TRUDI SMITH

Trudi Smith’s proposed project looks to create a dialogue about the art of archive, ethnography, performance and installation to focus on landscape as a place of relationships, human interactions and social contexts.  Through the method of repeat photography, Ms. Smith intends on photographing landmarks around Banff made significant through their continual presence as subject matter in visual records of the park.  She wishes to re-engage the historical significance of the landscapes in a contemporary context to mimic history.  The work will document the possibilities and limitations for representing Banff through the production of a new archive space composed of photo, video, sound, field notes and drawing.

Artist biography: Trudi Smith has a Bachelor of Art in Social Anthropology from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.  In 2004, Ms. Smith completed her Master of Art in Interdisciplinary Studies (Anthropology and Environmental Studies) from the University of Victoria, B.C.  Currently she is an interdisciplinary PhD student in the Departments of Visual Art and Anthropology at the University of Victoria.  Ms. Smith is particularly interested in bringing together the methods of art practice and social research.  She curated Vantage Points, Scientific Photography in Jasper National Park, 2002 and this photo work traveled to the Library and Achieves Canada in 2004.  Her most recent work, Finding Aid, was a hybrid gallery installation, archival environment and performance.