Cheryl Sim

Photo: Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, avec la permission de/ courtesy of Guy L’Heureux

Un jour, One Day, 2017

Three-channel digital video installation, 5 min 27 s, sound

Cheryl Sim’s parents spent part of their honeymoon at Expo 67, and their trip is documented in a scrapbook that the artist uses as a conduit through which to examine this time of innocence and excitement for the future as she wanders around the Expo site. In her three-screen music video, Sim offers a new rendition of the original Expo 67 theme song “Un jour, un jour,” written by Stéphane Venne. Produced using both digital and analogue means and an electronic aesthetic, Sim’s otherworldly version prompts reflection and questioning. Similarly, the transformation of the designer outfits worn by Expo 67 hostesses into a one-piece jumpsuit evokes simultaneously the uniforms of parachutists, race car drivers and women who entered the manual work force, as well as the futuristic aesthetic of outer space. This change also raises questions about the utopian values inferred upon the jumpsuit as a great equalizer, transcending gender, race and class. Applying a critical, feminist perspective against a background of the situation in today’s world, Sim wonders how far have we come as a society and to what degree the dynamics of power have evolved over the last fifty years.

Music production: Frédéric Blais
Cinematography: Michael Wees
Editing: Cheryl Sim
Post-production support: Souligna Koumphonphaky
Costume fabrication: Asia Al-Aashtaree
Hat fabrication: Samantha-Tara Mainville
Hair and make-up: Lisa Sim
Acknowledgments: Marc-André Nadeau; the Phi Centre; CINEMAexpo67; Rosalina and Victor Sim
This work is based on the original Expo 67 theme song, Un jour, un jour, words and music by Stéphane Venne.

Cheryl Sim is a media artist, curator and musician. In her artistic production of single channel videos and media installations she investigates subjects tied to the formation of identity and power relations. She received her PhD from l’UQAM in 2015, where she undertook a Research-creation thesis entitled The Fitting Room: the Cheongsam and Canadian Women of Chinese Heritage in Installation. She performed The Thomas Wang Project at Oboro, Montreal, in the Festival Accès Asie in 2015.