CARROUSEL

Every time I hear the word 'carousel', the words to my favourite Joni Mitchell song come floating to the surface of my mind...

And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Quoting these lyrics makes this post suddenly seem rather deep and philosophical, but there's been good reason for the song to be going 'round and round and round' in my head for the last week or so. Every day as a Production Assistant at The Works International Art Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, I've been passing Carrousel, the creation of a Montreal-based trio of artists known as BGL. Made of shopping trolleys and crowd barriers, Carrousel is a fully-functioning carousel available for the public to ride for free. After days of watching it being set up and then having to walk around it, curiosity finally got the better of me and I found myself lining up with a gaggle of excited children to try Carrousel for myself.

The ride on Carrousel, however simple the concept might seem, was rather magical in its own way. Carrousel touches upon one of the things I engage with most as both an art lover and as an artist: taking the everyday or the mundane and transforming it into something beautiful.

I think that there really is loveliness to be found in everything, even in a shopping trolley spinning round in circles.

Kitty x

Two of the artists from the BGL trio admire their work