jil p. weaving: to be continued. . .

In an age where technology is frequently used to make our day-to-day living more convenient with virtual shopping, dating, banking, and more, artist jil p. weaving explores the idea of virtual mothering in her exhibition to be continued...

No longer will women have to answer the question, “Do I pursue my career or stay home to raise my children?” In this utopian/dystopian exhibition set in the not-so-distant future, a political and corporate partnership has created mombot technology. These cyborg surrogates allow for women to stay in the “productive” workforce while a cloned and “improved” version of themselves raises their children. Learn all about the terms and conditions of becoming a parent in this brave new world by visiting the Department of Maternal Affairs’ website set up in the TechLab.

Adjoining the DMA workstation, a comic book style detective story is introduced by four oil paintings that make you aware that not all is as it seems in this seemingly perfect future. Rumour has it a mombot liberation movement is forming, and government investigators are on the trail of the case of the missing mombot. Join the investigation!

jil p. weaving’s to be continued… encourages viewers to think about the experiences of motherhood and the value placed on women’s labour in child rearing at home. First exhibited in 1997, this artwork remains a provocative investigation into reproduction and reproductive rights, in light of new technologies such as prenatal DNA gender testing and three-person in vitro fertilization. As science and technology make further advances in the field of biogenetics, questions of mothering will continue to be continued.

to be continued… was acquired into the Surrey Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection in 1999. In acquiring this installation, the Surrey Art Gallery became one the first Canadian art museums to recognize a website as a work of art worthy of preserving within a public collection. The Gallery’s collection is made up of artworks held in trust for the citizens of Surrey, and these works play a significant role in the Gallery's annual exhibition program.

Curator: Brian Foreman
Origin of Exhibition: Surrey Art Gallery