C.O.V. (2010)
Through five performances in different locations, C.O.V. investigated public perceptions of gentrification processes and the built environment. It was a re-enactment, an attempt to permeate the illusionistic façade of the Olympic atmosphere by referencing commonplace realities of gentrification and displacement from the years preceding the Games. On Granville Island, the performance was particularly significant in the current moment of economic and housing crisis: the island is controlled and developed by CMHC (The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation), a federally run organization originally created “to lead the nation's housing programs.” But The National Affordable Housing Program ended in 1993 and CMHC has drastically increased their involvement in the private sector. In C.O.V., City of Vancouver surveyors operate as though they have been contracted by the federal government.
A collaboration with Julia Higgs, in conjunction with Code.Lab
