Original GPS proposal sketch, created in Google Earth

MY HEART WILL GO ON (FOR IRAQ)
May 28, 2010 - 1 pm EST
Montréal, Québec

In conjunction with the Arts Interdisciplinaires: Hi-Tech, Lo-Tech, No Tech conference, we created a large-scale portrait of Celine Dion by walking a course of GPS coordinates. Conference attendees walked the 2-mile path with us, as the drawing was built segment by segment.

Celine Dion was selected as a subject because her childhood was spent in the suburbs of Montréal. When the US first invaded Iraq in 2003, one of their first tactical actions was to seize Saddam-controlled radio stations to broadcast western music. They played the song "My Heart Will Go On" over and over again as a message of peace, to show that a country that produced such beautiful melodies could not be the Great Satan. For the US to select a Canadian artist as a display of their intentions toward an Iraqi audience is a curious choice, especially the love theme from the movie, Titanic. Our drawing is intended to critique otherwise overlooked ironies in US Foreign Policy and to explore the alternate life of this music.

The performance happened in real time, from 1-2:15 pm EST on Friday, May 28, 2010.