Saying Goodbye to AiRs Megan Arnold & Clayton Dyon
Megan Arnold, Clayton Dyon, and their assistant Farley have finished their residency at Eastern Edge!
On Friday, August 11th, the artists hosted a screening of work created during their time here, featuring a delicious homemade meal of soup and steamed mussels. Thank you to those who attended, and to Megan and Clayton for sharing with the community!
We are delighted to share an excerpt from their short film, Dog Time, as well as two pieces of bonus footage!
Inspired by their residency experience, Megan wrote a short story to boot! Have a read below…
“In 2026, we were evicted from the cheapest apartment in Guelph when it was finally deemed unsafe to live on the riverbank. The ten small alligators that the City had introduced to the Speed River to cull the thousands of Canada geese that blocked traffic at inconvenient hours had reached their vicious maturity. The 2-storey shack we lived in was slated to be demo’d, and the river fenced off.
We were ready for this. Even before the gators arrived, we could smell our doom on the wind. It smelled like Toronto. On evenings and weekends, we converted our 2008 Ford F150 into a lite get-outta-dodge rig. (Lite because the truck was 2-wheel drive.) The rig was outfitted with a stealth grey contractor’s cap, 200 watts of solar power, attractive lighting, and a strong bench/dog bed platform. There was enough space in the box for two small people and one large dog to sleep, and enough room in the cab to store bins of survival equipment, clothing, and tools. When the day came for us to vacate the river shack, our main dilemma was: do we make room in the truck for the Martin, or the Gretsch?
Newfoundland was, naturally, the destination we set for ourselves. The climate and terrain was perfect for Farley, whose ancestors rambled the rugged hills in the borderlands between Scotland and England many generations ago. When we arrived on the island some ten days after we left Guelph, we felt an immediate understanding of the two-word phrase that repeated on faded signs and license plates: COME HOME. We drove at an easy pace, dodging potholes, down every road the truck could manage. When we stopped, Farley roamed as though he were a horse.
We felt we must be experiencing time as Farley experiences time: suspended, fully present. We followed our senses and instincts from moment to moment, zig-zagging the island with no end-point in mind. In the Tablelands of Gros Morne, the road was a river fed by the clearest waterfall. We saw minke whales off the point at Flatrock – yes, minkes still existed in spite of the growing great white shark population! Out by Grates Cove, the river road turned back into gravel, and a pale rainbow led us to a boondock spot on the isthmus, somewhere near Bellevue. The Irish Loop barrens were over a thousand kilometres away from the barren plateaus up at St. Anthony, but dog time combined with F150 distance connected the two
places like a portal. Jump into an iron-brown pond, emerge out of a blue-green inlet.
A dear friend of ours had this catch-phrase. Anytime anything happened, he’d say, “Best day of my life!” Out on the rock, when we were getting all ate up by bugs in the 38 degree Celsius heat of July, sleeping in an aluminum box that smelled like three unwashed asses, we all thought, “Best day of my life!” Sometimes irony and sincerity are indistinguishable.
In 2029, Newfoundland decided to separate from Canada. The COME HOME signs were repainted, bigger and brighter. A group of folks on the Northern Peninsula helped us turn our lite get-outta-dodge-rig into a real gator-proof overlander. Early on a foggy morning, we crawled along a rocky gravel road and the bush waved at us as we went. Farley stuck his head
out the window and sniffed.”
We had such a great time getting to know Megan and Clayton and their sweet pup, Farley! We are sad to see them go, but look forward to seeing what they do next!
See some images from their residency below!
