All photos taken by Sandra L. Bélanger

The Bed Box Theatre, 1997

Assemblage / 2-sided puppet theatre
(3’8" x 6’5" x 1’2" )
Materials: Boxspring, cabinet doors, frames, alphabet blocks, cloth, spindles, door handles, piano keyboard, collage
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

I found an old boxspring in North End Halifax, and then came across a discarded piano keyboard, spindles, doorknobs and eventually, piece by piece, I created the Bed Box Theatre. It became the first "Stop-Over" for the Orphan Train Tour, a website and installation project.

The Orphan Train travels on a Figure 8 Traintrack, with intersecting double loops making reference to the orphan /adoptee’s dual history. The train makes six Stop-Overs on the Tour: The Orphan Train Station, The Bed Box Theatre, The Bingo Staircase, The Home for Little Wanderers, The Dresser & the Closet, and The Bad Blood & Ghost Limbs Graveyard.

The project delves into the history of the closed adoption system, the growing adoption law reform movement in North America and the Orphan Train Movement and its ties to adoption today in Canada.

The Bingo Staircase, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage with mechanical component.
(3’ x 6’8" x 1’8")
Materials: Wood door, found wood, puppet, toys, hinges, pieces of fence, record player
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

A staircase rotating on a record player is seen through the stage. The window-stages contain characters from the computer animated video Embedded.

The Home For Little Wanderers, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage with mechanical & sound component.
(3’10" x 3’ x 2’)
Materials: Dresser, found wood, toys, hinges, encyclopedia covers, oil paint, record player
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

Through a window is seen a moving landscape, a painted cylinder rotating on a record player.

The Dresser & The Closet, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage (3’4" x 6’2" x 1’2")
Materials: Dresser, chair, found wood, tin, silkscreen
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

The Bad Blood & Ghost Limbs Graveyard, 1998 - 2000

Assemblage. (3’8" x 3’ x 1’2")
Materials: Found wood, jewellery box, fireplace grates, silkscreen, Barber shop foot rest
© Julie Lapalme

The computer animated video Embedded played behind the screen.

The Double Loop — Figure 8 Traintrack, 1998

Assemblage. (3’7" x 6’ x 4’)
Materials: Pieces of fence, hinges, locks, found wood, collage
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme

Declawed (Ghost Limbs), 1997

Cast Iron Chair Legs ( 2" x 16" x 2" )
Materials: Painted cast iron
Collection of the artist
© Julie Lapalme