Showing posts with label harbourfront centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label harbourfront centre. Show all posts

Friday, April 9, 2010

TTC Tiara: Another one for the Torontonians!


I smiled when I saw this TTC-themed tiara at Harbourfront last month. It's by goldsmith and designer Adriana McNeely, and is titled "Super Commuter". McNeely also provided crowns on a variety of other subjects, like Starbucks and video games. Here's some of her commentary on them, provided by the Harbourfront Centre blog:

I was inspired to make this work after realizing that there’s not enough celebrations in our lives. We make big celebrations and parties for things like birthdays, holidays, graduations, but these are not an everyday occurrence. Everyday we wake up and perform a series of tasks, big or small. Some of us go to our jobs, make our art, choose outfits and accessories to present ourselves to the world in, see our friends, go out for coffee etc. I thought it would be nice to create a series of work that focuses on congratulating and making a big deal of usually overlooked activities. The Everyday Pageant Crowns are awarded for these little everyday things. There’s a crown for beating a nintendo game, going for a coffee, owning a modest home, caring about fashion, taking the subway, and going to an office job. It’s important to take some time everyday and remember that no matter how insignificant you think the activity you are doing, or the task you are completing is, right now is currently your life, and it’s important to celebrate and feel special.

Nice thought.

(Photo of Adriana McNeely's "Super Commuter" by Tom Bilenkey from Upfront)

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Too Cool For School: Art & Science Fair Call for Submissions


Got a very interesting call for submissions via Sally McKay today. It's for Too Cool for School: Art and Science Fair which will take place at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on May 8, 2010. According to McKay,

The Too Cool For School Art & Science Fair is an interdisciplinary project in which people from all walks of life come together in a convergence of art and science.The event is structured just like a school science fair participants will display their projects on rows of tables, and will be on hand to discuss their work with the public. The difference is that this event is as much about art as it is about science. Participants will be selected from an open call for submissionson the basis of originality, depth of inquiry, creative innovation and the element of surprise.

The deadline for submissions is March 26, and all "dreamers and inventors, original thinkers and adventurous tinkerers, mad scientists and misunderstood artists, anyone with an over-active imagination and a love/hate relationship with the so-called "real world"" are welcome to apply. (Some of the "winners" will be asked to develop their project further for a fall 2010 exhibition. Break out the ribbons!) Visit www.artandsciencefair.ca to find out more.

Image from Second Thoughts

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Out Today: Interview with Kalle Kataila in National Post


As I noted last week, I loved seeing art/activist duo the Yes Men take on global climate inaction in Copenhagen. Interestingly, Finnish artist Kalle Kataila wants viewers to consider similar issues, albeit in a much more subtle and personal way. This didn't come across to me at first glance—just the images themselves were breathtaking—but it is elaborated in my interview with him in today's National Post. Here's an excerpt:

Q Your project is called Land­scapes and Contemplations. While landscape is easy to photograph, contemplation is less so. How did you approach that?

A Before this project, I was doing photographs of people in meditation. And then I thought that this story could be told through landscape, through an open kind of space. In the landscape, there's often a lot of different stories going on as well. In my work from Dubai, there's a lot of wondering about what has happened with cities, not just thoughts about the grandeur of nature. But overall there is some kind of harmony in the images. And I hope that prompts people to think about our lives, as well as the relationship of our lives to the land.


Some of Kataila's photographs are on view at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre to January 3. And there's more pics below as well as on Kataila's website.




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Monday, December 21, 2009

Love: Kid-Oriented Exhibition Labels @ Harbourfront Centre

One thing I really love seeing are the kid-oriented exhibition labels at Harbourfront Centre. Honestly, I consider them grownup-oriented as well. Which would you rather read, this:


or this:


I'd say the former, at least as an entry point. The kid labels are also placed a little lower (so grownups have to stoop to read them, dang it!). Incidentally, if you want to find out more about Mike Bayne's work, which is also worth a shout-out, go here.

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