Explores the life and work of renowned Haida artist Robert Davidson.
Meddle
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
With humor, kinetic innovation and expansion of traditional and contemporary forms, Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas challenges the divide between contemporary and so-called “Native Art”. Drawing from influences on both shores of the North Pacific, the artist confronts the tension he identifies arising from historic racism in the ‘Western Art World’, and addresses the seminal issues of our time.
Meddle captures Yahgulanaas‘s artistic process and philosophy as he creates a re-purposed, car-hood art piece for the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, BC, expanding his "Coppers from the Hood" series. Individual pieces from this series are now in permanent collections at Institutions like: the British Museum, London England; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Peabody Essex, Salem Massachusetts; the Glenbow, Calgary Alberta; and the Denver Art Museum, USA.
"Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is always a treat to listen to - he is both philosophical and grounded in the moment. This film brings out his voice and provides a personal reflection on how one artist can Meddle in the Museum and provide an intervention into questions of authority, materials and meaning. His enthusiasm and joy for the artistic process comes through with an invitation for all of us to Meddle in some of the great environmental and social questions challenging us today." Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, Director, Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art, Associate Professor of Native Art, University of Washington
"Pairing Yahgulanaas' words with images of urban and natural places in the Pacific Northwest, Meddle asserts the need for the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in our response to the current environmental crisis. It describes the development of the series Coppers from the Hood through his deep connection to place, material and history. The film is a beautiful record of the artistic process and a testament to the vital role played by artists as we work to envision the future of the planet." Elizabeth Hutchinson, Associate Professor of American Art History, Barnard College, Columbia University
"This wonderful film is itself a visual and verbal poem. It integrates Yahgulanaas' eloquent words about his creative process, the elegance of his art, and an inventive use of film. But it is more than a celebration of artistry. In a decolonizing action, Yahgulanaas juxtaposes his innovative Indigenous artwork with two plaques - one provincial, the other federal - that had been installed in 1976 to celebrate the Museum of Anthropology's opening. Meddle beautifully demonstrates the capacity of art to challenge the historic dominance of settler society." Aldona Jonaitis, Director Emerita, Museum of the North, University of Alaska, Author, Art of the Northwest Coast
"A compact but magnificent preface to the universe of Northwest Coast traditional art. The artist's sophisticated statements and contemporary applications of that art will keep viewers at the edge of their seats, excited what they're going to hear and see next. I will watch this film a dozen times for both its ability to delight, inform and amaze all at once, and then watch it again. Wisdom lies within this copper hood, and within what Yahgulanaas has to share with us. An absolute gem." Peter Nabokov, Professor Emeritus of World Arts and Cultures, University of California - Los Angeles, Author, A Forest of Time: American Indian Ways of History
"With his characteristic wit and dynamism, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas offers a glimpse into the poetry, politics, and process of his artmaking as a form of serious play. His Coppers from the Hood situate the museum and art world within intersecting legacies of colonialism, climate change, and cultural transformation. In this short film, Yahgulanaas draws the viewer into the series, tacking between the local and the global, the moment and the timeless, the handmade and the industrial, the Haida and the human." Aaron Glass, Professor of Anthropology, Museum Studies, and Indigenous Arts, Bard Graduate Center, Bard College
"A highly unconventional documentary about a surprisingly unconventional Native art work by a resoundingly unconventional Haida artist, Meddle gives voice to the brilliant intervention of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and his commission for the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Using a multiscreen format of exquisite footage to evoke the multiplicity of landscapes, cultures and timeframes referenced in Yahgulanaas' Coppers from the Hood, this short film shares a breadth and depth of perspectives about contemporary art that warrant greater recognition and celebration." Mark Dean Johnson, Professor of Art, San Francisco State University
"In this documentary, Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas redefines the word meddle. From a word that excludes people to a word that is now a call to action, Meddle is not only visually enticing but an important addition to the growing body of work that is grounded in Indigenous methodologies. Visually enticing, creative and inclusive." Melissa Leal, Esselen/Ohlone, Professor of Ethnic Studies, Sierra College
Citation
Main credits
Darling, Gillian (film director)
Darling, Gillian (film producer)
Darling, Gillian (screenwriter)
Yahgulanaas, Michael Nicoll (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Cinematography/editing, Eliot Galán; music, Keigh.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
Haida,Haida Gwaii,haida art,Haida artist,native art,indigenous art,museum of anthropology,vancouver,british columbia,Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas,coppers from the hood,contemporary art,north pacific,pacific northwest,first nations,wiki/Musqueam,Halkomelem,Musqueam Indian Band; "Meddle"; "Bullfrog Films"; "Meddle"; Bullfrog Films
[00:00:00.00]
[gentle piano music]
[00:00:01.05]
- [Michael] This heron is moving.
[00:00:03.03]
This heron is dancing.
[00:00:05.01]
This heron is responding to the moment.
[00:00:10.00]
Never static, never the same,
[00:00:11.07]
never predictable, always twisting.
[00:00:14.08]
"Coppers From the Hood,"
of course, is a reference
[00:00:17.07]
to the automobile hood.
[00:00:21.01]
But it's also a reference
to the neighborhood.
[00:00:23.09]
And it just reminds us that
we are in one neighborhood.
[00:00:28.05]
We're not in separate solar systems.
[00:00:31.03]
We're on the same planet,
we're on the same continent.
[00:00:33.09]
We're in the same city, we're
in the same neighborhood.
[00:00:38.08]
The series started with an invitation
[00:00:41.05]
by the Museum of Anthropology, MOA,
[00:00:43.09]
one of the architectural jewels of Canada.
[00:00:47.09]
The museum approached me and asked me
[00:00:50.05]
if I would do an intervention.
[00:00:52.06]
And so they sort of abandoned
the stage for a moment.
[00:00:57.04]
Two stone pillars at the
gateway to the institution,
[00:01:01.08]
one was by the government of Canada,
[00:01:04.04]
and the other was by the
province of British Columbia.
[00:01:07.05]
Given that the museum is built on the
[00:01:10.05]
Halq'eméylem speakers,
the Musqueam territory,
[00:01:14.04]
I wondered, where was their voice?
[00:01:16.00]
Where was the voice of indigeneity?
[00:01:19.00]
So, it would seem to be
the deafening silence.
[00:01:23.07]
My response was to meddle in the museum.
[00:01:40.09]
As I began to explore the idea
of using automobile hoods,
[00:01:45.06]
I found myself in a junkyard on an island
[00:01:50.07]
in the middle of what used to be
[00:01:53.04]
one of the world's most
prolific salmon streams,
[00:01:56.01]
the Fraser River.
[00:01:57.08]
And in the middle of that junkyard,
[00:02:00.00]
I found the automobile
hoods I was looking for.
[00:02:04.00]
So, my focus was to clean the surface,
[00:02:07.02]
then leaf it with copper.
[00:02:12.01]
And I placed these copper-clad hoods
[00:02:15.09]
on the bones of the building,
[00:02:17.08]
so that they could have a conversation
[00:02:20.01]
with Canada's claims to the building.
[00:02:28.00]
[traffic noise]
[crow cawing]
[00:02:31.02]
My approach is not to
[00:02:33.07]
overly manage the process,
[00:02:37.03]
and I imagine myself as an empty brush.
[00:02:42.04]
It requires me to believe in
the potential of the moment.
[00:02:48.00]
And if I do that,
[00:02:51.09]
then the potential is undiluted.
[00:02:54.06]
And it's vast.
[00:02:57.00]
And then it becomes an adventure,
[00:02:59.02]
the process of creating art
[00:03:01.00]
becomes an exploration
[00:03:02.04]
of the unknown.
[papers rustling]
[00:03:03.08]
And then it's much more exciting.
[00:03:05.07]
It's the process of
adventure and exploration
[00:03:08.07]
that happens as we create.
[00:03:11.03]
It's, "Oh my gosh!
[00:03:12.06]
"I didn't even know that was possible!
[00:03:15.00]
"And look, there it is!"
[00:03:17.00]
It's discovery.
[00:03:21.00]
The object is a record of the dance
[00:03:24.07]
between the artist and the line.
[00:03:29.05]
And it's as close as the observer
[00:03:31.05]
can come to the experience,
[00:03:33.08]
is to see the results of the dance.
[00:03:36.08]
The only way that the observer
is going to experience
[00:03:39.05]
the actual dance is to do it themselves.
[00:03:43.09]
So, the observer needs
to meddle on their own.
[00:03:47.03]
[fingers tapping]
[00:03:51.09]
Copper...
[00:03:54.03]
...has an honesty to it.
[00:03:57.06]
Copper is flesh-like.
[00:04:01.05]
It's accessible.
[00:04:03.07]
It feels friendly
and it feels familiar.
[00:04:09.00]
The success of Haida design
in a contemporary world
[00:04:13.00]
is because it touches on some
of the universal experiences
[00:04:17.08]
of compression and expansion,
[00:04:22.03]
of tension, of release,
[00:04:27.04]
and all people experience this
[00:04:31.07]
in a very intimate way.
[00:04:37.04]
I'm trying to capture a moment here,
[00:04:39.03]
and I'm trying to capture
a moment of reflectivity.
[00:04:41.09]
[airbrush compressor hissing]
[00:04:43.06]
The lacquer creates that surface
[00:04:46.09]
that reflects the
presence of the observer.
[00:04:52.01]
When one stands in front
of the copper from the hood
[00:04:55.02]
and looks carefully,
[00:04:56.05]
you'll see yourself in
that piece of artwork.
[00:05:00.00]
And once you do that,
[00:05:01.05]
you can't separate yourself
from the neighborhood.
[00:05:04.04]
You are part of the hood.
[00:05:06.05]
You are the copper in the hood.
[00:05:10.04]
Coppers are similar to automobiles
[00:05:14.03]
in that they function as symbols
of achievement or status.
[00:05:20.05]
Coppers are still used today.
[00:05:21.08]
Copper shields are still manufactured
[00:05:24.05]
and displayed, and gifted,
[00:05:27.05]
and convey respect
[00:05:29.09]
and notions of incorporal
and tangible value.
[00:05:34.08]
They still function that way.
[00:05:36.05]
But the fascination of western
institutions with coppers
[00:05:40.00]
is rooted in the fascination
of the imaginary Indian.
[00:05:46.02]
This artwork is not confined
to a particular place or time.
[00:05:52.03]
My inspiration is informed
by a historical connection
[00:05:57.01]
to activities deeply rooted
in landscape and place.
[00:06:02.05]
But it is also deeply rooted
[00:06:04.01]
in this place today and this time today.
[00:06:08.05]
This is not a typical
time for the species.
[00:06:15.02]
This is a time for all hands on deck.
[00:06:21.01]
[piano music intensifies]
[00:06:49.05]
[music slows]
[00:06:52.08]
