Hives of Catalytic Exchanges Mini Conference Webinar
This mini-conference, delivered online via Zoom, is presented on the occasion of a two-part series, called The Great Exchange. Coinciding with Teeth, Loan and Trust Company: The Trylowsky Collection and Toronto-based artist Bill Burns' project, The Goat, the Salt, the Oil.
Dr. Zenon Trylowsky opened his dental practice on the twelfth floor of the Vancouver Block Building at Granville and Georgia Street in 1996; the majority of work in Trylowsky’s collection was acquired through exchange — particularly beneficial for artists working independently without a dental plan. As curator Patrik Andersson notes, "On December 3, 1919, unable to pay his American dentist Daniel Tzanck in cash, the artist Marcel Duchamp made and signed a fake cheque written in the amount of the 115 dollars that he had been billed. The significance of this false Teeth, Loan and Trust Company, Consolidated cheque may be measured both by the fact that the dentist accepted this original copy as payment and that Duchamp valued it so highly that he bought it back from him years later at an inflated price...not only does Duchamp ‘Thank” Dr. Tzanck with this work, but the spelling of “check” refers as much to a cheque as it alludes to Duchamp’s obsession with the game of chess."
Eminent Toronto-based artist Bill Burns will continue his research during a Fall/Winter residency at Griffin Art Projects from December 8 to February 28, in a project that further prompts an examination of parallel economies. Burns’ ongoing research includes The Goat, the Salt, the Oil, a performance series that positioned global trade as an art practice; at Griffin, the artist will research a further speculative iteration of his project, activating the site of the Vancouver Harbour and producing a series of short films, this time potentially proposing the trade of red snapper for goat’s milk, yogurt for honey, organizing a shipment of Nepalese salt for olives or other foodstuffs in Vancouver. The residency includes a photo study of Vancouver dockyards, trains and freight yards, drawings—“pre-documents”—of potential future trades and short Super 8 film diaries of Burns’ everyday life in a pandemic, under the regime of advanced global industrialism.
The Hives of Catalytic Exchanges panel discussion will feature Dr. Janis Timm-Bottos of Art Hive, William Huffman of West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative and Jonny Sopotiuk of VALU-COOP and will be moderated by Griffin’s adjunct curator, Dr. Karen Tam. The conversation will explore alternative economies in art that provide models for reciprocal engagement, art-making, and mutual aid that nurture community and build solidarity. From creative co-operatives to community art studios to mutual aid groups that support and care for their members and peers, these alternatives to the traditional notion of art and labour, help sustain the livelihood of artists and cultural workers through the provision of income streams and the sharing of resources, skills, and knowledge.
