This performance by Swiss artist Reto Pulfer will present a unique offering to visitors of Villa Toronto's opening reception — the artist will serve hot soup made with locally sourced ingredients and gathered with renowned local forager Deirdre Fraser. The remnants of Pulfer's performance and process will be on display at Union Station for the duration of Villa Toronto.

 
Presented by British Council and Hollybush Gardens in association Villa Toronto

This performance by Rudolf Bone shall feature a reenactment of the performative sculpture, Panspermia, from 1985, made out of glass lamellas and a stone thrown by the artist. The rock is the proof that the Panspermia hypothesis is true, and we should consider it when enclosing ourselves in inflexible systems of thought. “Breaking” as a normative structure was a strong action in the 1980s during the communist regime, and it still today offers an intense reflection on the human condition.

Presented by Plan B in association Villa Toronto

Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson is one of the most acclaimed performance artists of his generation. His work, characterized by durational experiments, employs the language of art, music, and theatre while playing on contradictory emotions. Inspired by classical and popular musical traditions and accompanied by his musician friends, Kjartansson will create a unique performance not to be missed.

 
Tickets, are free, and are required for this event. As of January 6th 2015, this event is sold out. A limited number of rush tickets will be available at the door at 9:30 pm on January 16th.

 
Presented by AGO and i8 Gallery in association with Villa Toronto

Renowned Canadian artist Michael Snow will present a unique screening and performance based on his recent concert at WWW in Tokyo. Following the performance a discussion with curator Sylwia Serafinowicz shall be held.

Tickets, are free, and are required for this event – available at the door.

Tyler Coburn’s publication, I’m that angel, explores the conditions of how we work on and against the computer, narrated from the perspective of a “content farmer”: an online journalist contracted to generate articles based on words peaking in Google Trends.  

Periodically, Coburn holds readings at data centers worldwide, including Google New York, Google Zurich and the infamous “Wikileaks Bunker” of Bahnhof Stockholm.  These events give audiences access to the sites where “the cloud” is kept. On other occasions, readings pair with documentation shot on data server floors.  In each scenario, we encounter the material doubles of our virtual subjectivities: data stored in server form.

Rather than concede to the seeming intractability of cognitive capitalism, these readings seek to potentiate new critical operations through shared access, listening and discussion.  Across its parts, I’m that angel argues for a renewed consideration of the immanent horizons of subjectivity, sociability and creativity.  

This event is limited to ten places for each session. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register interest and to receive up-to-date details on the location of this event.

Presented by Kunstverein Toronto in association with Villa Toronto

Bouncy Highrise is a performance event in which a small crew of people would attempt to stack a tower of bouncy castles, one on top of the other. This would take place over the course of two to three hours in the courtyard in front of the MoCCA. This site is ideal for the project, as it is currently slated for condominium redevelopment, and will soon feature the sort of highrise tower that has “sprung up overnight” in Queen West, redefining the character of the neighborhood.

The inflatable castles may or may not stack tidily however, and therein lies the crux of the piece. It might be quite sisyphean as the tower leans, buckles, deflates, twists, or tumbles. We cannot predict what will happen, but it will be up to the performers to react in the moment with improvised problem solving and teamwork. The audience will be invited to watch from a safe barricaded vantage point, as the 35 foot tall monumental tower is constructed. The castles would be tied to each other and secured to the adjacent brick wall as required, so the tower could not topple in the direction of the audience. I imagine the event would be a nail-biter, akin to watching a five-story tall game of Jenga. Failures would provide tragicomic relief from an earnest engineering endeavor. Ad hoc solutions would be plentiful as the crew attempted to overcome hurdles.

The project is aspirational in nature and will recall not only ambitious local architecture (condominiums, CN Tower, etc) but art historical works such as Brancusi's Endless Column, a piece cited by Derek Sullivan in his Villa contribution. Bouncy Highrise is intended as a serious response to Toronto's recent exponentially increased urban density, yet the performance would maintain a tone of levity and playfulness.

Presented by Jessica Bradley Gallery in association with MOCCA and Villa Toronto