Art of the Danforth

Co-curator / Toronto > Art on the Danforth > 2016 > ​

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As a co-curator for Art of the Danforth 2016 with Asad Raza, I presented two sound-based projects: The Centre for Communication and Poetry Research, and Listening Choir by and Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes.  The projects operated as a sonic diptych, presenting the dynamic between the physic-internal and physical-external auditory strata of the neighbourhood.

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Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes' Listening Choir, is a walking performance through urban spaces that explored the sounds of the Danforth’s streetscape and the changing urban dynamics of the neighborhood. The sounds of the streets are felt with a concrete presence equal to the bodies and build environment from which they resonate. "Enacting a practice of group listening, the walks offer a way of encountering the affective landscapes of public settings together, reflecting on broad notions of common space and participation" (Chistopher Willes and Adam Kinner). Learn more here.

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The Centre for Communication and Poetry Research on the other hand, explored the quietude of private thoughts that float above the loudness of the streets. In addition to the standard pop-up research centre, I collaborated with six local residents, Ronna Bloom, MAYRA VARGAS, Shae Stamp, Hanan Hazime, Alina Tigountsova, and Sean Barrett to produce a series of poems that reflected everyday thoughts. The poems could be heard through listening stations installed in various businesses along the neighbourhood (see locations here). Acting as an omnipresent ear and intervening mouth (like the telephone), the listening stations and poems amplified the inaudible stratum of internal sound within the larger sonic environment of the Danforth.

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Listen to the poems here:

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Ronna Bloom ( 0:00 -3:40)

1. Everything is Your Province

2. Electric Beach Tan Sam’s Hair Styling

 

MAYRA VARGAS (3:40 – 8:27)

1. CELLPHONE POEM #3

2. Listening and Understanding

 

Shae Stamp (8:30 – 13:00)

1. Annoying Fly That Won’t Die

2. People Watching on the Fifth Floor

3. Untitled

4. School Dance

5. Untitled 2

 

Hanan Hazime (13:02 – 16:03)

1. Purity

2. Canadian

3. 3:07

 

Alina Tigountsova (16:04 – 19:05)

1. Ode to the TTC

2. Abstract

3. Between Two Places

4. Free Form

5. Never Ending

6. I Updated

 

Sean Barrett (19:06 – 20:05)

1. This Week’s Poem

 

The Centre for Communication and Poetry Presents: Everyday Sounds (By Hanan Hazime, Alina Tigountsova, Sean Barrett, and Shae Stamp) (20:08 – 23:54)

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