Lost in the Memory Palace | The Dark Pool
On entering the doorway to The Dark Pool, one encounters a realm of suspended animation, an elaborate assemblage of furniture, carpets, books, empty dishes and mechanical paraphernalia. Lit solely by suspended lightbulbs, the space appears to be a laboratory or study, deserted of occupants, it has been left to decay beneath ever accumulating layers of dust and debris. Stacks of books litter the table, some are open to reveal scientific diagrams and notations, essays on paranormal phenomena, popular literature and philosophical texts. In this overwhelming presence of artifacts, of seemingly obsolete objects, there is a poignancy of absence, as if a life-time's search for knowledge had suddenly been disrupted. Catherine Crowston, The Dark Pool, Walter Philips Gallery, Banff, Alberta, 1995 (brochure).