not going anywhere any way started out as a site-specific art project that lasted from April - June 2005. Once a week, I visited my Grandparents' old neighbourhood in Markham, Ontario and plastered posters consisting of my Grandma's journal entries from 1986 wherever I could find space.
People who came across the posters during those fourteen weeks were able to read the daily events of my Grandma's life: events that took place during the same week and in the same community nineteen years before.
I started to entertain the idea of transforming the original project into a handmade book when I came across a call from The McCleave Gallery of Fine Art searching for artist books about Lineage. After my proposal was accepted by the gallery, I figured that if I was going design a book, I might as well go the extra mile and make more than one. I somehow settled on an edition of sixteen books, then set out on the creative journey (one that is still under way!)
The book is a mish-mash of parts of not going anywhere any way: memories and stories about my Grandparents, representations of the posters, journal entries (some in my Grandmother's handwriting) and anecdotes about things that happened to me while I was putting up posters.
Each book is hand-bound with a soft cover, hand-stenciled on black rag paper and comes in a protective box. Ten books are currently available for purchase.
The McCleave Gallery of Fine Art is a Canadian alternative portable gallery space. It is not a building; it is a suitcase labeled with the last name McCleave. In 2006, the gallery embarked on its Lineage Tour carrying books about lineage made by seventeen artists, travelling to Nova Scotia, Quebec, Australia, Holland, Ireland and Britian. The goal of the tour was to carry out research concerning the last name McCleave and the unknown identity of the orignal owner of the suitcase, who was located, happily, quite by accident.
The McCleave Gallery in Halifax. Photograph by Michael McCormack
