Practices in care with The Maydee Box
The Maydee Box, created by Murdoc Schon and Rebecca Cuddy, was presented at this year’s Festival of Live and Digital Art in the Isabel Bader Center’s Art and Media lab. The work is an audio, visual, and tactile piece in the real world, but amplified by augmented reality. Advancing the physical world through a smart device, Schon and Cuddy have used this technology to present the actual performance of the work. The Maydee Box intersects digital and visual art, poetry, beadwork, Métis heritage, and tactics of care.
My experience of the work started when Schon found me sitting in the lobby, and I was met with kindness and conversation as we walked to the performance space. Entering the room, I was excited to find seats and tea for audience members as they waited for their turn with? the experience. Everyone was led through how the technology is meant to be used, how many items were in the box, and told to ask if we needed any help. I really appreciated the extent to which I was taken care of—there was no moment in which the care within the work withered.
The actual installation was beautifully designed to look like a living room: there is a rocking chair, a lamp, a table and a painting. On the table were headphones, a tablet, and the box. The AR kicks in once the box is opened–the items need to be taken out in order for the user to interact with the performance for the specific objects. The tablet is used to focus on each item and a white screen pops up, then the video or activity starts. The piece speaks candidly about Indigenous identity, from both the perspective of potential impact on an Indigenous individuals, and how particular actions or needs are often perceived by settlers.
One of the AR interactions was an activity where the user helps Grandpa in the garden with planting, watering and removing some pests. Unlike the other items, this exchange is a little more like a game. Although the tasks were quick, I was still able to learn about this particular process of growing the crop. The plant was a big throughline for me as the produce was given to audience members afterwards as a snack, along with the seeds to plant the crop in real life.
I don’t know if I will plant the crop–and if I did, I don’t know if I will be successful at it– but I do know that the experience has made me want to try. The Maydee Box gave me so much in the short time that I spent with it, and all it asked was for me to watch and listen.
