‘Gary Gowans (Scotland)   Terminus?

 

 

Terminus?’ is a short moving image artwork that responds to the theme of ‘Essential Travel’, a term that is synonymous with travel restrictions enacted during the Covid 19 pandemic. This piece uses the visual iconography of a traditional ‘split-flap display’ to present statistical information that highlights Covid-related deaths in UK urban centres. Metaphorically speaking, ‘Terminus?’ is about journeys that have come to an end. Journeys that were inevitable – that were, in a sense, ‘essential’. It alludes to the devastating impact of the virus on cities and towns across the UK, presenting the information in an official, unemotional way, in the form of a train station time- table. The accompanying music – Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ – however shifts the context, turning a repetitive, impersonal display into a commemoration; an elegy that remembers the scale of grief and loss, and ultimately asks – is this really the end of the line?

 

 

Biography: Gary M Gowans was Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Graphic Design at DJCAD, University of Dundee where he taught for 25 years. Throughout that time he exhibited mixed media and multimedia artworks at events and venues including The Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute, The Imperial War Museum, The Mackintosh Building, Glasgow School of Art. He has completed animated public art works for Dundee City Council and the Royal Incorporation of Architects, Scotland. His ‘sci-philosophy’ film, ‘Axis Mundi’, was awarded official selection at the Canada Shorts Film Festival and the International Independent Film Awards, Los Angeles in 2017. For 10 years Gowans was involved in computer-based design research developing systems to support people living with dementia. His work was published in various international research journals and he has presented his work throughout the world including talks in Vienna, Paris, Barcelona, Kyoto, Melbourne and the Falkland Islands.