The Duel: Competition at the Heart of Play with featured artists Nathalie Quagliotto and Pick a Piper

Guest-curated by OCAD U MFA Criticism and Curatorial Practice students

Get a chance to explore your competitive side at this February’s AGO First Thursday. The Duel will showcase playful installations by Nathalie Quagliotto, an interactive performance by Sarah Febbraro and a live table tennis performance by Geoffrey Pugen.

DJ duo Tape Deck Bros. will battle it out in Walker Court followed by Tasha The Amazon and trio Pick a Piper (featuring Caribou’s Brad Weber) a sound that NOW Magazine is calling “dreamy psych-pop that sounds as good on the dance floor as it does through a pair of headphones.”

Learn the ins and outs of Toronto’s video-gaming culture with AGO artist-in-residence Jim Munroe, and get the inside scoop on working collectively with Toronto-based artists VSVSVS in a series of pop-up talks scheduled throughout the Gallery.

Sculpt with friends and test your puzzlemaking skills to the tunes of DJ Kiki Leaks. Enjoy a delicious array of yummy food and drinks while trying your hand at art-making activities throughout the gallery. The Duel is your chance to eat, drink, dance and come face-to-face with the competition at the heart of play.

FIRST THURSDAYS MUSIC SERIES

Tasha the Amazon is a Toronto rapper and producer who is taking the city’s hip-hop scene by storm. Her hard-hitting rhymes and powerful stage presence make for an intense musical experience not to be missed.

Pick a Piper is a Toronto trio made up of Angus Fraser, Dan Roberts and Caribou drummer Brad Weber. Described by Spin as “floaty, polyrhythmic dance-pop,” their music combines electronic sounds with haunting vocals. Join Pick a Piper in Walker Court and groove to tracks off their 2013 self-titled album.

ARTIST PROJECTS

Nathalie Quagliotto: Fun, large-scale playground architecture like Maturity Correlation and Double Your Chances will be installed throughout the European galleries and the Philip B. Lind Gallery. Giant swings, mini-golf and gumball machines will bring out the child in you while also raising questions about the ways we play.

Sarah Febbraro: Wondering when that person you're checking out last had sex? If they want kids? Or if they even have a job? Sarah Febbraro wants to help you find your match even if it's just for the next hour. Let's Figure This Out Fast So We Can Just Be Together! is an alternative to generic online dating sites; Febbraro will speed up the process and get straight to the point, inviting the audience to be interviewed about what they are looking for in terms of love, relationships and sex. When a match is made, the artist will text participants and bring them together to meet and be sent on an instant date in the AGO.

The Philip B. Lind Gallery will be transformed into a table tennis spectacle – with a spin! In his 2014 project King’s Court, Geoffrey Pugen will go head to head with a professional table tennis player on a circular table, modified by the artist for an added challenge.

POP-UP TALKS

Join video game designer and novelist Jim Munroe as well as curator and video game artist Christine Kim for their talks about competition and collaboration.

Meet the Artists: Seven-person artist collective VSVSVS take the idea of teamwork to a whole new level. Described as "an experiment in being together too much," VSVSVS have lived and worked together in an open-concept space in the Portlands since 2010. The group follows a collaborative model in their creation of sculpture, video works, performance and installation. Members from the collective will discuss what it's like to produce work in this kind of environment.

MAKE ART

The evening will also feature How Hard is Your Art?, an interactive art-making installation by artist collective VSVSVS, and Order Up!, a participatory digital sculpting game developed by OCAD U student Jeremy Nir.

OUT OF THE VAULTS

For one night only, it’s Rembrandt versus the world. See how etchings by the artist compare to those working 300 years later with prints by Lucien Freud, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

MENU

Enjoy delicious flavor pairings with banh mi, pulled-pork tacos, spicy tomato soup, chili chocolate brownies and sweet and salty kettle corn.

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