Life of a Craphead

Life of Life of a Craphead

admin — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 20:56:53 +0000

Life of Life of a Craphead (2020) is a tv show pilot made up entirely of re-enactments of true stories from Amy Lam and Jon McCurley’s lives. Screened at the Seoul MediaCity Biennale, 2021.

Written, directed, edited & starring Life of a Craphead. Camera: Khanh Tudo; Art direction: Cotey Pope; Sound: Matt Smith; Music: Liz Brain; Colour: Marvin Luvualu Antonio; Sound mix: BlackShuck; Second camera: Saba Ahktar; Production coordinator: Monica Moraru; Titles: Steph Davidson. With Hannia Cheng, Aliya Pabani, Dylan Aiello, Cadence Planthera, Cheryl Hann, and many, many others. Supported by Toronto Biennial of Art, Trinity Square Video, Centre for Art Tapes, and Annie Koyama.

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Entertaining Every Second

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 21:31:53 +0000

The title of this exhibition comes from a Nam June Paik quote: “I am a poor [wo]man from a poor country, so I have to be entertaining every second.” The works in “Entertaining Every Second” follow our inquiry into colonialism in Asia and North America through personal experience and ancestral history.

The Quiet American But Only The Parts Where the White Man Main Character Tells the Asian Woman To Do Stuff for Him Angry Edit Of Wikipedia Page (lasted for 2 days; archived here) Page Translated From Vietnamese Wikipedia And Uploaded To English Wikipedia About Jon’s Ancestor, Phạm Thận Duật Making Something Positive out of Chris Cran’s Painting “Self-Portrait With Combat Nymphos Of Saigon”
1. Beautiful Tote Bag
2. Beautiful Canvas Shoes “Until Either One Closes”: an agreement between a gallery (aka artist-run, Saskatoon) and the restaurant next door (Jin Jin Cuisine) for all openings at the gallery to be catered by Jin Jin, for the rest of time, either one of the businesses closes. We also asked for the logo of Jin Jin Cuisine to be added to the logo block of aka artist-run.

Entertaining Every Second has been exhibited in different iterations at:
Centre Clark, Montreal, Feb. 28 – April 6, 2019
aka artist-run, Saskatoon, Jan. 17 – Feb. 16, 2019 (curated by Su-Ying Lee and cheyanne turions)
Truck Contemporary Art, with M:ST Biennial, Calgary, Sept. 7 – Oct. 20, 2018

Writings:
❁ Exhibition essay by Jason Hirata (pdf)
❁ Interview with Robin Simpson in c magazine
❁ Review on akimbo by Tammer El-Sheikh

Acknowledgements:
Vietnamese translators: Lam Lui, Jennifer Cao
Mandarin Chinese translators: Qiming Sun, Xiao Han
Archival research assistance: Frank Green, Adrian Chen, Mark Loehrer
Design: Aliya Pabani
Photography: Monica Moraru, Vince Tao
Architectural modelling: Emily Hogg
“Ceilings with Clowns” fabrication: Maker Sculpture, Cotey Pope, Robin Fry, Henry Fletcher, Fiona Ezechiels
With thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council

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King Edward VII Equestrian Statue Floating Down the Don River

admin — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:17:33 +0000

In Queen’s Park, Toronto, there is a 15-foot bronze sculpture of King Edward VII on a horse, first erected in colonial India in 1922. Following India’s independence in 1947, it was removed and placed in storage. A prominent Toronto businessman and politician heard of its existence and paid for it to be moved to Toronto, citing his desire for a “great equestrian statue.” Despite protests from the public, the statue was placed in Queen’s Park in 1969. The statue still bears the original colonial plaque stating that the statue of the British King is of “The Emperor of India.” This is a performance where we dumped a life-size replica of the sculpture in the Don and it floated down the river for 4 weeks in October-November 2017.
For the Don River Valley Park, curated by Kari Cwynar.

Press about King Edward VII Equestrian Statue Floating Down the Don River:

CBC The Sunday Edition “A Colonial Era Statue Hits the Water…” and online “Dumping Statue in the Don River…”
Canadian Art “Eddie and Me”, “Art in 2017: A View from Toronto”, and “White Supremacists Target Anti-Monument Performance”
VICE “This Art Comedy Duo Dumped a Controversial Statue in a River”
Toronto Star “King Edward, down the Don River without a paddle”
Now Magazine “The 10 Best Art Shows of 2017”
Featured photo in The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and The Globe and Mail

Thanks to the crew (Seth Scriver, Charlie Murray, Inez Genereux, Cale Weir, Sarah Kilpack, Vic Cheong & others), Maker Sculpture, and the staff of Evergreen Brickworks. Photos by Yuula Benivolski.

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Fifty-Year Retrospective, 2006-2056

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 03:22:00 +0000

The Life of a Craphead Fifty-Year Retrospective, 2006-2056, at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2013). Produced while LOAC were AGO Artists-in-Residence, with the assistance of Bridget Moser, Syrus Marcus Ware & The AGO Youth Council, Sean Weaver, Matt Smith, Nikki Woolsey, Sean O’Neill, Kathleen Mclean, and Kelly McKinley.
Poster + Exhibition essay by Steve Kado (pdf)
Review by Sam Cotter. Canadian Art, April 2013

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Double Double Land Land

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 03:18:50 +0000

A two-part project including a play and exhibition, co-presented by Gallery TPW and The Theatre Centre, Toronto (2009). In the play, Double Double Land is a shitty place. The Mayor invites Tuba City, a successful urban planner from Tuba City, to make it better. But the citizens of Double Double Land realize that to make things better you have to make them worse. A loud wedding party next door interrupts and ruins the play. Essay by Alex Snukal (pdf).

The play was produced, written and directed by Life of a Craphead; starring Amy Lam, Jon McCurley, Dave Clark, Glenn MaCaulay, Nika Mistruzzi, Lauren Bride, Laura McCoy, Anna May Henry, Jesjit Gill, Augustina Saynavong, David Rendall, Vanessa Rieger, Anna Silverstein, Wes Allen, Christine Azis, Sarah Bodri, Scott Yamamura, Andy Hull, Matt Farris, Ashley Mogg, Dave Regowski, Hannah McCurley, Oliver Pauk, Dave Macaulay and family, with sets by Laura McCoy, costumes by Nikki Woolsey, sound by Matt Smith.

The exhibition applied “making things worse” to life. With: Xenia Benivolski, Robin Fry, Miles Collyer, Matt King, Amy Lam, Cameron Lee, Jon McCurley, Bonny Poon, Z03 B4rcz4, & Sarah Richardson.

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Free Lunch

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 03:18:16 +0000

Lucky Dragon Restaurant, Toronto, June 10, 2007
Photos by Sandy Plotnikoff and Davida Nemeroff

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Transporting Life of a Craphead

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 03:18:09 +0000

Life of a Craphead designed a method for transporting people that responds to representations of criminals and concepts of punishment. LOAC performed as the two criminals being transported between jails for an audience in a schoolbus. The flatbed truck drove by the bus on the highway at 100km/h. Presented for the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto (2012). (Formerly titled Transporting Criminals or Transporting Psychos).

PRESS RELEASE:
“Life of a Craphead have been hired to assist the delivery of the two most dangerous people alive from Pearson Airport to a unique correctional facility in Kingston, Ontario. These criminals are extremely physically dangerous and are geniuses of manipulation who are bad. Corrections Canada has been quoted in their press release regarding the public transport of these dangerous people, ‘…we have never made a statement like this before but due to the risks involved the public should be aware that the Corrections Canada C.E.O. has admitted to being scared.’ To limit the time these dangerous people will be in transport, the motorcade will have to drive on the highway between Toronto and North York around 6pm on Wednesday, April 4. Life of a Craphead are also scheduled to concurrently host the AGYU’s Performance Bus and have been quoted as saying ‘There must be an error as we have not been hired to move those bad guys.'”

Produced with the assistance of Matt Smith, Seth Scriver and Glenn Macaulay.

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Musical Road

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 03:11:29 +0000

WHEN YOU DRIVE OVER OUR MUSICAL ROAD YOU HEAR VIBRATIONS. Inspired by the musical runway at Disney World. Installation in front of Future Shop on Yonge Street, Toronto (2007).

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New Thing Travelling Store

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 02:47:37 +0000

New Thing Travelling Store sold items to crowds at other people’s events, including at live music shows, a farm, some craft fairs, and two banks (2006-2009).

FASHION PLUGS

LAUGHTER-TREATED WOOD

“I’M MAD AT…” GLASSES

NEW SHELVES

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Food Exhibit

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 02:40:49 +0000

I’M NOT WHAT I THOUGHT I WAS

LIFE OF A CRAPHEAD POSTER

Exhibit at Canzine, 2007, with Art Metropole.

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