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© Copyright Shawn Shepherd 2019.
“We look at the present through a rear view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”— Marshall McLuhan
WMV (Windsor meets Victoria)
WMV (Windsor meets Victoria) is a multidisciplinary installation of painting, sculptures and collected objects that bridges the gap between industry and art as well as my upbringing in Windsor, ON, and my life in Victoria, BC. Growing up I was a witness to the automotive culture economy when the “Big Three” Chrysler, Ford and General Motors employed a large percentage of the blue collar working population in Windsor. My father and his four brothers “put their time in” assembling automobiles in the “Automotive Capital of Canada”.
In 2004 I began working on WMV to reflect on the industrial mentality I grew up beside. This reflection was initiated by the opportunity to use damaged street signs to fabricate sculpture. I was no longer residing in Windsor but the memory of place persisted. WMV is a wall mounted installation of painted graphics of the Ambassador Bridge (Windsor) superimposed on the old Johnson St. Bridge (Victoria), with twenty-four car sculptures hanging in an improvised pattern across the bridge graphics. There is a small display component to the installation of archival objects from Windsor that I have collected in Victoria.
WMV examines the juncture of art and the economy through personal history. Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors operated automotive plants in Windsor since the early twentieth century but only one automobile factory remains in 2025. Windsor continues as a hub for the Ontario auto-industry through engine and parts production.
The automobile is a prominent symbol in contemporary culture. Artists such as Arman, Chris Burden, John Chamberlain, Keith Haring, John Scott and others have embraced the car in some form. Art and culture are inextricably linked and WMV exemplifies this notion.
