Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: envy
It's been quite a day for art in Toronto. Tanya Mars' gigantoid performance, Tyranny of Bliss dominated chunks of the downtown from 12-6pm. Eddo Stern was also talking and workshopping at InterAccess for the exact same period of time. I managed to take in some of each (despite the powerful draw of friends and patios in the gentle summer breeze) and will write something about Stern after I see his show at AGO that opens on Wednesday. For now suffice it to say that I'm thrilled the work is in town and very curious to see his new video.
Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: courage
Tyranny of Bliss was a behemoth. 14 tableaux, covering the 7 deadly sins and the 7 heavenly virtues, dotted the provincial legislature grounds and the big boulevard (University Avenue) that leads up to them. White limousines bearing audience, magicians and psychics drove around from site to site. I passed on the experience of sitting in ostentatious cars with strangers in favour of biking up and down on my rattley CCM. Despite spending a lot of time, enjoying myself enormously, and revisiting each site at least twice, I have not taken in the measure of this work. It's rambling and massive and I think each piece actually does belong to a comprehensive, intuitive whole that I can't as yet assemble. Highlights for me were Envy, Greed, Courage and Lust, as well as the rare urban experience of unearthing surprising, engaging art on familiar, traffic-laden streets.
Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: greed
Hi Sally. This is off topic, but an article I came across.. (what do you think of that art college project by the way?). Toronto is booming.
Thanks Selma, I like Russell Smith. He's true urbanite - a sharp-tongued hipster columnist with a couple of novels about sharp-tongued hipsters under his belt. I recently heard a pundit onTV praising last novel by saying it was "written for adults". Could be construed as damning with faint praise, but I think he was genuinely proud of the hometown boy.
There was some discussion about Alsop's OCAD on an earlier thread here. I did not like the drawings, but in fact the building looks great. I'll go take some more pictures tomorrow if the weather is nice. Someone I know who teaches at OCAD says its a drag waiting for the elevators, but once you are up there the view is fantastic and there's good light.
Someone who'd seen this post (above) asked me today if anybody showed up at Tanya Mars performance. I guess these shots are pretty isolated. There were actually tons of people all day. Here's some more pictures for context. (top: Lust, middle: University Ave looking north and south, bottom left: Tolerance, bottom right: Truth
"While some say it is a building which could be described as the best thing that has happened in Toronto for a long time, others have gone so far as to say it is "audacious" and "not really architecture".
But Will is quick to respond to these comments: "It is a building. I designed it, so it must be architecture," he says."
(hi sally mckay, your "here" did not link and I would be interested...)
thanks for the link note Selma - funny quote! fixed the link.
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Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: envy
Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: courage
Tanya Mars' Tyranny of Bliss: greed
- sally mckay 6-13-2004 12:07 pm
Hi Sally. This is off topic, but an article I came across.. (what do you think of that art college project by the way?). Toronto is booming.
- selma 6-14-2004 11:12 pm
Thanks Selma, I like Russell Smith. He's true urbanite - a sharp-tongued hipster columnist with a couple of novels about sharp-tongued hipsters under his belt. I recently heard a pundit onTV praising last novel by saying it was "written for adults". Could be construed as damning with faint praise, but I think he was genuinely proud of the hometown boy.
There was some discussion about Alsop's OCAD on an earlier thread here. I did not like the drawings, but in fact the building looks great. I'll go take some more pictures tomorrow if the weather is nice. Someone I know who teaches at OCAD says its a drag waiting for the elevators, but once you are up there the view is fantastic and there's good light.
Someone who'd seen this post (above) asked me today if anybody showed up at Tanya Mars performance. I guess these shots are pretty isolated. There were actually tons of people all day. Here's some more pictures for context. (top: Lust, middle: University Ave looking north and south, bottom left: Tolerance, bottom right: Truth
- sally mckay 6-15-2004 1:53 am
"While some say it is a building which could be described as the best thing that has happened in Toronto for a long time, others have gone so far as to say it is "audacious" and "not really architecture".
But Will is quick to respond to these comments: "It is a building. I designed it, so it must be architecture," he says."
(hi sally mckay, your "here" did not link and I would be interested...)
- selma 6-15-2004 6:46 pm
thanks for the link note Selma - funny quote! fixed the link.
- sally mckay 6-15-2004 7:16 pm