Heroism, mystery and danger – the elements of a World War II adventure movie appear in the interactive media installation, Little Breeze. Toronto-based artist Nina Levitt has worked with photography and video for twenty years, placing conventional narrative elements in a critical context, as they relate to the lives of women and the way they are, or are not, represented in mainstream media. Her work is primarily concerned with the absence of women from visual culture and often relies on the recovery and manipulation of existing images. Originally produced in co-production with Alberta's Banff Centre, Little Breeze employs visual motifs familiar from adventure and spy films. Where we are used to seeing men in the heroic roles, Levitt has focussed on women, incorporating material from the lives of women who worked in intelligence during World War II, as undercover agents behind enemy lines. Levitt raises questions about how we construct history and remember the past. The principal projection shows a field of numeric ASCII code that resolves into a series of images of women. This use of digital data recalls the pivotal role of code-breaking during World War II in the development of the modern computer. A collection of suitcases is strewn about the gallery floor: when visitors pick one up, it triggers a sound clip from Carve Her Name with Pride, a film about British secret agent Violette Szabo. This full-colour exhibition brochure features an essay by Robert Bean, professor of photography at NSCAD University.

Robert Bean is an artist, writer and teacher living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, he moved to Nova Scotia in 1976 to pursue a career in contemporary art and education. He obtained a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University) in 1978, and an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, England in 1999. He is currently an Associate Professor at NSCAD University. Bean has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America and New Zealand.

Robert Bean's profile page

Robin Metcalfe has a prenatal affinity for Nova Scotia crafts — his mother met his father while she was teaching weaving in Glace Bay. Like most of the people profiled in Studio Rally, he is a self-employed cultural producer — a freelance writer and independent curator.

Robin Metcalfe's profile page