Transitional Phenomena & The Mothership

Collaborative work created by Heather Yip & Alison Beaumont

Shown as part of the Time & Space Exhibition at Salmon Arm Arts Centre in 2023.

Installation and video in partnership with Alison Beaumont
discarded seat from a 1999 Ford e-350 van, three child booster seats, debris from our vehicles and homes. Projector and video projection MP4 aprox. 5 min loop

The video installation delves into our hopes and our fears, a fusion of contemporary life with nostalgia and the profound influence of motherhood, encapsulated by the enduring presence of automobiles.

Transitional Phenomena & The Mothership is a contemplation of the artists' past and present, their hopes and fears, and the events that have shaped them as people and as mothers. Throughout their own childhoods. Alison and Heather recall countless hours spent in cars traveling with their parents and siblings in journeys made relevant in the unfolding of daily life.

This work seeks to become a transitional space, where the artists' memories fluctuate from being a child passenger to a driver and a parent. In this space, the items parents bring for their children become valuable. Not only do they provide enjoyment for the passengers in the back seat, but they can also provide moments of peace for the driver as they travel between points A and B. The inside of the car can become a cocoon-like environment of care. During the in-between moments of life it can be as big as a shelter or as small as a place to read a book or scroll through social media. Through the recalling of relatable and personal artifacts, Transitional Phenomena & The Mothership presents a shifting location where playfulness becomes independence, and where memories are created through the journey into the future.

Cars have been fixtures in western society for generations, growing up in the 1980s, Alison & Heather remember headlines about greenhouse gasses and the hole in the ozone layer, banning aerosols was the answer in an era marked by a prevailing focus on economic growth, short-term gains and consumerism, taking precedence over long-term environmental concerns. We look back in a rear view mirror at the inaction, reflecting on our roles now as mothers, what future are we creating for our children? The car takes on a dimension as a symbol of the progression toward eliminating fossil fuel transportation.

Alison and Heather, both reminisce about childhoods spent in cars, with parents and siblings and the importance placed upon vehicle travel. These vehicles have evolved with us as we transitioned into motherhood, with memories of ushering our newborns home from the hospital in specially made seats to fit inside our cars. Cars have become more than transportation; they can be a vital part of motherhood. Chauffeuring our children to daycare, school, and activities, bridging the gaps in our busy lives.

Inside the car duality emerges, an environment of care, a cocoon or a sanctuary, in which to hide, read a book, scroll on a device … It can also be a crucible of chaos with a trail of stickiness, a place where babies cry, siblings fight, stray toys, inedible foods and unexplained smells… A secret hiding place, a forbidden place to play, to sleep and to dream.