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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
production still of Paul Walde swimming in Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake, photo by Clayton McKinnon
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
documentation of site specific performance at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park showing Chris Solar and Joe Leslie, photo by Andrew Wright
Victoria intermedia artist Paul Walde braved rough water to swim across Canoe Lake in Ontario's Algonquin Park earlier this month to mark the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson's death.
“It was really choppy," Walde said after the swim in the lake where Thomson drowned. "I got lost and disoriented and blown off-course ... I saw the white totem pole beside the Tom Thomson cairn on shore and I swam toward that. That was the scariest part.”
Walde, chair of the University of Victoria’s visual arts department, was accompanied by musicians, a synchronized swim squad and a canoe flotilla.
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
documentation of site specific performance at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park showing Paul Walde swimming, photo by Andrew Wright
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
documentation of site specific performance at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park showing musicians playing original composition by Walde, photo by Andrew Wright
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
documentation of site specific performance at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park showing musicians playing original composition by Walde, photo by Andrew Wright
“I grew up in Northern Ontario near where the Group of Seven did their first trip together,” says Walde. “This is what was presented to us as Canadian art, and through my work I’ve been trying to find other ways of engaging with the landscape, especially around issues of the environment and colonialism.”
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
production still of synchronized swimming routine in Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park, photo by Clayton McKinnon
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Paul Walde, "Tom Thomson Centennial Swim," July 8, 2017
documentation of site specific performance at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park showing Emily Denison on flugelhorn, photo by Andrew Wright
He intends to reframe Thomson's legacy in a video of what he's calling the Tom Thomson Centennial Swim. Footage from an underwater body-cam and mobile boat units will be combined with shots of the lake and locations featured in Thomson’s paintings.
Walde is known for his innovative sound and video installations, including Requiem for a Glacier, performed by 70 musicians and filmed live on Farnham Glacier in B.C.'s Purcell Mountains in 2013.
Thomson was the subject of Walde’s 1997 theatrical performance, Index 1036, a collaborative work with his wife, Christine, a librarian. It examined Thomson’s death in the context of contemporary performance art.
“You get compelled by these ideas," says Walde, a former competitive swimmer. "This one was gestating for 20 years. My career is about following these kind of ideas. The ones you can’t shake are the ones you end up doing. And there was a bit of that now-or-never sense to it, not only with the centennial but also with the swim itself. I’m 49, how much longer could I really wait to do this?”