Pairs

Exhibition text by Katelin Karbonik

This project is a decentralized, iterative and collaborative endeavour-in-progress by Mitchell Chalifoux and collaborators Aasttha Khajuria, Sapphoria, Brandon Wint, Toña, NIUBOI and Heath Birkholz. The installation is the fruit of the encounters between Chalifoux and each collaborating artist. Presented during a time of changing, pandemic-related social guidelines, this exhibition is an exploration of the dynamics of creative dialogue: waiting, listening, and supporting each other’s needs. Themes of these dialogues include transformation, dialogue, intimacy, gender and performance.

In collaborative work, each artist brings a particular agenda and perspective to the project. These divergences can be managed to stay true to the original vision of the organizing artist. A hierarchical approach might save time, but what happens when the performance artist seeks to decentralize themselves?

The process of making art in dialogue means letting self-imposed expectations and requirements become secondary. Breathing the empty spaces, not doing as a necessary preparation for doing, when the time is right. In giving time and space to others, can we feed each other, creatively and bodily? Can we find a way to make each other feel good in our bodies?

Latitude 53

2020 – ongoing

Photos by Adam Waldron-Blain