Mous souvenirs [Soft memories]

The end of April to early May is a time when water runs faster on the streets and seeps deeper into the ground. Daytime temperatures rise, the ground thaws under the sun and refreezes at night. In this slow winter’s end and approaching spring, things begin to reveal themselves beneath the layers of snow, and puddles start to form.  

During this transitional period, Miri Chekhanovich searches the streets for potholes and cracks in the road. A phenomenon unique to northern climates, asphalt cavities are considered the particular signature of her home city of Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal. The artist takes a mold of these potholes by filling them with a vegetable gelatin material.

Potholes fascinate her because she considers them a sign of human failure, an urban malfunction caused by the power of water and its natural thawing and freezing cycles. These holes hold great mysteries, which are revealed through her process of casting them in three-dimensional form.

Armenian-born artist Miri Chekhanovich invites people who frequent the Armenian Community Centre, located in the same building as Verticale’s office, to join her in casting the cracks in the pavement outside. Just as her casting material memorizes the holes’ forms and bears witness to movement and the water’s cycles, Chekhanovich wants to archive the conversations between those who join her in this activity: “My people; people who have a common history of displacement and adaptation to new environments.”