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Presented by ON MAIN with the partecipation of VIVO Media Arts
THRU THE TRAPDOOR is a 5-day exhibition concluding with a monumental closing event. This is the final act and the end of an era for 1965 Main St., an important and innovative creative hub since 1993. It has been the home-base for VIVO Media Arts, Alderbridge Mini-Storage, Gallery 1965, New Forms Festival, and many other organizations and artists.
On Main Gallery has occupied one of the storefronts since 2007. In 2012 this space was expanded and completely renovated by Rick Erickson, who put in a “secret trap door” leading down to Alderbridge Mini-Storage, a labyrinth of 70 spaces in all shapes and sizes, with 6500 sq. ft. of storage lockers.
Dozens of artists will be transforming this unique warehouse into an amazing site for experiencing contemporary art. They will respond to the architectural features of the site, along with ideas of memory, history, the present, the future, consumption, and hoarding.
Within these spaces, there will be a camera obscura, an Ames room, peep holes, a grand piano, interactive sound and internet works, immersive environments and intimate personal narratives. These projects mix traditional media with newer technologies, combining photography and video with everything from found objects, dirt, wood, and concrete, to infusions of the more ephemeral: performance, sound, projections and interventions.
As part of THRU THE TRAPDOOR, VIVO will present Nightmare Inductions a project by Noxious Sector in the Video Bar space and a great line-up of musicians and djs (curated by John Brennan and Hybridity) in the studio space on the closing night.
NIGHTMARE INDUCTIONS is an interactive installation that uses brain wave entraining sound and video, to guide participant through a shared trance induction experience. Each experience focuses on a common nightmare theme: dreams of falling, dreams of forgetting and dreams of having one’s teeth fall out. Included in each installation are artworks by Noxious Sector, and imagery created by collaborators in response to the experiences. These are offered as aids to willing participants, as well as further meditations on each theme.
Nightmare Inductions is intended to challenge the imaginative willingness of the audience while exploring the creative possibilities for induction-based artworks. We think of induction as a second-order thought experiment—not simply an idea contemplated passively in one’s own mind, but an experience implanted by visualization and self-hypnosis techniques. This series of artworks is also an opportunity for audiences to gain a broader general understanding of the capacities and vulnerabilities of the human mind.
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Noxious Sector is an ongoing collaboration among Canadian artists Jackson 2bears, Ted Hiebert, and Doug Jarvis. Their projects are dedicated to the exploration of questions of the imaginative, the paranormal, and the absurd. Their work attempts to redefine the meaning of artistic possibility through extended propositions that challenge consensual norms while provoking stimulating forums for dialogue and discourse. Their particular focus is on challenging the boundaries between the imaginary and the everyday, and building from stories of strange science and the paranormal from which to wonder about the creative possibilities of speculative living.