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August 30th 2012

This tour became at Dufferin Grove Park where we had complimentary bike tune-ups courtesy of our friends at Bike Pirates. There were the usual tunes from John Cairnes and his bicycle sound-system and our emcee Michael Louis Johnson on the trumpet. We also had the Love-Lettering Project by Lindsay Zier-Vogel, once again helping to spread the love of cycling through our fair city with her interactive project.

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The tour had some art projects that followed along with the bike tour. Take a Load Off by Tongue and Groove Collective featured a cozy armchair mounted on a bike trailer for participants to sit back and relax. Complete with ottoman, doilies and floor lamp, this miniature livingroom cycled with the tour from beginning to end. Along the way performers Ocean Mussack and Maureen Hill interpreted a piece choreographed by Davy Bisaro, wrapped in red cloth they appeared at various locations on the route, as well as the final location where they danced to music by Joanna Chapman-Smith.

The tour began with Come Close/r a performance in the park by Steven Beckly and Dylan MacNeil which explores the intimacies of a romantic relationship within public space and private spaces. Following that, our tour headed north-west to the collective studios of artists Robert Hengeveld, Erika James, Laura Paolini and Nathalie Quagliotto where they had sculpture and installations for participants both inside and outside their intersting warehouse studio.

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Leaving the studio visit, the tour headed to the West Toronto Railpath at Sterling Rd. for a compelling movement-based performance titled Sandpiles. This piece explores the joys and struggles of solitude and relation. Dancers Cara Spooner and Alicia Grant performed atop multiple sand piles in an empty lot as the moon rose behind them. This performance was choreographed by Art Spin's own Rui Pimenta.

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The following stop was at Arsenale Toronto and featured work by Barry Allikas, Daniel Buren and Yves Gaucher presented by Galerie Division and Galerie René Blouin of Montreal. This provided an exciting visit to a gallery space, one which is new to Toronto and impressed participants with its remarkable size and quality.

Our second last stop had participants enter an empty lot where four cars were parked, their headlights focused on Jenn Goodwin and Camilla Singh who performed Mortified, a piece that involves drumming, cheerleading, muscle cars and interesting plays on gender dynamics. The high energy performance saw the women kicking up dirty in the highbeams and riding away atop the cars while playing their drumkits.

While riding up the railpath to our next stop we passed underneath a bicycle-inspired light installation under the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge. The installation was created by some member of the Bike Pirates and glowed overhead as our emcee Michael Louis Johnson stopped and serenaded the group on the trumpet as they rode by.

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Finally the last stop on the tour took us to Metropolis Factory, a beautiful warehouse space complete with dark nooks and high catwalks. The tour ended with a hauntingly beautiful performance of Three Voices by Charlotte Mundy which rang out in the space.

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The final stop also housed The Third Annual Art Spin Exhibition which included a mix of installation, sculpture, film/video, and painting. Artists in the show included Jaime Angelopoulos, Bruno Bilio, Nicole Collins,John Dickson, Markus Heckmann, Simone Jones, Ivan Jurakic, Bogdan Luca, Wrik Mead, Rod Mireau, Derrick Piens, and Cheryl Rondeau.


The after party had lively musical performances by both Taylor Knox Band and Squid Lid, with food by the gourmet food truck Per Se Mobile.

PHOTOS

Photos by Priam Thomas

PARNTERS

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