Thesis Defence: Stefan Berry

Of the thesis entitled: A Present Absence

Abstract:

For the last ten years I have travelled with my camera out on the roads of the Canadian prairies, usually for a few days at a time, up and down stretches of highways, grids, and back roads, stopping to investigate whatever I could find. My interest in the landscape grew from forgotten spaces that lay dormant in the land. There is something exciting about being in unfamiliar areas and stepping into once-inhabited locations. The absence of people, and the marks they leave behind, lend to the allure of these places.

The prairies are a harsh environment, and where there is hardship and endurance between humans and nature, it is inevitable that it translates into the relationship between architecture and the landscape.  Many of the abandoned structures and forms are seen as old and useless — a hazard, an eyesore, a sad reminder — but if one looks closer, they can see that they are becoming something new. A beauty exists in the decay and ruinous state, a life found in the structures embodies history and knowledge. Buildings have seen things, the land has seen things, but they don’t confess the knowledge openly. Truths are revealed slowly — not all at once.

This thesis moves through a series of territories following the increase, and subsequent decline, of the population on the rural prairies. Forgotten rail networks, trails, domestic and utilitarian structures — as well natural landmarks — contain the presence of those who were once there. Photographic documentation and field research maps the spatial endeavours that shaped the prairie landscape as the place it is today.

The examining committee is as follows: