The Drop & The Turning 14: Lou Sheppard - Crepuscular Times of Day

An interview with Nova Scotia-based interdisciplinary artist Lou Sheppard (he/him).

Lou Sheppard is a Canadian artist working in interdisciplinary audio, performance and installation based practice. Of settler ancestry, Sheppard was raised on unceded Mi'Kmaq territory in rural Nova Scotia. Sheppard first studied theatre at Concordia University in Montreal, and then graduated with a BFA in Interdisciplinary studies from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He has also studied English Literature and Education. Sheppard now lives on the South Shore of Nova Scotia/ Mi’kma’ki.

Sheppard’s practice is research driven and site specific, developing as particular projects or iterations of projects in response to a particular location. Sheppard’s artistic research reflects his background in critical theory and social activism. He is interested in languages, both as systems of notation and communication, as well as systems that structure and enact power.

Audio within this episode is excerpted from Lou's exhibition 'Rights of Passage' at the Art Gallery of York University in 2022.

Rights of Passage is comprised of five scores based on the interactions between rivers and the city in Toronto, This served as the chorus for a three act play that followed ai/drag performer/plant species through Toronto's riparian zones. The scores were interpreted and directed by Pamela Hart and sung by 8 voices: Kira Daube, Wren Tian, Seamus Gallagher, Arjun Lal, Helah Cooper, Lou Campbell, me and Pamela Hart.