Madelaine Fischer-Bernhut, Shiloh Light-Barnes, Sam Kingston

Waiver is inspired by several works shown in the Onsite Gallery’s exhibition, Among All these Tundras (September 18 - December 7, 2019).

We decided to focus on two symbols from the exhibit for our video game. We feel that the imagery of a bicycle balancing on an oil pipeline is representative of the indigenous tundra communities’ struggle to hold onto their culture while being exposed to invasive cultures (i.e through colonialism). The bicycle, which is a feature throughout Innuteq Storch’s photo series At Home We Belong, can represent how tight-knit the tundra communities are culturally and physically because of the harsh climate and their smaller populations. The bicycle is initially intact at the beginning but is later shown dangling on a hook, now a piece of trash, over what appeared to be a canyon or garbage pit. Next, a pipeline (most likely oil) looms in the background of Marja Helander’s video, Dolastallat (To Have a Campfire). The buildings she passes seem abandoned, and a taxidermy bear is her only company. Human activity has come and gone, leaving the pipeline in its wake. The pipeline is one of the more concrete changes that impose and looms over the environment, so the bikes representation of sustainability and community opposes the imagery of the invasive and unsustainable pipeline. In the video game, the bike balancing on the pipeline is representative of the indigenous tundra communities need to balance and navigate these new ideas being imposed on them, even when they seem never-ending.