All aboard the Pant Raft, William Huffman (l to r), Christine Swintak, Sebastian Koever and Nicholas Brown
An impertinent gesture by a young art school grad and a “put up or shut up” taunt by his peers has resulted in a decade’s worth of artistic collaborations catalyzed by the William Huffman Award. Upon graduation from the Art and Art History program offered jointly by the University of Toronto at Mississauga and Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, Huffman, above left, was presented with the Grumbacher Award, a set of paints from the venerable art supply company. The young artist exited stage right with his diploma and promptly dumped the paint set in the trash.
“It was my performative gesture,” remembers Huffman, who is now an independent curator and Associate Director of the Toronto Arts Council. “At school I was doing installation, performance and video work so a paint set wasn’t going to do my practice much good.”
“Someone chewed me out about my behaviour and challenged me to come up with an award geared to the practice of the recipient. Why not give them a voice, give them an opportunity and a venue to connect with the broader community. So several years later I started to pull it together.”
Since 1999, Huffman has been sponsoring the award that bears his name. The winning student is paired with an established artist with the goal of creating a collaborative project. Last year Huffman teamed up with Red Bull 381 Projects, an emerging gallery on Queen Street West where curator Nicholas Brown has assumed an active role in shepherding the project.
The 2010 Huffman Award recipient is Sebastian Koever, above (rowing), who was teamed with mentor artist Christine Swintak; together the pair conceptualized and executed the present Red Bull exhibit Doing Five Things, which culminates next Wednesday (September 8) with a closing reception from 6 – 9 pm. On display will be two major undertakings – the Pant Raft, above in action, and the Ordinary Things Ride, below – plus a pair of videos about artistic collaboration. If you’re counting on your fingers you’ll know that equals Four Things, not Five, but that’s life in the world of conceptual art.
The most ambitious piece of the exhibition puzzle is the Pant Raft, a floating craft constructed of blue jeans filled with hardened builder’s insulation foam. The raft was successfully piloted from Cherry Beach to Ward’s Island on July 29. At Red Bull, a film of the vaguely comic journey plays on the gallery wall behind the raft.
The piece leaves me somewhat befuddled; is the raft the artwork or is the video the artwork? “We’ve displayed the raft on a plinth like a museum would,” says Koever. “You’re looking at something that was once used, it’s an artifact now rather than an artwork, the artwork was the experience.”
“Next stop, the ROM!” heralds Swintak.
The other big piece on display is the Ordinary Things Ride, a contraption Nic Brown, below, describes affectionately as “the world’s most boring roller coaster.” The interactive artwork is essentially a scaffold supporting a padded cot that is pulled very slowly along a horizontal plain by a winch; the viewer lies prostrate with a shifting view of the ceiling, which is adorned with neon tube lights.
“You can view the structure as the art, or you can view the ceiling as the art,” says Koever. “If the ride wasn’t there you could still look at the ceiling but the ride forces you to observe the ceiling in a unique way and once you’re on the ride you don’t see the structure anymore, you just see the ceiling and they become totally separate elements.”
How, um, conceptual.
Brown says, “To me the ride is surprisingly beautiful, it’s a cinematic experience, like a slow tracking shot. I find the structure of the piece quite elegant, maybe not beautiful although that’s a subjective call, but the experience of the thing is surprisingly beautiful.”
Swintak adds, “It’s hypnotic once you relax into it.”
The art aside, what I find interesting is that Huffman has assumed the role of modern day patron, supporting and encouraging the art-making process. “Anyone can be a patron,” acknowledges Huffman. “It’s so rewarding to see the dynamic develop between an experienced artist like Swintak, whose work I’ve been seeing for years, and a young artist like Sebastian. It’s amazing to see that. And Nic is also an emerging curator so his involvement is very much in keeping with the spirit of the program; it’s like the award provides the opportunity to amplify their voices.”
Photos by Christopher Jones except raft on the water courtesy of Red Bull 381 Projects
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