In 2012 I participated in the Luminato 2012, Thomas + Guinevere’s The Encampment project by Thom Sokoloski and Jenny-Anne McCowan, which honoured the bicentennial of the War of 1812 by populating Fort York with 200 tents, each containing an art installation inspired by a story of a citizen during the War of 1812.
The Encampment took place at Toronto’s Fort York from June 8th-24th.
The Creative Process
The creation of installations began in mid-April through a series of workshops in the barracks of Fort York. The Creative Collaborators had the opportunity to explore and share between each other stories of civilians, militia, soldiers and officers of that time. The aim was to dive deeper into their everyday lives, exploring pivotal moments and emotions, and together create the “temporal village” that resonates with the zeitgeist during the War of 1812.
Each artwork was created taking into consideration space requirements and the kind of materials that can withstand summer weather conditions inside a canvas tent over a 3-week period on the grounds of Fort York.
Materials used for these three installations are: sheets, acrylic paint, twine, wire hangers, ribbon, paper, plastic sheets, pins
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock
Isaac Brock (October 6th 1769 – October 13th 1812), known as a ‘Hero of Upper Canada’, was a British Army officer and administrator, assigned to Canada in 1802. He was well known for his success at the Battle of Detroit (August 16th, 1812) where in partnership with the Native American Shawnee leader Tecumseh defeated American invasion efforts. Brock was wounded in the hand and then shot through the heart at the Battle of Queenston Heights. His last words have been reported as “Push on, brave York Volunteers”.
Brock had led his private life very quietly and some of the stories have never been confirmed. One of the facts is that his family went bankrupt in 1811 when his brother William lost heavily in ships in Napoleonic Wars. William had lent him money to purchase a military commission, which was often done in those days. William never intended Isaac to repay him, but the sums were recorded in his books, so Isaac was giving away his whole salary to pay the debt. Around that time he had met Sophia Shaw, Major-General Aeneas Shaw’s daughter, they fell in love and secretly got engaged as he couldn’t afford to marry her.
There is another interesting story of Brock’s love affair with a Ghanaian princess Almenia Malawice who was his cook. She was sent to England by her family to avoid being kidnapped and forced into slavery. Persuaded to come to Britain’s North American colony, she ended up in a relationship with Brock which produced a daughter, Esther, born in Amherstburg, Ontario, in 1812, after Brock’s death.
Isaac Brock Wikipedia
Brockamour Manor
The Encampment 2012
