Transgressing space at UWAG
The first thing you see is the tent. Then the futons.
Artist Brenda Mabel Reid says that their exhibit, “Underlay”, now showing at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery, is a place for dreaming, imagination, and rest — “especially for adults, like when do we get to do that?” The exhibit is composed of a quilt made of 64 hexagonal pieces of roofing underlayment sandwiched between layers of vapour barrier, with markings on the quilt inspired by architectural drawings and construction markings. The quilt is currently strung up through the middle to create a tent-like structure which stands over two futons. Lightbulbs strung through the ceiling of the structure, along with the light filtering through the tent, add a soft glow to the space. A sign outside the tent asks visitors to remove their shoes or wear the provided shoe covers before entering.
Alicia Wang
Reid, a graduate of UW’s architecture program at the undergraduate and masters level, explains that the exhibit is always installed differently due to its modular nature, its shape this time around attributed to a suggestion from UWAG director and curator Ivan Jurakic. The quilt is normally installed flat on the ground, partially inspired by a co-op term Reid completed in Amsterdam, where they observed a local tradition of public napping, something “socially normal there, not socially normal here.”
During their talk, Reid explains that the concept for the project stems back to their thesis on quilts as architecture. which itself stemmed from a realization of the division between their socially-minded work in the classroom and the reality of architecture they experienced during their co-op terms. Reid described how they’d find themselves working on projects often without chances like community consultations or site visits to connect with the intended audiences.
Eventually, they connected the concept of care of architecture to quilts. Their research showed how quilts had been used as early forms of armour, and how the purpose of quilting was to keep quilt stuffing in. “I argue that quilting is protection, comfort and warmth and those are the fundamentals of architecture, of dwelling, of home,” they said.
Reid worked on different projects throughout the pandemic and beyond, based on this idea, which developed their interest in work that interacted with the public and the relationship between quilts and architecture. They noted the different realms of questioning they encountered while working within the idea of quilts and architecture; particularly regarding the politics of space and transgressing certain social codes, even being asked at times whether they had a permit to show the exhibit in a public space.
Alicia Wang
The exhibit also plays off social codes with its inclusion of facilitators wearing high-visibility vests with the words ‘NAP TEAM’ on the back, who direct would-be nappers to the earplugs and sleep masks on a nearby table. Reid explains that the vests are a nod to guerilla urbanism, where citizens would take it upon themselves to address issues within the community that their governments had not, wearing the vests to add a form of authority to their work “under the guise of like, ‘people won’t really ask you a lot of questions if you’re in high vis.’”
This is “Underlay”’s first time being shown in a gallery, and Reid points out the contrast between the purpose of the exhibit and the common perception of galleries. “It also kind of like messes with this idea of the white-walled gallery and it’s like, ‘actually, you can take a nap, like you can rest,’ … you’re still in the art, but you can kind of occupy a gallery in a little bit of a transgressive way as well,” they said.
They also note the contrast between the purpose of the exhibit and the perception of its current home. “[It’s] very interesting to have it at the UW school, especially as a grad of the school, like I was overwhelmed and stressed out the whole time in my degree,” Reid laughs. “So I do think it’s very fitting for it to be here … I hope it offers a really reflective space for people to rest.
The journey to rest is admittedly an ongoing one for Reid. “I wish it made me take more rest. I think there’s nothing more tiring that I’ve done recently than tour The Nap. But it is a sort of constant thing that I keep coming back to is like burnout and underwhelm, and so it’s not a surprise to me that I did a project like this, but I also have not figured it out.”
Throughout their career, Reid has received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, and the City of Kitchener.
Cover photo courtesy of Ivan Jukavic. Photo by Scott Lee.
