E>A>C>S

[Effluence Affluence Collection System]

E>A>C>S (Effluence Affluence Collection System) is a two-part fermentation equation that balances (or doesn’t) the internal and external ingredients from the Windsor-Essex Gallery and the local waterfront ecology. Effluence refers to the act of flowing, however it can also imply something flowing from one area to another, often contaminating and affecting in the process. Affluence is a very similar sounding word, but refers to having collected or amassed things of wealth. I am looking at the connection between these two words and spaces through the lens of sample collecting and fermentation. I was invited to come to Windsor and collect various samples and items on-site at the gallery and in the surrounding area. In order to examine the microbial relationship between the gallery and the natural spaces it inhabits, I collected various liquids from bodies of water, thawed ice, condensation, amongst others. I also collected human-made detritus including remnants of past exhibitions, collection restoration swabs, edible plants, and garbage collected along outdoor walkways. Through the intermingling of these ingredients, the fermentations affect each other and new microbial ecosystems are made, forming microbial connections between the gallery and the city.