Michael Belmore
bzaan-yaa/en silence, immobile/be quiet, be still

[En anglais]

In modern capitalist societies, time is treated as a resource to be maximized. We are conditioned to prioritize productivity, rationality, and efficiency, often at the expense of stillness. Silence is mistaken for absence; inactivity for failure. Michael Belmore’s bzaan-yaa/en silence, immobile/be quiet, be still offers a quiet rejection of that logic. It invites viewers to recalibrate their attention: from consumption to relation, from explanation to presence.

Copper, in particular, holds a special resonance for Belmore. Sourced from Anishinaabe territories around Lake Superior, it is not merely a medium but the blood of the land and sky. It conveys warmth and carries communication. In his hands, it becomes a cosmological link between beings, times, and worlds. Against the Western impulse to parcel and extract, Belmore’s copper reminds us that the land is continuous, living, and sovereign. In Bridge (2014), Belmore appropriates ASCII computer code with copper-sheet fragments layered on a dark-grey wall. The compositions resemble binary digits, ones and zeroes, creating a visual link to the traditional Anishinaabe beadwork symbols displayed to the left.