Exhibition collects many treasures of a beloved brain

Claude de Forest was a collector not only of physical items but also of ideas and inspirations. He was a former professor in the University of Manitoba’s faculty of architecture and an archivist of obsessions and interests, encompassing design, art, history, aviation, and science. His extensive personal and professional archive, filled with VHS tapes, magazine clippings, notebooks, slides, photographs, and sketches, was turned into art by his daughter, Maya de Forest, in her solo exhibition "my brain like strips of confetti."

The exhibition, currently on view at the School of Art Gallery at the U of M until January 15, is composed of video, collage, sculpture, and installation works that remix and reimagine Claude's saved items. De Forest's mother, Yoshiko, had been caring for Claude, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but she suffered a stroke, and Claude had to move into a nursing home. De Forest visited her father daily and witnessed his continued creativity despite the changes in his brain.

After Claude's death in 2013, followed by his mother's death in 2022, Maya inherited an overwhelming amount of their treasured possessions. The VHS tape collection alone consisted of over 3,000 meticulously labeled tapes. One of the standout pieces from the exhibition is "Survival Capsule," a spaceship/pyramid hybrid constructed out of the VHS tapes, representing Claude's interests in space travel and ancient Egypt, as well as an interior office filled with collaged walls.

Claude's journals documented his disease progression, capturing his humor and vivid imagination despite the effects of Alzheimer's. His online video piece, "my brain like strips of confetti," uses excerpts from these journals to illustrate his mental state over time. The exhibition process took de Forest a decade to complete, as she sorted through her father's treasures and created art from them, revealing shared interests and values they had never discussed before.