Thru The Trapdoor

77 participants. 48 projects and performances. A huge photo gallery + 17min video recapping it all. A once in a lifetime event.

Photos by Ash Tanasiychuk and Jon Vincent
Video by Ash Tanasiychuk and Tara Flynn
Text from On Main Gallery’s press release

Thru The Trapdoor. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

Thru the Trapdoor was an interdisciplinary art exhibition and event that took place from April 22 to 27, 2014. It was produced to mark the end of an era for the building at 1965 Main Street. For over 2 decades that address had housed the VIVO Media Arts Centre and had provided short and long-term studios for dozens of artists, collectives, festivals and organizations including 
On Main Gallery who operated out of the storefront since 2007.

Opening night, Thru The Trapdoor, 1965 Main St. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

In 2011, building owner Rick Erickson renovated the gallery and built a “secret trap door” that led to the basement of the building and Alderbridge Mini-Storage; a 6500 sq. ft. labyrinth of hallways with 70 lockers in all shapes and sizes. 
The roughly assembled and inexpensive storage units were unmonitored, self-serve and accessible 24/7. They provided storage for many colourful characters over the years, including a music recording studio, artists, art collectors, hoarders, small businesses, divorcées, people living out of cars, and even rumoured sex workers.

Thru The Trapdoor hallways, early days. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

The sale of the building and its scheduled demolition offered an opportunity to use the space as never before, and to send it off with a blast. Thru The Trapdoor allowed us to hearken back to the free sprit of large underground warehouse shows of the 1970’s and 1980’s and to create a D.I.Y. exhibition where anything could happen with style and attitude.
 
We invited artists and curators to propose projects that addressed the site-specific potential, content and context of the exhibition. We kept the parameters loose and inclusive, which quickly snowballed to artists inviting other artists, artists acting as curators and curators as artists.

“But if I watch it again will it tell me the Truth?” by Sydney Southam. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

Residents of Hammock Residency performing at Thru The Trapdoor. Video still by Ash Tanasiychuk

The end result was 77 participants who created 48 projects and performances. Thru The Trapdoor facilitated new imaginings and allowed both artists and the public to believe that anything was possible (if only for a brief moment). We were overwhelmed by the wide range of the artists who participated, the exceptional variety and scale of projects that were completed and by the positive response from the viewers. Together we created an experience that presented interdisciplinary multi-sensory art works that engaged the audience in both familiar and unexpected ways.

“Untitled, After Duchamp” by David Khang at Thru The Trapdoor. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

Star City performing at Thru The Trapdoor’s closing Art Party. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

VANDOCUMENT was brought on board to document the whole process:

• from the the deconstruction & reconstruction phase (April 1-14)
• to the artists’ installation phase (April 15-21)
• through to the entire exhibition (April 22-26) including opening night and the all out all night Art Party closing night.

We shot tons of photos and dozens of hours of footage.
Winsor Gallery put it best when they said, “If you were there, relive Thru the Trapdoor through VANDOCUMENT’s skilful film. If you weren’t there, revel in the spirit of a rare DIY exhibition that truly brought our city’s entire art community together.”
It’s all compiled here, one helluva documentation of this once in a lifetime event.

Thank you to Paul, Rick, and the OMG crew for this opportunity. It’s been a blast.
 

Thru The Trapdoor opening night. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk

“Joe’s 27 Boxes” by Brian Howell Thru The Trapdoor. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk