Lulu Sweet: A Gold Rush Tale in 8 Acts (2014)

Deanne Achong , Faith Moosang

6111 River Road

Area: Olympic Oval Precinct
Location: Artwork now available online at https://lulusuite.ca

Materials: Online website and previously a site specific ap

Program: Civic
Ownership: Civic
Sponsored By: Oval Precinct Public Art Program
Also Known As: "Riverside Gathering Place"

Description of Work

Previously a location aware walking tour app situated on the Fraser River re-imagining the life of Gold Rush actress Lulu Sweet, for whom Lulu Island (Richmond, B.C.) was ostensibly named. The app is no longer active but the artwork can be viewed at https://lulusuite.ca

Artist Statement

"Lulu Sweet: A Gold Rush Tale in 8 Acts" re-imagines the life of Gold Rush actress Lulu Sweet, for whom Lulu Island (Richmond, B.C.) was ostensibly named.

Based upon extensive historical research, the artists take users on Lulu's journey from New York in 1850 through the jungles of Panama, to the mining towns of California and the outposts of colonial England, ending in the footlights of the Gold Rush stages of San Francisco. They use animations, archival imagery and sound, panoramas, and 19th century newspapers to transport users to Lulu's world.

Lulu Sweet: A Gold Rush Tale in 8 Acts takes viewers back to a different moment in time, from 1850 to 1863. Lulu takes the stage at the tender age of ten in the rough mining town of Hildreth's Diggings, California; shares the stage with the notorious Adah Menken in San Francisco; is managed by desperate swindlers and hot-headed gamblers. All of this is set against the backdrop of the Fraser River itself, upon which she and Colonel Richard Moody (the officer charged with surveying the region) sailed in 1861, the "moment" when the island received its name.

https://lulusuite.ca