Performance

This performance was part of the Draw To Perform Symposium at OCAD University February 2016. Special thanks to Ram Samocha for inviting me to participate.

Faith and Reason

A Collection Of Non-Fiction Stories

 Audience members were invited to sit and read aloud from the stack of books provided. The artist  “drew” their words as they read. The reader determined the appropriate side of the drawing panel in response to their classification of the text.

Collaboration 

Despite the fact that all of the books are officially classified as “non-fiction” by the library system - for the purposes of this performance the books provided were arbitrarily classified as being either “Faith” or “Reason” based.

Non-Fiction Stories

 The resulting art work is a collaboration between the audience and the artist - exploring the dichotomy of “faith” and “reason” – “fiction” or “fact””. The dual nature of the artwork’s surface provides a vehicle by which both beliefs can be explored through the (seemingly) opposite lens. 

Using Reason to Draw

Glaciology

Practice run for Glaciology 

 

 A total of 75 dancers performing The Work of Wind curated by Christine Shaw and choreographed by Brandy Leary .Using the movement of glaciers across landscapes as an entry point, this piece explores states of density, collaboration, collapse, overpopulation, relocation, disruption, environmental tipping points, disappeared people, mass graves, icebergs, and melting ice caps.

 3:00am, 4th October, 2015 Queens Quay East, Toronto
Photo courtesy - Toronto Star

Glaciology combines site specific performance with human sculpture and choreographic installation to create a surreal, constantly shifting image of bodies as landscape and simultaneously as capsules of history and memory; both human and geological. Performed on the streets of Toronto for the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Exhibition October 3, 2015

Watch the video

BEING Inside The Glacier

a still image from the video BEING Inside The Glacier

               

 

A Different Type of Portrait

 A Different Type of Portrait occurred as part of The City of Mississagua's Share the Love project. This project was part of the IGNITE series during the Pan Am / Parapan Games Toronto 2015. 

Participants involved in A Different Type of Portrait  chose to be either “artists” or “models”. Artists were blindfolded and asked to paint a “portrait” of the model. The inspiration for their creation however, was derived from the WORDS of the model (i.e. what the model sounded like -not what the model looked like.) 

Three elements – the basic words emanating from the model, the hidden or implied meaning behind the words, and the artist’s own interpretation of those words  created a very different portrait of the model from the ones seen in public spaces normally.  

This method of painting results in unique and highly symbolic portraits of people and proves to be very illuminating on many different levels for both the artist and the model. Unencumbered by visual conventions the artist’s rendering is the embodiment of the model’s thoughts divulged through the spoken word.









 In our visually dominated world this small intervention upends the idea that a portrait is based purely on what a person looks like. 







Thank you to all of the Artists and Models who were generously gave their time to participate in this project. 

Photos courtesy of Tori Lambermont