The Convenience Gallery — the 24-hour storefront art space at Lansdowne and Seaforth, one block north of Queen — is hosting Hard Candy, an evolving artwork that works with candy, CCTV and engages pedestrians on the Parkdale sidewalk.
The urban scene outside the convenience window is reflected in a miniature world of figures caught below a deluge of a sweet yet menacing storm and captured by a surveillance system. The resulting time-lapse footage is displayed at different speeds to expose the changes over the life of the exhibition. Recalling the former life of the storefront, the installation engages the pedestrian to peer into the manufactured chaos and reexamine the immediate surroundings in its reflection.
The candy which appears to be static is not: every day it will be reanimated by temperature changes and gravity, thus making the work an experiment. Will the figures be spared the gooey embrace? Can the elaborate surveillance system perceive the candy’s slow molten movement or will it escape even technology’s perception? The only certainty is the urban scene beyond will change, but even then the larger changes will remain elusive… the city’s slow transformation as it, like the candy, descends into entropy will inevitably escape the camera’s gaze.
by Coryn Kempster, Gabe Sawhney, Julia Jamrozik
Hard Candy runs until March 6. Check out the timelape video here (that also captured the massive snow pileup outside in passing)
5 comments
Don’t you mean “Lansdowne”? – it’s an easy typo, done it myself…
Yes! I do this every time, even when I’m thinking “spell it right this time.”
like puns, typos can distract from content.
So is this good art or just goo art?
No, I read through typos because I know what the person meant — puns are designed to be reading-roadblocks.
I live around the corner from there and had a chance to see this installation up close on Monday. I had no idea it is made from candy – it is beautiful. Hamish, it is gooey and and good, and does not promote tooth decay. I’m going back for another look…