There is a slew of public space events happening tonight, what with a book launch, tall buildings talk, and activist meeting (see below for details). On top of all that there is also the opening of the 7a*11d festival. This fest brings performance art to several galleries and a few different outdoor spaces in Toronto. The one I’m most excited about is a performance by Halifax artist Rita McKeough. On October 27 and 28 she’ll be traveling Dundas St just west of Yonge with a motorized tree, picking up vegetation fragments and labeling them with a sonic chip to create a kind of biological/technological collage. McKeough is serious about performance — in her 1993 piece Take it to the Teeth she chewed up and spat out and entire wall built into a gallery. She is also, in case you are interested, a good drummer.
In terms of other public 7a*11d stuff, Montreal-based artist Aiyyana Maracle will be performing a piece about native lands on October 27 at Trinity Bellwoods Park. I’m also hoping slated Quebecois ensemble Les Fermieres Obsedees will be taking some of their performances outside. Last time I saw them they were changing tattered skirts and drawing chalk outlines on the sidewalks of Halifax, attracting a fair bit of attention.
This Saturday October 19 will also see a screening of performance videos, some from public space, some not. The image above is from Indonesian artist Yoyoyogasmana whose political performances will be part of the event.
The opening for 7a*11d happens tonight at Xpace. Performances start at 8, with the party officially starting at 10. Cover is free, $5 suggested donation. For more info, check out www.7a-11d.ca.
Next weekend (the 28th and 29th) will also see a couple of interesting public performances created as part of ARCfest. One block in Parkdale is an outdoor performance on a block of the west-end neighborhood on Saturday October 28. Playground on October 29 will mix kids and professional artists at Trinity Bellwoods. ARCfest kicks of October 22nd and finishes up with a closing party called The Wrecking Ball on October 29th.
And if you’re not into all that, I heard a wise man once say that you might as well go for a soda. (Apparently, nobody hurts, and nobody dies – which we can’t always say for performance art.)
Image courtesy of 7a-11d
2 comments
damn! i went to the tall buildings talk, while this would have been really quite up my alley. i had the flyer but i guess i didn’t look closely enough.
I went to a public art party once, and a boxing match broke out.