BigArtTO at Fairview Library

^{Still image from Tuesday (2021), Nelson Wu}

BigArtTO featuring "Tuesday" by Nelson Wu, "Speaking Fruit" by Farrah Miranda, and "a recipe for a bleeding heart" by Basil AlZeri

Presented with Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

With Special Thanks to Toronto Public Library

Wednesday November 17 - Saturday November 20, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm nightly.

Routes & Rituals is originally a program contributed to Critical Distance Centre for Curator’s large-scale durational project Phase I of Place Settings. The program features video-based works by artists Nelson Wu, Farrah Miranda, and Basil AlZeri who approach food through bodied, material sites that reflect our relationships to one another, the land, and ourselves. These works expand beyond food as the act of consumption, contemplating varying pathways food is brought into existence, whether through kitchen utensils from a beloved store, repetition and stillness in sites of food preparation, or collective movement as resistance. Beyond the content, the respective formats of each video-based work further interrogate and negotiate the complexity and fluidity of food relationships. 

Looking to see more? Viewable online alongside the works are in-depth artists talks that share further insight on the process, themes, and reflections of the project. Audio description for all works and Q&As are available for free online through VUCAVU.

Artist Bios:

Nelson Wu is a Chinese Canadian artist who creates pixel art and illustration. Graduating from OCAD University, he is currently working in the video game and entertainment industry. He has produced a variety of illustrations, pixel art, and animations. He is inspired by his experiences in Asia; a sense of nostalgia and surrealism are often themes present in the work.

Born in the Gulf to parents who were migrant workers, Farrah Miranda’s lived experience has confronted her with the way people, places, objects and experiences are bordered. This inspires aspects of Miranda’s artistic practice in which she questions how borders are enacted through processes of categorization, securitization, censorship and control. Moving between the gallery and the public sphere, Miranda creates situations that actively engage the viewer. With mediums that range from manipulated found objects to performance, installation and new media, she experiments with the pedagogical possibilities of art in undoing colonial borders, citizenships and illegalities.

Basil AlZeri is a visual artist living and working between Toronto and Waterloo region, Canada. AlZeri's practice involves the intersection of art, education, and food, taking multiple forms, such as performance, drawing, video, and ephemeral installation. His ongoing research and practice examine the politics and significance of work in our lives. Issues he addresses include professionalization, careerism, emotional/immaterial/unrecognized labour, and the co-optation of relational practices by socially engaged art. 

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by East, South and Southeast Asian artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.

About BigArtTO: Explore Art Across The City

Experience art illuminated at BigArtTO, a city-wide public art celebration featuring free access to temporary public artworks projected onto local buildings and landmarks. Created by Toronto artists, the projections will play on a loop so that visitors can arrive at any time. Part of ShowLoveTO.

BigArtTO is the result of a collaboration between the City of Toronto with OCAD University and AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc.

View all BigArtTO events here.