Horns, antlers, teeth and claws – the bigger the better. In October 2014, broken-ribbed and barely breathing, Michel Gignac came out of the Yukon’s remote Peel River Watershed after his second and last season guiding trophy hunters. He entered the industry for adventure but soon found the realities of the job were emotional, dangerous and morally challenging.
Bells & Airplanes, offers a glimpse into the intricacies of an industry that many know, but few personally experience. The installation explores the commodification of our wilds, a trophy guide’s perilous working conditions, confrontations between clients and guides, the power of the ego, the integrity of the hunt and the psychology behind the desire to kill.
Gignac mainly creates interactive sculptures and immersive installations. These works explore materiality often juxtaposing natural and manufactured materials, consummerism, surrealist absurdity, and increasingly the psychology behind our actions.
Michel Gignac is a French Canadian multi-disciplinary artist. In summer 2014, Michel travelled to New York as part of the collective Night Multimedia to create Plastic Island, an interactive installation for Governor Island’s Figment Arts Festival. At the same time, he entered the Whitehorse, Yukon art scene with the joint exhibition Seasonal (dis)order at Arts Underground, the installation Chiaroscuro for the first annual Whitehorse Nuit Blanche and Mouthful/Bouche pleine for the multi-disciplinary francophone exhibition Onde de Choc at the Yukon Arts Centre. This summer, Michel collaborated on Ghost Carwash, an interactive installation for Wreck City’s newest project Demo Tape at the Penguin Carwash in Calgary, Alberta. He currently works from his pallet studio on the outskirts of Whitehorse.