October 26, 2008 By Elaine Wong During this afternoon’s performances, a great range of styles were presented to performance-seekers in the XPACE gallery as well as along Queen Street and Trinity Bellwoods Park. Creative resident Gustavo Alvarez Lugo presented the first of his Introspective Actions today, striking out across Queen West and examining, burying and …
Day 4: Of Geese, Clowns and Audible Chopsticks (EW) Read More »
By Andrew James Paterson I was running early on my route to XPACE, where my intention was to hook up with Gustavo Alvarez and his walking series of public space interventions. With time to spare, I decided to visit Tonik Wojtyra’s Hush My Dear at the west edge of Trinity Bellwoods Park (which I had …
Day 4: Sunday October 26—Outside and Inside (AJP) Read More »
Opening night at 7a*11d featured a “bonus” performance. Could there be more unscheduled performances in the works? This enigmatic announcement started appearing on the wire services on Friday… Just out of her woodblock printCEO at the Gladstone; The Superwoman ProjectWednesday, Oct. 29, ’08, after eight. “An independent action performed in tandem with 7a*11d International Festival …
By Andrew James Paterson Upon arriving at XPACE tonight there was a different installation in the street window. A row of wine glasses, a row of lettered glasses spelling out LA SANGRE TIRA, and a third bottom row of empty glasses. A performer—Alejandra Herrera—struck a pose in the centre frame. She was commencing a durational …
By Elaine Wong The third day of the festival was characterized by performances that transformed a range of spaces. Simlâ Civelek created within the back space of the Toronto Free Gallery a tiny world unto herself—a small wooden box draped in black cloth. Civelek prefaced her performance with a placard stating “I am a Muslim …
By Elaine Wong The first thing you will notice in the Toronto Free Gallery is a large expanse of canvas pinned to the wall—on which the growing mural of creative resident Chaw Ei Thein‘s Quiet River is spreading. The mural is bordered with heads and grasping hands that reach into its central images: a procession …
Creative Resident Profile: Chaw Ei Thein—Part 1 (EW) Read More »
On Sunday, October 26 at 1 pm, beginning at the corner of Queen St. W. and Ossington St., Mexican artist Gustavo Alvarez Lugo (aka Musgus) will present the first of two Introspective actions planned for the first part of his Creative Residency at the 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art in Toronto. They will be …
Scheduling update: Gustavo Alvarez Lugo (Musgus) Read More »
By Elaine Wong Raaka – RAW, the movement-based exploration of Pia Lindy, was at turns reaching, grasping, supporting, supplicating, drawing in, offering, rejecting, withdrawing, essentializing and more. Using sparse spoken text to provide context, she presented us with a concept of movement that focused on a series of sustained still images that flowed into and …
By Andrew James Paterson Walking down Ossington Avenue, I approach the XPACE Cultural Centre and immediately perceive an art object in the window. This is a change from the previous evening, but then the object was created that previous evening. Joost Nieuwenburg’s Mattress of Vertical Matches, perhaps? It is the mat or rug or surface …
October 24, 2008 By Elaine Wong Today festival Éminence Grise Glenn Lewis performed the first portion of A Sweeping Statement down the streets of Toronto. Clad in a green jumpsuit with ‘HOPE Engineering’ cheerfully printed on the back, and armed with a dustbin, broom and his bright orange cap, Lewis walked amicably down the sidewalk, …