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Remember Frogger and Tetris?

Game on! AGO All Hours, our all-day, all-ages event, returns on October 26 with a vintage arcade, a headline performance by Allie X and a new roster of artful installations.

Brette Gabel: Digital Quilt

Analogue Digital Glitch Adapted for Institutional Camouflage. Image courtesy of Brette Gabel.

AGO All Hours is back for round two, and this time it’s game on! With an all-new lineup of artists, installations, performances and activities for visitors of all ages, the newest edition of All Hours takes playful inspiration from the themes of technology and gaming found in Hito Steyerl: This is the future.

As you enter the AGO, you’ll be welcomed by Analogue Digital Glitch Adapted for Institutional Camouflage, a new installation by Toronto artist Brette Gable. Just beyond the ticketing desk, Walker Court will be alive with the clinging pinballs and whirring lights of vintage arcade games. Challenge your friends to classic games like Frogger and Tetris, or take in the nostalgic art installation surrounding Walker Court created by Toronto cartoonist and illustrator Eric Kostiak-Williams.

Take your digital gaming into the real world with a Pac-Man-inspired gaming experience entitled Paku Paku created by Toronto artist David Fono. Players of all ages will be invited to enter a full-size 3-D maze in the AGO’s Weston Family Learning Centre, where they’ll be chased by real-live ghosts in three-minute games, running all day long. When you’re done finding energy balls, join the Hand Eye Society in Galleria Italia to enjoy a curated selection of indie video games, or pop into the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre to view a unique sonic/visual projection by installation artist Xuan Ye.

We hope you’re not tired, because there’s still more! Take a peek in the Marvin Gelber Print & Drawing Centre to find a playful collection of rarely seen books, portfolios and collectibles about gaming, or enjoy all-ages artmaking activities at the mobile Art Cart roaming the galleries throughout the day.

Perhaps you’re more interested in touring the many works on view in our special exhibition and in the AGO Collection. If so, join an AGO-Oh Really?! tour or listen in as one of our curators gives extra insight into your favourite works. Tours will be departing throughout the day, so make sure to check the website for more details. With so much inspiration, all are invited to  try their hand at drawing live models in pencil or watercolour with tips from our artist-instructors at Life Drawing in the Gallery School studios; while children and youth can stop by the Weston Family Community Gallery to check out our Mindful Makers space – a perfect place to express your creativity.

After taking in the art and getting your creative juices flowing with some artmaking, make your way to the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre where Toronto artist, multi-instrumentalist and computer coder Xuan Ye presents a series of installations. Then cap things off with a spectacular headline performance by Canadian singer-songwriter Allie X in Walker Court. Featuring soaring melodies, mystical lyrics and an electrifying synth-pop sound, this performance by the artist whose music Katy Perry is obsessed with will be the perfect end to a perfect day.

Take a look at the website for the full schedule and follow #AGOAllHours on Twitter and Instagram for ticketing and programming updates.

AGO All Hours is included with General Admission (free for AGO Members, AGO Annual Pass holders, and visitors 25 and under).

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