After the Flood Control Reservoir and Dam on the West Don River in the Don River Watershed that drains into Lake Ontario

Patricio Dávila, photo/video
Hector Centeno, audio
2023

Collection of 10 photographs, varying sizes; 4k colour video, stereo sound, 21m4s running time

View video here.

Hurricane Hazel took place in the Atlantic region of North America in 1954. In Toronto, houses, roads, and bridges built on flood plains were destroyed and washed out. The West Don River, a tributary to the Don River that leads to Lake Ontario was one of the sites that saw huge rises in water levels. On a bend in this river, a dam and reservoir were built that mitigates the rainfall and its flow down to Lake Ontario. This reservoir, which acts as an artificial lake, drains slowly all year round into the river after the dam. The water flows, through the watershed, in ravines, under bridges, next to homes, and eventually meets the main Don River, a rehabilitated industrialized river, before emptying into the Great Lake.

This project includes a landscape film and soundscape composition along with a portfolio of still images. The project documents aspects of the environment, both built and non-human, that comprise the urban waterway. Using moving image and soundscape a durational experience is created from moments along the interleaved space of bodies of water and infrastructure.