And Still Counting, exterior installation shot, 27 painted plywood window plugs, dimensions variable, The Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax, NS, 2009. Photo: Chris Reardon
And Still Counting (2009), Khyber Centre installation photo by Chris Reardon, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), paint name legend detail, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009), exhibition shot, 27 painted plywood plugs originally made for the windows of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, reinstalled in the Halifax Room, Halifax City Hall, Halifax, NS, 2010.
And Still Counting (2009)
In 2009, Kennedy was on the board of The Khyber Centre for the Arts, an artist run centre situated in downtown Halifax in a heritage building which was under the auspices of the City. That year the City decided all the windows in the building needed to be updated, a long restoration project happening throughout the whole building. The gallery staff and board members didn’t want the centre to look closed while the work was happening so Kennedy offered to make a series of number paintings on plywood window plugs, one for each of the 27 windows being replaced.
Kennedy chose the colours for the work for their site-specifically relevant paint names: Beside the Ocean, Waterfront, City Song, Restoration Rose and Meeting House spoke to the building's historic significance and harbour side location, while paint with names like Stage Fright, Have No Fear and Council Bluff nodded to The Khyber's strained relationship to the City, arts funding, and lease security. Each number was painted is Kennedy's signature adaptation of the Superstar Shadow typeface.
After the restoration was complete, the plugs came down and Kennedy made and painted support structures for each one, changing the works from window insets into hangable works. These window works were then launched at Halifax City Hall, a location which was the source of much tension for The Khyber, and auctioned off to the community as a fund raiser for the arts centre.