Walk This Way: Part Three

September 14th, 2013

It is tempting to think about how the performance interventions of Alÿs and Borsato, in their various forms, might function to undo the built environment. This deconstructive motivation was certainly at  the  heart  of  other  walkers’  work, especially that of the Situationists. While I argue that each of their works contain a highly subversive component, […]

Walk this Way: Part Two

September 13th, 2013

Describing his work, Mexico-based artist Francis Alÿs explains: “I spend a lot of time walking around the city…The initial concept for a project often emerges during a walk. As an artist, my position is akin to that of a passer-by constantly trying to situate myself in a moving environment. Each of my interventions is another […]

Walk This Way: Diane Borsato and Francis Alÿs Make the City

September 12th, 2013

“Let everyday life become a work of art!” 1 “Rarely is walking considered as a distinct mode of acting, knowing, and making. As its necessity diminishes and its applications rarefy, the potential of walking as a critical, creative, and subversive tool appears only to grow.”2 Despite its ubiquitous place in everyday life, walking is an […]

Language and the city

July 9th, 2013

A recent conversation on Twitter got us thinking about how to bring thoughts about langauge and the city into our We Make The City! Poster project. We would like the people of this city to help us translate “We Make The City! We Are The City!” into as many languages as possible. We started with our francophone friends around us, and Tom Fortington and our critical writer in residence Melody McKiver got us thinking about a translation into Anishinaabemowin. How many more can join the conversation?

Towards a democratic city

May 30th, 2013

On the occasion of the Creative City Summit I was given a short platform at the local Pecha Kucha Night. I took the opportunity to present a very short critique of the Creative City concept. Below are my slides for the presentation.   This talk is basically a collage of ideas from (at least but not limited […]

We Make The City!

May 30th, 2013

We Make The City! We Are The City! is a love letter to the city and a call to action. We are moving the festival into the public terrain because we believe it to be fertile and exciting grounds for diversion and discourse, but we are also asking the citizens to redefine how they see themselves, and thus the city around them. The city is not a fully formed structure delivered to you for consumption, but a constant evolving project in which you participate. You are the city around you and the city is you.