Megan Kammerer
Curator / Writer /Researcher


Exhibitions
  1. To our reunited future
  2. Memories of the Mountain
  3. Shadow Games
  4. Spoiled Milk
  5. Every Beloved Object
  6. Prelude / Requiem
  7. Anoxic Memory
  8. Sutures
  9. Yesterday is Melting


Writing


Info

Megan Kammerer (she/her) is a curator and writer based in Toronto, Canada. She has held various positions with the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, The Bentway, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Blackwood Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Guelph where she worked to support critically engaged exhibition programmes across Southern Ontario.



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5. Every Beloved Object






Every Beloved Object
Visual Arts Centre of Clarington
May 13 - August 27, 2023

Curated by: Megan Kammerer
Artist: Adam Basanta
Installation: David Wigley
Production Support: Societe Via and Multirecyclage
Photo Documentation: Toni Hafkenscheid


Fragments are valued in archeology because they uncover more about human behaviour than lavish gems or relics. A potshard may reveal archaic customs around communal gathering, a coin face may immortalize ancient figureheads or trace forgotten trading routes across newly divided landscapes. If garbage tells us the most about ancient people, what can our waste tell us about our current behaviours and habits?  

Every Beloved Object is a multimedia installation that delves into the complex relationship between ancient ruins, recycling technology, and contemporary waste. Montréal-based artist Adam Basanta explores ancient architectural techniques to postulate new systems of human consumption. Archways are erected using DIY methods of trash compaction. Bricks are formed using discarded materials sourced from local industries and waste management facilities. Many exert a force on their neighbour while resisting similar compression loads in return to form immense structures that recall the pre-modern shape of Roman arch-bridges.

Basanta invites visitors to navigate the labour-intensive process of creating each archway. Your explorations may consider the manual work required to recycle our daily byproducts, question our current consumption habits, or ponder new futures that reimagine our relationship with waste. By returning to basic motions of collection, compaction, and reassembly, we may reflect upon our early origins to create new monuments to everyday debris.

Every Beloved Object is organized by the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington with the support of the Municipality of Clarington.