309 | Puzzle Room
The Puzzle Room exploits the ubiquitous imagery of tourist landscapes, knowing that we all use landmarks as a way to locate ourselves, especially when one is traveling in a new city . Jigsaw puzzles and video explore and emphasize the similarities, connectedness and glamour of city skylines.
Room Features:
- Queen Bed
- South View
- Bathroom with small Shower
- Ethernet and Wifi
- 176 sq ft/16 sq m
Artist Statement
For The Puzzle Room I used vintage jigsaw puzzles as my inspiration. I wanted to create a space that was retro funk with elegance. I wanted the room to be a respite from the whorl of the city. A place to come back to where one would feel comfortable relaxed and yet is intrigued, and visually stimulated. I began with the idea of using my jigsaw puzzle collages* as the central theme for the room. For The Gladstone Hotel I was specifically thinking about how a tourist begins to find their way around a new location. Knowing that we all use landmarks as a way to locate ourselves I wanted to exploit the ubiquitous imagery of tourist landscapes to create a new hybrid cityscape. In Room 309 I used six different puzzles from cities in North America . I mixed up the pieces so that buildings no longer sit on any foundation, or are completely out of place. Bridges end haphazardly, the reflection of the Toronto Sky Dome is the wrong place for the building, and the Twin Towers no longer stands upright but rests in the water only as a mere reflection. On the left side of the TV monitor you will find buildings, bridges and waterways from San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Closer to the window is Toronto, Dallas, Texas, and New York City (pre Twin Towers disaster). The silent video work that can be viewed on the TV was shot from several different viewpoints of the around the city and shows slow motion images of the CN Tower. After all the Tower is Toronto ’s most visible, and impressive Landmark.
*Note: The puzzle collages are made up of several different jigsaw puzzles that happen to be cut from the same die cut. I use whatever puzzles come my way through thrift stores, garage sales, and friends. It takes a long time to find the ones that fit together.
Why Jigsaw Puzzles? During a lengthy recovery from an illness I became interested in how puzzles are used in times of contemplation and as a way to mark the passing of “lost” time. Puzzles are predictable fixtures in hospitals, senior’s centers and summer cottages; they are often brought out during healing, and as a way to pass time. I also discovered that some puzzles are cut from the same die cut and you can interchange the pieces from puzzle to puzzle. Generally I am interested in reclaiming discarded and undervalued objects that over time have lost their value to their owner. In fact the original jigsaw puzzles I used for the Gladstone are souvenirs of bygone days, represented by”tourist views”, and”“nature.” The final work presents a topsy-turvy world where nothing sits in its expected place. They are disrupted scenes that reflect our uneasy times while representing a kind of collapsed time and memory.
