A new exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery is inviting the community to step out of their lives for a moment and onto a set.
The exhibition titled ‘Nothing to be done’ by Kelowna-based artist Melany Nugent-Noble, takes inspiration from the minimal stage set of Samuel Beckett’s play, ‘Waiting for Godot’. The play, first performed in Paris in 1953, is about two characters — Vladimir and Estragon — who wait beneath a tree by a country road for Godot who never arrives.
There have been numerous interpretations of ‘Waiting for Godot’, and although there has never been consensus on its meaning, it is noted that Beckett was inspired by Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Two Men Contemplating the Moon created circa 1820-25.
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Melany Nugent-Noble’s atmospheric installation, which is staged in the Gallery’s outdoor courtyard space at the heart of the building, refers to both the scene described in the play and the painting, complete with a large replica moon hanging low in the sky next to a Burr Oak tree (albeit this one with roots encased in resin).
Nugent-Noble hopes that the installation will be a “refuge for the imagination — a focal point for contemplation, where one has permission to let their mind wander towards adventure, possibility, and the unknown.”
Nothing to be done is here for a year, from Aug. 8 until August of 2021.
Melany Nugent-Noble is a Kelowna-based artist. Her work responds to the political and social nature of public spaces, and takes various forms including community-focused installations. She holds an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver (2015) and was recently selected as the City of Kelowna’s first Artist in Residence (2020).
The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in the heart of the downtown Cultural District. For more information, please visit www.kelownaartgallery.com or call 250-762-2226.
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