SASK.’S ‘MARITIME’ HERITAGE
Artist invents whimsical museum
Todd Gronsdahl was studying on an island in British Columbia when he had the first inkling of his Saskatchewan Maritime Museum.
On Granville Island in Vancouver, at Emily Carr University, he constructed a ski jump out of wood — a nod to a piece of Saskatoon history.
The ski jump at Devil’s Dip was built along the South Saskatchewan River in 1929; another plywood jump followed in 1936.
In Gronsdahl’s reinvention, it was a “ballistic missile defence system, a case of ‘hidden in plain sight.’ ”
Gronsdahl, who grew up near Clavet and now lives on a farm near Vonda, attributes his sculpture’s origins to a “need to claim my Saskatchewan-ness, maybe,” while surrounded by B.C. folks, water and ski hills. At the same time, he created a mini museum reflecting Saskatchewan’s maritime history.
“There’s no maritime history documented, and so I just decided to make it up,” said Gronsdahl. “I’m going to make my own museum because there is none. And I’m going to make it where we make fun of power and these nation building exercises.”
He expanded that vision with The Saskatchewan Maritime Museum, the exhibition now on at the Art Gallery of Regina.
It’s a minimalist, whimsical collection that includes bits of Saskatchewan history and lore — including black-and-white archival video of people using one of the long-gone ski jumps.
The felted nautical flags that line one wall have cheeky meanings. One with an orange square at its centre is supposed to convey, “This is the location of an especially exceptional sunset” — because who hasn’t heard about the “best sunsets” in Saskatchewan?
The sculpture Gaspar’s Apparatus was inventor Charles Gaspar’s tool to distil psychoactive drugs from plants, inspired by real-life LSD tests at Weyburn hospital.
Gaspar is fictional, an “Elon Musk sort of character” described as a “polymath, aquatist and bon vivant.” He developed “general appareils sous-marins personnel respiratoires” — gaspers. They’re scuba masks styled like something from a Wes Anderson movie.
His boat, the Gasparfon, is at the centre of the exhibition, made from a found paddleboat, recycled wood and wood panelling. Home Depot and the Habitat For Humanity Restore are two of Gronsdahl’s preferred art supply stores.
There’s industriousness in each of these pieces, a reflection of Gronsdahl’s upbringing on a farm and the work ethic he sees among friends and neighbours.
“I had an uncle who … had that engineer mind,” said Gronsdahl, “and he would take apart a windmill to see how it works and put it back together and stuff like that.
“They (are) very resourceful and these problem-solving minds out there working in sheds, using junk to make their implements, (to) get them through the job of the day.”
Another character in Gronsdahl’s invented history is Frankwin Persephone Marquis, who endeavoured to explore the “rivers, streams and sloughs” of the province in a whaling boat, a mission “ill-conceived, ill-considered, illequipped and unsuccessful.”
That story isn’t unfamiliar: In reality, Macrorie-area homesteader Tom Sukanen built a ship in the 1930s with the goal of sailing back to Finland. Today, his ship is displayed on land south of Moose Jaw.
The Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum speaks of “the tenacity of one man who struggled through personal tragedy and local ridicule in pursuit of a seemingly impossible dream.”
“I feel like it’s all kind of a reference to (Sukanen),” said Gronsdahl of his exhibition. “His story is pretty sad, especially when you think about … how settlers were used to further things, like his family died and I think he went mad, you know?”
In Gronsdahl’s museum, the Yurt for Effective Animal Husbandry pays homage to settlers whom government encouraged to homestead in Saskatchewan. It blends the tiny house trend with a chicken coop.
Gronsdahl guesses “this whole body will just keep developing.” His next project, Le Ligue Gourmande, will explore a seafood-eating society.
It is scheduled for shows in the coastal provinces of B.C. (in Victoria) and New Brunswick (in Moncton).
The Saskatchewan Maritime Museum is on view through Feb. 22 at the Art Gallery of Regina. It debuted in 2017 in Saskatoon at the Kenderdine Art Gallery.
There’s no maritime history documented, and so I just decided to make it up. I’m going to make my own museum.