Dominique Paul -- Silent Fall : Devenir Oiseau - Becoming Bird - Convertirse en Ave

Quebec: CEAC ( Centre for Experimental Art and Communication). New. 2023. First Edition. Hardcover. 192 pages; New in original shrinkwrap. Text in English, French and Spanish. Since 2012, the artist has taken us on a journey from New York to Surinam, from performance to the studio and looks with humor at our increasingly unequal relationships with living things. The authors brilliantly introduce us to the journeys and experiences of a social art artist. This monograph will accompany the exhibition Silent Fall to be held at the Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC, in 2023. Silent Fall is an environmental justice art exhibition on the decline of biodiversity by Canadian multidisciplinary artist Dominique Paul, curated by Ayelet Danielle Aldouby. Silent Fall surveys Paul’s work over the last decade, highlighting species at risk in the Americas. Using photography, video, interactivity and mixed-media installations, the exhibit, as Aldouby writes, “inspires us to collaborate as compassionate beings and reclaim our role as temporary guardians of a vanishing world.” Paul emerged in the early 2000’s with a heightened awareness to inequalities which she explored through a photography centered on the notion of multiple “selves”. The work combines diverse geopolitical sites and beings to expand one’s consciousness about the environment. This synthesis is achieved by creating a continuum between human, animal, and machine. Inspired by scholar Donna Haraway in her book Cyborg Manifesto (1985), Paul used technology to comment on the impact of the patriarchal spirit, essentialism, and naturalism through the creation of her own cyborgs. Inspired by Rachel Carson’s cautionary environmental science book Silent Spring (1962), the title Silent Fall amplifies the impact of human silence in light of the continued environmental devastation. Sixty years later, the dual meaning of fall goes beyond the literal and seasonal imagery. Through the presentation of Paul’s artistic practice incorporating images, sounds, and movements, visitors are urged to become active participants rather than passive viewers. .