The Middle Zone
Michael Connor and Heather Keung
Presented by the Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga
The Middle Zone is a site-specific installation by artists Michael Connor and Heather Keung. Begun as part of The Good Host, an exhibition curated by Su-Ying Lee that takes place in four locations, Connor and Keung’s original installation stood for three days in the courtyard. Succumbing to some of the same concerns that motivated the exhibition, the artist’s were asked to dismantle their work. How can we reconcile legalities, caution and personal agency over public space? How can individuals introduce diversity of form and thought?
Working with the inherent challenges of the public realm, The Middle Zone has become a two-part work, on view in the MOCCA lobby as an installation from April 17th to 24th with video documentation continuing until May 22nd and, a courtyard project will be on view until May 22nd.
Originally intended for the courtyard, the hybrid structure was designed according to available materials salvaged from the artists’ home. Intended as a multi-use space for enhancing the comfort and enjoyment of visitors to the MOCCA’s courtyard, the artists built with the following philosophy:
– Be responsive to the environment in which we are building
– Be respectful of the function, as well as the history of the space
– Be resourceful and true to the materials that are at hand
– Allow our physical bodies to guide the designing process
The Middle Zone is part of The Good Host (April 17 – May 22), a multi-site group exhibition curated by Su-Ying Lee and presented by the Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga. Other installations in the exhibition are in located in Mississauga and throughout Toronto. As a multi-site exhibition, The Good Host can be experienced as one, or a series of encounters that provoke deliberation. The aim is to unfix the viewer’s perception of prescribed uses for urban space and reconsider their own agency within it.
Other artists in The Good Host are Atom Deguire on view at the Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga (Kaneff Centre) and on Queen Street West between Dufferin and Shaw Streets and Janis Demkiw, Corwyn Lund and Duncan MacDonald in the King Street revolving door entrance of Metro Hall (building address 55 John Street). For more information visit www.blackwoodgallery.ca or call 905 828 3789.
Viewing hours:
April 15, 18 – 21 / 11 – 5pm
April 16-17, 23-24 / 11-6pm
April 22 / MOCCA closed for Good Friday