Rights of Passage, 2023. Vinyl LP co-produced by AGYU and Art Metropole.

Last year at this time, we invited you to experience Lou Sheppard’s immersive audio installation, Rights of Passage. Delineating the intricacies of riparian/river-system rights as they apply to non-human subjects in Toronto’s ecology, this opera/installation/oratorio introduced our audiences to the antics and anxieties of Giant Hogweed, Algae, and Turkeytail Fungus as they queered the courses of the Don, Blackcreek, and Lavender Creek waterways in Toronto in an epic eco-drag-inspired audio-visual feast.

Such an audio-driven exhibition called for a sound-based catalogue. Thus, we decided to go old-school with an LP instead of a codex. Reworking the soundtrack of the exhibition, Lou Sheppard (with the help of producer Cecile Believe) crafted three perfect pop songs, performed by Pamela Hart, that together bring the story of our hapless plant-based heroes as they consider their past (if they can remember it) and future (if there is one). The B side features an abridged version of the full audio piece as performed by the original Riparian Chorus. These 2 sides are the core of this 12 inch LP, which, with an introduction by Jenifer Papararo, AGYU director/curator, and curatorial essay by Michael Maranda, assistant curator, publications, functions as the exhibition catalogue.

Join us at the hi-fi listening bar at Rooms Coffee @ 915 Dupont as we spin the vinyl on their custom-built soundsystem and listen in as Pamela Hart gives a live rendition of some of the songs. Lou Sheppard will be in attendance so this is your chance to get a signed copy!

The Rights of Passage vinyl LP has been co-published with Art Metropole, Toronto in an edition of 350.

Lou Sheppard is a Canadian artist, based on the South Shore of Nova Scotia / Mi’kma’ki. Sheppard’s site-specific artistic practice manifests in the form of interdisciplinary audio, performance, and installation-based works. Sheppard has exhibited across Canada, notably in the first Toronto Biennial at the Toronto Sculpture Garden in Toronto; at Simon Fraser University and Access Gallery in Vancouver, BC; at the Khyber Centre for the Arts in Halifax, NS; at PAVED Arts in Saskatoon, SK; and at the University of Moncton in Moncton, NB. He participated in the first Antarctic Biennale and the Antarctic Pavilion in Venice, Italy. Sheppard has been longlisted for the Sobey Art Awards in 2018, 2020, and 2021, and was an International Residency Recipient from the Sobey Art Foundation in 2018. Sheppard holds a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Sheppard is represented by IOTA Institute.