Abstract

The Market Stall Performance Artwork Toronto was designed site-specifically for a Market Place in the City of Toronto during Fall, October 2010. I tried to sell a series of surreal objects, or engage the public in range of satirical or socio-political activities and interactions. The performance always works best when encountered as a normal stall, unannounced, and not identified as art. It is important that I trade along with or adjacent to the normal artisans and sellers and the less said beforehand the better.In the end I created a Performance on Saturday 23rd of October, on a Street near Kensington Market an alternative Market in the Centre of Toronto. I set up a stall in the morning and in the first instance tried to sell Maple leaves to passers bye. (I had previously collected a series of dry fallen Maple leaves that littered the city streets at that time, each of which I had individually signed and Copyrighted). My attempts were treated with a variety of responses from anger, hilarity, shocked curiosity, to a few actual financial transactions. (The notion to sell Maple Leaves in Fall in Canada is lets say it, either completely stupid or absurd, but to actually do it is something else entirely!) As the leaves blew from the table or were sold they were replaced by other Artistic Wares, which I regularly use within the Performance Strategy. I finished the Performance when the weather broke late afternoon.As part of my Participation in the 7a11d Project I was asked to participate in a Post Performance Seminar on Sunday the 24th. Of October in the Toronto Free Gallery – ‘Performance Art Daily’: along with Maurice Blok and Robin Brass with the host: Paul Couillard. This was recorded on Video to form part of the 7a11d Archive.