Donald Lawrence

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Donald Lawrence, “One Eye Folly,” 2008

interactive public sculpture (camera obscura)

Summer, 1995: A clunky metal cube slightly bigger than a lunchbox is lowered into a large washtub of water. After a few minutes, the contraption is pulled out and various liquids are poured into and out of it through an elaborate network of pipes. Finally, the thing is opened and a sheet of film taken out and held up to the sun. It’s a historic moment of sorts, arguably the first underwater pinhole photograph ever made. 

Only days earlier, Kamloops artist Donald Lawrence had constructed his first underwater pinhole camera and invited me to assist with this experiment. We’ve been friends ever since, as well as colleagues and occasional collaborators. Over this time, I’ve witnessed the inception, construction and presentation of many of his works. 

Some of them, dating as far back as the 1980s, are on display at the Kamloops Art Gallery in the B.C. Interior as part of his retrospective, Casting the Eye Adrift, on view from July 7 to Dec. 31.

The exhibition, discerningly curated by Charo Neville, fills the entire gallery and has the feel of a contemporary cabinet of curiosities. Included are later models of the “H20 pincam,” several cameras obscura, photographs, drawings, notebook pages, video clips, models and other sculptural objects. There’s even a dinosaur bone. 

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Donald Lawrence, “Underwater Pinhole Photography Project,” 2000

underwater black-and-white pinhole camera

The first gallery is dominated by a strange watercraft on a rough-hewn sledge. Its cabin of pressed ceiling tiles with a Cyclops-like portal sits on a shaky-looking rowboat with oars sticking out like spindly arms as if the thing could propel itself. It’s a camera obscura disguised as a fishing hut. 

Then there’s a curious sled-like conveyance comprised of a fake rock mounted on two skis. Its hidden chambers hold camping supplies. Next is a giant survival kit. 

The far gallery is filled with a large rust-coloured structure in the shape of a ship’s boiler that’s marooned on a shore. Seemingly abandoned and set off by dramatic blue lighting, it’s like a theatre stage set awaiting the artist’s appearance. 

During the exhibition, viewers interested in experiencing a working camera obscura can visit Lawrence’s new public artwork on the canopy of the Paramount Theatre across the street from the gallery. The camera, taking the form of an old-style canvas tent that houses three theatre seats, allows viewers to observe street life at a nearby intersection.

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Donald Lawrence, “Torhamvan/Ferryland,” 2005

installation, on-site survey drawings and ephemera, preliminary model (installation view, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver)

What ties such diverse works together? A piece titled Keppler’s Klepper is particularly instructive. Though not included in the exhibition, its documentation describes it as a kayak transformed into a floating camera obscura. A tent-like structure with paddle and lens sits atop a kayak. 

Once inside and afloat, the artist must navigate according to the projected image, which is upside down. It’s disorienting just to think about it. 

Such an experiment harks back to early 20th-century perceptual investigations. The accompanying video, predictably clumsy and comical, also hints at a performative element in Lawrence’s work. He is a trickster figure – part artist, part amateur scientist and part showman. 

To see this eclectic collection in the pristine surrounds of an art gallery is something of a surprise. The objects seem out of place, as if removed from their natural habitat. This, however, sets up narrative tensions between inside and outside, and between function and display. The effect is to enhance the museological quality of both the work and the exhibition. 

It also indicates the importance of process for Lawrence. While preparatory drawings and models imply future projects, the photos, videos and sculptural assemblages refer to completed work. In between is an absent present in which the artist’s creative work continues through exploring and experimenting, a process that can only be imagined by viewers. 

At its core, Lawrence’s work reveals two linked preoccupations. One is a sense of adventure and the physical experience of place, especially wilderness. The other is a fascination with optics, both human and mechanical, and the relationship between the two. 

How do we see? What do we see? What sense do we make of these images? And how do we see in motion? The exhibition’s title, Casting the Eye Adrift, captures all this and is reminiscent of a line by Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” 

Such an insight seems perfectly apt for Lawrence’s work. The eye set adrift, with its implied desire to move and see freshly, is not only that of the artist, but also a wish for the viewer. ■ 

Casting the Eye Adrift is on view at the Kamloops Art Gallery in Kamloops, B.C., from July 7 to Dec. 31, 2020.

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