Jean-Sébastien Gauthier: Artist

Jason Baerg interacting with We Are Star People. NIMAC/IMAA Conference Saskatoon, SK, July 2018

We are Star People is an interactive new media journey through Cree cosmology. Inspired by Cree scientist Wilford Buck, and additional research focusing on Cree star constellations, Cree Métis artist Jason Baerg leads us to Pakone-Kisik (Cree) or Behgonay Geeshik (Anishinabe), which is known as the Hole in the Sky. This star cluster of Seven Sisters is also named the Pleiades by the ancient Greeks and is located in the constellation of Taurus. This audio and motion responsive new media installation is created in collaboration with Fransaskois artist Jean-Sébastien Gauthier.

Nous sommes des peuples célestes/We are Star People est une nouvelle œuvre médiatique qui explore la cosmologie Crie. Inspiré par le scientifique Cri Wilford Buck et par des recherches supplémentaires axées sur les constellations d'étoiles Cris, l'artiste métis Cri Jason Baerg nous mène vers Pakone-Kisik (Cris) ou Behgonay Geeshik (Anishinabeg). Connu comme le trou dans le ciel. Ce groupe d'étoiles de Sept sœurs sont aussi appelées Subaru par les Japonais ou appelées les Pléiades par les Grecs anciens et est situé dans la constellation du Taureau. Cet œuvre multimédia, activée par les mouvements et les sons de son publique et a été créée en collaboration avec l’artiste médiatique Fransaskois Jean-Sébastien Gauthier.

We Are Star People, installation view, NIimac/IMAA conference, Saskatoon, SK, July 2018

We Are Star People interaction, Nocturne 2018, Halifax, October 2018

We Are Star People, installation view, Nocturne 2018, Halifax, October 2018

We Are Star People interaction, Nocturne 2018, Halifax, October 2018

"Also at Nocturne, Jason Baerg and Jean-Sébastien Gauthier’s installation We Are Star People brightly dazzled in the night, taking viewers on a new media journey through Cree cosmologies. Coincidently, marijuana became legal the day of Nocturne, and some of the wily trickster artists types in town slipped me some gummies. A little buzzed, when I approached Baerg and Gauthier’s installation I felt disembodied and lost in their Cree star world. I often find myself jaded, having come a long way from the early affective experiences with Indigenous art that made me a critic. But Baerg and Gauthier reminded me of the physically moving power of community art (and THC edibles)."

Lindsay Nixon, DECEMBER 26, 2018, Canadian Art

Nocturne, Halifax, 2018, photo credit: JS Gauthier