Can’t Let Go

Holding Patterns at Planet Storage / Art Spin, 2018

curated by Rui Pimenta and Layne Hinton

Within a large storage facility, I transformed a rental locker into a domestic mise-en-scene, where various vintage objects encased speakers that played individual instrumental and vocal tracks of tunes covered by a local band. It explored the ways in which certain song hooks and lyrics can insinuate themselves in our memories, thoughts and emotions, triggering feelings of nostalgia, joy, and disappointment. The tactility of old domestic possessions similarly sought to evoke deep feelings, from pleasure to regret, conflating past and present. Visitors were invited to sit in an armchair and answer a ringing telephone to hear an intimate delivery of a monologue from British playwright Sarah Kane’s ground-breaking, nonlinear play “Crave”, a dark and potent expression of love, longing, and mental deterioration. 

Performed by

Rebecca Campbell, vox songs and text

Rob Murphy — keys

Kevin Bell — guitar

Kevin Jeffrey — bass

Malcolm Gould — drums

Songs by Robbie Robertson, Bruce Springsteen, Randy Weeks.

Text by Sarah Kane, excerpt from “Crave”  

Recorded at Ratspace Studios, Toronto

With special thanks to Robin Easton, Phil Strong, and Rebecca Campbell.