Army of YouTube

Art is the great provider of context. In fact, context is the primary feature of its contemporary practice. Anything can be art, provided certain conventions of presentation are observed. This makes art practice like a sport in which participants test the limits of what its context can absorb.

James Carl’s Balcony project in Toronto’s Kensington Market offers precisely this kind of opportunity. Carl shows work on an improvised billboard space attached to the exterior of his second-floor balcony, a site that overlooks a small park. Because it adheres to no commercial imperative, the Balcony offers artists a relatively unfettered occasion for public address. Judging by past efforts, most artists choose to speak to their de facto audience in only an oblique fashion, referencing trends in contemporary art in a way that resonates with the context and speaks to the interests of the informed art viewer.

Tagged: Andrew Reyes, Art, James Carl, Kensington Market, Marianne Williamson, Nelson Mandela, New Age, The Balcony, Toronto