Janet Morton @ TH&B2

Janet Morton emissions/omissions; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

The TH&B2 show at 270 Sherman in Hamilton, Ontario is gone but not forgotten. Janet Morton, a guest artist invited by the TH&B collective, created emissions/omissions for the exhibit. In her statement she wrote: "Growing up in the 70's, wearing a "Give a Hoot, Don't pollute" t-shirt and living across the bay from Hamilton, Stelco and Dofasco filled both the skyline and my imagination in dark menacing ways. This factory piece is [a] wrestling match where all of my thoughts of dystopia have been omitted, surrendered." Yup, that's the prettiest factory and smoke plume that I've ever seen.

Janet Morton emissions/omissions; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

According to the exhibition brochure, emissions/omissions is made of reclaimed plastic flowers, marine plastic, lexan, liquid plastic, wood, beads, wire. I'm curious to know if the lace pieces that the factory is shaped from were once textile doilies that were hardened with liquid plastic, or if they were plastic to begin with. The lace is not on the materials list and I'm a curious person.

Janet Morton emissions/omissions; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Morton's concept is solid. I appreciate how she used mostly synthetic man-made materials for her factory tableau. Also, I'm a sucker for textiles being used or represented in quirky ways. Morton's piece was one of my favourites. It brought a strong, yet feminine touch to a large industrial space and contrasted nicely with the other artworks in the exhibit.