Attack the Block

Block Party Explores How Consumer Choices Shape Communities

Fringe ArtsHilary Sinclair — Published February 28, 2012

But instead of celebrating the people that make up a community, it gives life to the structures and choices that create it.

Featuring the work of 13 artists, Block Party attempts to draw attention to how consumer power shapes our urban environment—with a focus on Montreal’s Mile End.

“I wanted to celebrate the neighbourhood and think about how it has gentrified in this specific way,” said exhibit curator Aditi Ohri. “The problem with art sometimes it that it can raise these questions without resolving them.”

Ohri has chosen works that are about geography, consumerism or give insight into human relation with objects and space.

From jewelry that forges a relationship with the wearer through physical and visual qualities to a sink filled with Jell-O that shakes as the observer approaches, the exhibit incorporates a wide range of art practices.

“[The exhibit] became about retail spaces and how, when you walk down a street, there’s just little things like how a window display looks that kind of add to the character of the street,” said Ohri.

“It just becomes a part of the landscape in a way […] I wanted to put emphasis on the fact that there is already art there by putting explicitly artistic objects there.”

The Mile End has developed in a unique way, influenced by the Hasidic Jewish community and the sizable student population alike to produce an almost idyllic physical space. Much of this, said Ohri, is due to the appreciation that all the neighbourhood’s demographics have for creativity.

“Most of the work is going to be on St. Viateur St. between St. Laurent Blvd. and Parc Ave.,” said Ohri. “I used to joke with my friends that St. Viateur St. is kind of like Sesame Street. In the summer everyone is walking around and drinking their coffees, looking at the sun without a care in the world. It’s just the cutest place ever.”

However, the Mile End is just one example of the power of community and consumerism.

“I want to encourage people to walk around their neighbourhoods and look at what is beautiful and unusual,” said Ohri.

The exhibit takes seven Mile End venues, kicking off with an “Art Crawl” that meets at 1:00 p.m. at the corner of Van Horne and Parc.

BLOCK PARTY // MARCH 8-16

Vernissage
March 8 / General 54 (54 St. Viateur St. W.) 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Art Crawl
March 11 / Corner Van Horne Ave. and Parc. Ave. / 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Reception
March 11 / Monastiraki / 3:00 p.m.

Finissage
March 16 / Phonopolis / 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

VENUES

Annex Vintage (56 St. Viateur St. W.)

Club Social (180 St. Viateur St. W.)

General 54 (54 St. Viateur St. W.)

Monastiraki (5478 St. Laurent Blvd.)

Phonopolis (207 Bernard St. W.)

Peut-être (6029 Parc Ave.)

S.W. Welch’s (225 St. Viateur St. W.)