Artists are known for their “unique” way of viewing the world. Here’s a collection of Canadian creations that stand out for being particularly unusual.
THIS DRESS IS A CUT ABOVE
Twenty years before Lady Gaga shocked the audience of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards by wearing a dress made of raw beef, Montreal artist Jana Sterbak constructed an outfit hand-stitched from 23 kilograms (50 pounds) of raw, unrefrigerated, salted flank steak. Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorexic was displayed in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, which purchased the distinctive dress. In the weeks following the installation, 200 people mailed food scraps to the gallery to protest the work, which Sterbak explained as dealing with issues of vanity and bodily decay. It was also meant to communicate that no matter how we drape ourselves, we are still just meat on bones. When the dress decomposed, which took about six weeks, it was replaced with another $300 worth of raw meat; the gallery staff was trained to piece it together.
LEAVING ITS MARK
Maskull Lasserre wants to put city dwellers a little on edge. Using urethane rubber, the native of Alberta has cast the footprints of various predatory creatures and then attached them to the bottoms of shoes. When people put on his shoes and then walk through the snowy city streets, they leave behind the tracks of cougars, bears, deer, and the occasional Big Foot. He said that the human footprints he always saw in the snow looked a little lonely, so he created these animal prints as companions. You may spy his handiwork—or fancy footwork—near his studios in Montreal and Ottawa.
A PEDAL TO THE MEDAL
Michael de Broin of Montreal (and Berlin) is a true conceptual artist. He suspended the largest mirror ball (constructed of 1,000 mirrors) ever made from a construction crane 50 meters (164 feet) above the ground in the Jardin du Luxembourg during the Nuit Blanche event, an annual all-night arts festival. He created a star in New Orleans from lampposts that were torn down by Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, De Broin stripped the inside of an ’86 Buick Regal of its engine, suspension, transmission, and electrical system, reducing its weight considerably. He equipped the vehicle with four separate pedal and gear mechanisms so that passengers could power the vehicle via pedaling. With four pedalers aboard, the Shared Propulsion Car could reach top speeds of 15 kilometers (9 miles) per hour. When the artist took the car for a spin in Montreal, with tea lights sitting in place of light bulbs at the front, police pulled over De Broin and issued him a ticket for driving an unsafe vehicle. The artist argued his case in court, where Justice of the Peace Patrick Marum didn’t see De Broin as much of a danger. He threw the case out.
In 1999, Aashrita Furman pogo-sticked up the 1,899 steps of the CN Tower.
A DANGEROUS YARN
Howie Woo has a soft spot for thrilling things. The 35-year-old artist from British Columbia grew up wanting to play with various weapons but never had the chance to. After taking lessons in Amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting or knitting stuffed characters, Woo decided to crochet versions of dangerous items that he always wanted to play with as a young lad. He poses in photos featuring himself in action using his crocheted grenades, sticks of dynamite, UFOs, and ray guns, all hand-made from harmless wool.
HOW MUCH IS THAT BANANA IN THE WINDOW?
Artist Michael Fernandes caused a stir in 2008 when he placed a banana in the window of Gallery Page and Strange in Halifax with a price tag of $2,500. Anyone who bought the banana would not just be buying a piece of fruit; it was a concept. Fernandes changed the banana every day to a progressively greener one, and he would eat the old banana. He was making a comment about the transitory nature of things. “We (humans) are also temporal, but we live as if we are not,” he wrote. Despite the exorbitant price tag, two collectors placed holds on the piece, which was titled Banana. The gallery’s co-owner, Victoria Page, wanted prospective buyers to absolutely understand what they were getting for their money. “Collectors are contacting us; they’ve seen the picture on our website, and they’re asking us what medium he’s using,” she said. She made sure to tell collectors: “It’s a banana; you understand that it’s a banana?”
Des Sawa Jr. of Tobermory made the largest golf tee in the world—over 2.1 m (7’) feet tall.