Orphan Train - Trained Tales

The Orphan Train travels on a Figure 8 Traintrack, with intersecting double loops making reference to the orphan /adoptee’s dual history. The project delves into the history of the closed adoption system, the growing adoption law reform movement in North America and the Orphan Train Movement and its ties to adoption today in Canada.

Mixed Media Installation

Exhibit 1Exhibit 2Exhibit 3

Solo Show, January 2004
Maison de la Culture: Rosemont/Petite-Patrie, Montreal, QC
All photos taken by Sandra L. Bélanger

This exhibition consisted of a series of assemblages — the three-dimensional sculptures which provided the basis for the digital animations in the Orphan Train - Trained Tales website. The train makes six Stop-Overs on the Tour: The Orphan Train Station, The Bed Box Theatre, The Bingo Staircase, The Home for Little Wanderers, The Dresser & the Closet, and The Bad Blood & Ghost Limbs Graveyard.

The Bed Box Theatre

The Bed Box Theatre

The Bed Box Theatre, 1997

Assemblage / 2-sided puppet theatre
(3’8" x 6’5" x 1’2" )
Materials: Boxspring, cabinet doors, frames, alphabet blocks, cloth, spindles, door handles, piano keyboard, collage
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

I found an old boxspring in North End Halifax, and then came across a discarded piano keyboard, spindles, doorknobs and eventually, piece by piece, I created the Bed Box Theatre.

It became the first "Stop-Over" for the Orphan Train Tour, a website and installation project.

 

 
The Bingo Staircase

The Bingo Staircase, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage with mechanical component.
(3’ x 6’8" x 1’8")
Materials: Wood door, found wood, puppet, toys, hinges, pieces of fence, record player
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

A staircase rotating on a record player is seen through the stage. The window-stages contain characters from the computer animated video Embedded.
The Home For Little Wanderers

The Home For Little Wanderers, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage with mechanical & sound component.
(3’10" x 3’ x 2’)
Materials: Dresser, found wood, toys, hinges, encyclopedia covers, oil paint, record player
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

Through a window is seen a moving landscape, a painted cylinder rotating on a record player.

The Dresser & The Closet

The Bed Box Theatre

The Dresser & The Closet, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage (3’4" x 6’2" x 1’2")
Materials: Dresser, chair, found wood, tin, silkscreen
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

The Bad Blood & Ghost Limbs Graveyard

The Bad Blood & Ghost Limbs Graveyard, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage. (3’8" x 3’ x 1’2")
Materials: Found wood, jewellery box, fireplace grates, silkscreen, Barber shop foot rest
© Julie Lapalme

The computer animated video Embedded played behind the screen.
The Bed Box Theatre


The Double Loop � Figure 8 Traintrack

The Double Loop — Figure 8 Traintrack, 1998

Assemblage. (3’7" x 6’ x 4’)
Materials: Pieces of fence, hinges, locks, found wood, collage
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

Declawed (Ghost Limbs)

Declawed (Ghost Limbs), 1997

Cast Iron Chair Legs ( 2" x 16" x 2" )
Materials: Painted cast iron
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme