Douglas’s seminal early installation Onomatopoeia consists of a fragment of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor (Op. 111) as rendered by a player piano in a ragtime rhythm, accompanied by looped black-and-white photographs of austere automatic looms from a nineteenth-century textile mill projected onto a screen suspended above. Both the player piano and the loom employ the same basic technology—a series of punched rolls determining both the notes played and the weave pattern of the textile.

The cinematic work, which evokes the early Industrial Age, recalls the accompaniment to silent movies by a piano. The absent interpreter, replaced by the player piano, echoes the missing weaver in the mill, establishing a human absence that is almost tangible, and the pairing of the piano and the loom keeps the audience in a state of anticipation as the structure of the piece moves in and out of synchronization.

Onomatopoeia is one of Douglas’s most important early works and helped form the foundation of his career. Although it has not been seen publicly in nearly two decades, this significant work was included in a number of important early shows, including the installation’s debut at Douglas’s 1986 solo exhibition at Western Front, Vancouver. Another edition of this work is in the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Stan Douglas is representing Canada at this year's Venice Biennale. The installation Stan Douglas: 2011 ≠ 1848, curated by Reid Shier, presents a series of works across two venues in Venice. More information can be found here.