Haunted: The Dominion Building

Description:

The exhibition featured a single sound installation in a near empty gallery. The only objects were speakers that played a field recording made on the inside spiral staircase in the Dominion Trust Building. 

At its completion in 1910 the Dominion Trust Building was the tallest building in the British Empire as well as the largest steel structure on the North American west coast. The raising of the building marked a boom period for Vancouver that receded during the depression, also signalling the end of the Dominion Trust Company, which specialized in real estate investment in British Columbia. Currently, the Dominion Trust Building is at the threshold of arguably the most troubled part of Vancouver, beleaguered by the multiplex effects of political and economic disregard. 

In dissolving the physical boundaries of the Dominion Trust Building, Cranfield explored an aesthetic experience of the building through recorded audio, subtly connecting concerns of architecture, place, and colonial histories. Haunted attempted to foster the uncanny experiences invoked through a chain of associations with the name and site of the building.

An exhibition opening took place on Sep 9, 2004 that coincided with the SWARM 7: Annual Festival of Artist-Run Culture.