On the evening of November 24th, 2022, nearly 300 people came to the Cathedral Church of All Saints in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, to experience DOMINUS VOBISCUM. The event was s a collection of the artists' thoughts, feelings, and life experiences manifested through paintings, prose, and sound, which culminated in a singular performance piece.
In the Winter of 2022, Christopher was awarded a Creation Grant by Arts Nova Scotia. Along with the generous support of the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery and the Saint Mary’s Faculty of Arts, he spent approximately eight months on and off campus in a self-directed residency. The purpose of the time on campus was to engage students, staff, and faculty in agenda-less discussions, which served as the entry-level for the inspiration of an overall project. In the beginning, he took notes at the meetings and also included his own thoughts. During these first few months, a writing structure emerged, resulting in over 50 pieces of prose and more than 40 new visual artworks.
The exhibition/performance DOMINUS VOBISCUM was the culmination of everything that Christopher Webb is as an artist: a painter, a writer, a speaker, and a composer of sound. The exhibition was not in a typical ‘white cube’ gallery space and was meant to be an immersive experience for the audience and patrons. Each segment of prose was presented by a talented performer, while Christopher sat in the front, guiding the event with the aim of evoking a visceral reaction. The visual works, sound and prose were an attempt to bring the viewer into a space, momentarily stop their heart with the hopes of re-starting it, and then propose an alternative outlook on life grounded in all-encompassing love, acceptance of mortality, and questioning the moral framework of society.
Like the performance itself, this page is divided into 5 sections. Each section contains documentation photos from the event (all are by Wiebke Schroeder), and the corresponding pages from the exhibition catalogue which include detailed information regarding both the visual works and prose (in English and Italian):
Announcements
Performed by GREY MULDOON (speaker) and DR. ROBERT SUMMERBY-MURRAY (pipe organ)
“I am as Italian as you.
I was born here before you.
I avoid paying taxes like you.
I hate the government like you.
I don’t vote like you.
I love football and distrust anyone from Calabria like you.
”
PROLOGUE
Performed by KYE CLAYTON (speaker), HOLLY ARSENAULT (piano), and NORM ADAMS (cello)
“And you? A coward.You talk in whispers.
Inaudible sounds that play different parts of the same overture.
Incoherent seascapes that get drowned out in your need for applause.
And me? I am undeniable. I fear no one.
My body is saturated with oxygen.
”
And You
Performed by Rev. Dr. Lennett J. Anderson (speaker), HOLLY ARSENAULT (piano), NORM ADAMS (cello), and DR. ROBERT SUMMERBY-MURRAY (pipe organ)
“And the spells that are cast in silence
”
EPILOGUE
Performed by CLYDE A. WRAY (speaker) and NORM ADAMS (cello)
“Constantly shifting, rolling, slipping, I was a fighter who was willing to die for nothing.
Bought and sold. Purposeless. Purely for entertainment.
My ancestors would tell this truth if I listened.
Dominus vobiscum.
I’m not sure I even believe Him.
”
AMANTES AMENTES
Performed by LOUISE RENAULT (speaker), HOLLY ARSENAULT (piano), NORM ADAMS (cello), and DR. ROBERT SUMMERBY-MURRAY (pipe organ)
“Open the gates to the secret island where the citrus grow. ”
