As insatiable and compulsive collectors of found photographs and keen observers of sociological patterns, both Dutch artist and designer Erik Kessels and French multimedia artist Thomas Mailaender take the absurd and ridiculous very seriously. Joining forces for this collaborative project, they draw from the photographic archives of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) to activate their constructed urban playscape.
Play Public (2021)—a part of The Bentway’s Playing in Public season—integrates a quirky selection of these archival images, spanning the 1950s through the 1980s, onto large wooden structures suggestive of the remains of a fairground site, with various components arranged like a parkour course. Neighbouring The Bentway, the CNE is a longstanding late-summer staple in Toronto (unfortunately cancelled for a second year due to COVID-19), and its midway of games, rides, and attractions remains one of its most popular features. The installation reinvigorates the idiosyncratic images, bringing this past back to life in a contemporary environment.
Set within Canoe Landing, Kessels and Mailaender’s intervention is proximate to schools, playgrounds, a community centre, and vertical urban neighbourhoods where thousands of people live and work. While the pandemic has altered lives and cities, it has further highlighted the importance of public space as a site for play and well-being.
collaborators
Co-commissioned by The Bentway Conservancy with:
Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival
