosanct status. We’re not to burn or desecrate the flag but I don’t think this artist will be re-forming the pieces in a disrespectful way. If any act might be seen as implying disregard it might be abandoning the objects to gather dust without the rituals to sustain their meaning. –Joanne Light
In my previous comment, “Is so” should read “If so”
Since the beginning of time, great ideals have been exploited and hijacked by people in an effort to gain attention to their own personal agendas. If not for this artist’s attempt to link his work to something greater then himself it is unlikely he would have gained the exposure he has.
The artist certainly has an enormous imagination and has taken a great deal of artistic freedom in staging his personal expressions under the deception of something else.
The psychologically disturbed nature of the artist’s offensive shock art inserted and arranged amongst the remnant of architectural remains from the Masonic Hall at times crosses the line to enter in to the realm of hatred and pure ignorance. If there was an admission fee, I would have asked for my money back.
Like myself I assume it’s not the recycling of material that the previous post found Shameful, it was the “disrespectful way” it was presented.
Grand Lodge has nothing to do with this unauthorized perversion of its identity. Masonry is not a building, nor is it furniture, objects or architectural fixtures it is a Philosophy and the only part of that philosophy that is expressed in this exhibit is the belief in the freedom of personal expression.
Furthermore, the statement “Masons left the building in 2008 because they couldn’t afford necessary repairs…” Is a complete falsehood that I would have hoped The Coast would have detected if they would have done their due diligence in journalistic integrity by qualifying statement accuracy. The fact is the Lodge moved to a newer facility for ease of accessibility and to reduce their carbon footprint.
This new facility allows them to conduct positive community investments, without fanfare or publicity, in more environmentally responsible manner. Good works such as the local breakfast program for children and families in need, securement of vital equipment for the QE2 along with many other worthy endeavors, including a 1.2 million dollar bursary program with the very University this exhibit is displayed at are all proof of the Lodges finical security and commit to the betterment of our community.
My Option, in my opinion this is the biggest piece of bullshit I’ve ever heard on this issue.
The Truth?
You can tell yourselves whatever lies you want in the Lodge but if you are going to make a public statement you will expose your crap. You are either misinformed or lying or both and I challenge you to come out from behind this anonymous post and discuss this publicly.
The Masons didn’t abandon their historic home downtown; a cabal of Grand Lodge officers did and then purposefully destroyed the artifacts, history and heritage of the building and site.
Since no one would do this unless they hated Halifax and hated Freemasonry, hate is the only possible explanation for this holocaust perpetrated against Freemasonry in Nova Scotia. Certainly the classic triumphant of Greed, Power and Ignorance also played a roll.
Newer facility? Ease of access? Carbon footprint? Justified by good works? Those are lies compounded on lies. Freemasonry’s tax exempt status in Nova Scotia means it has taken far more than it has given under the watch of the old farts who controlled it for the last 30 years.
We are now in a time when the public knows more about the virtues, ideals and history of Freemasonry than those doddering old petty potentates who control its name while plotting its destruction.
I could write thousands of words of prose in support of Freemasonry and our history in Halifax. But that was done and they destroyed the Lodge anyway, so I will put it in more simple terms:
The loss of our Grand Lodge sucks, the people who perpetrated the crime suck and you suck for trying to cover it up.
I dare you and those involved to come forward into the light of day and public scrutiny and justify the wrongs you have done!