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Gustaf Brom’s artistic practice is engaged with the exploration of the nature of consciousness, the dualistic concept of “i”, and the biological reality of the body, in an effort to understand the ‘being mind’ as a direct experience of ‘reality.’ In his practice, he started off working photography and installation, but two work in particular led him to work with the more formless processes of performance. In 1991, Broms burned all of his work, and in doing so realized that the intensity of the action and the remaining ash far outdid anything he had previously made. In 2005, he completed a series of works entitled 5 Faiths for a Brave New World in which he worked with objects that were physically too heavy for the body to move. These two experiences created a longing to explore the formless and led up to the project entitled A Walking Piece made with Trish Littler, in which the two artists spent 18 months walking across Eastern Europe. The result is considered a drawing.
Currently, Broms’ continues to work with a series of movements that look at concepts of inner/outer and movement/stillness, working with his own body as the tool for examining these processes. The constant question for Broms is, “why are the dancing atoms of this body not merging wit the dancing atoms surrounding it?”
The complicated relationship
HuMans and the surroundings
/natural / human / species /
must be resolved on a psychological level,
before any real change can take place ?
do I live with identity restricted to the borders of my skin ?
or
do I live with the understanding that this is a construct of mind ?
as the water and air flows through my body
is it at all possible to identify with this vessel ?
The work I am planning for Toronto is my first attempt to
explore the possibilities to aid this change,
using the language of the body as tool.
~Gustaf Broms
FADO Performance Art Centre presents a new durational performance work, Pentagram, by Gustaf Broms. From September 23-27, 2013 Broms will perform a series of street actions in public spaces throughout Toronto’s downtown core, each day from 9am to 5pm, mimicking a “typical” work day. In addition, Broms will perform on Saturday September 28 in an evening program along with International Visiting Artists: Macarena Perich Rosas (Chile) and Tomasz Szrama (Finland/Poland) at Collective Space.
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23
Union Station, 65 Front Street West
On Day 1, you can find Gustaf in the pedestrian path between Union Station and the Go Station. If the artist chooses to move locations during the course of the day, you will find him on lower York Street, south of Front Street, in the middle of the road under the underpass.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Toronto-Dominion Centre, 66 Wellington Street West
On Tuesday, you can find Gustaf in sculpture park nestled between the three towers that make up the Toronto-Dominion Centre (look for the reclining cows). You can get there on Wellington Street, or from King Street, just east of York Street.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Bay Street, just south of Kind Street West, near the old Stock Exchange
On Wednesday, you can find Gustaf near the corner of King Street West and Bay Street, just south of King Street, across from the old Stock Exchange facade. If not exactly there, the artist will be in the vicinity.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26
Bay Street, south of Wellington Street
On Thursday, you can find the artist on Bay Street, south of Wellington Street or in the immediate vicinity.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Queen’s Park Crescent
On the last day of the performance you can find the artist at the top part of Queen’s Park circle, just south of Bloor Street. Closest subway station is Museum Station.
ARTIST TALK: Gustaf Broms, Tomasz Szrama, Macarena Perich Rosas
September 25 @ 7:00pm
hub 14 | 14 Markham Street, Toronto
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b. 1966, Sweden
Gustaf Broms is a Swedish visual artist working in performance, video and photography. His performance work has presented work across Europe, Asia and North America. His practice is engaged with the exploration of the nature of consciousness, the dualistic concept of “I,” as the biological reality of being in the BODY, and being MIND, as the perceived experience of the flow of phenomena. He is a co-founding member of REVOLVE Performance Festival in Uppsala. He was the subject of 2016 film, The Mystery of Life – An Art Apart: Gustaf Broms by Carl Abrahamsson.
“To use the time in this predicament as a way to explore the nature of consciousness. Trying to make a translation of the flow of life into a condensed symbol, as a tool for understanding. Spending the last few years looking into the dualistic concept of ‘i’, in terms of association with the idea of BEING NATURE, as the actual biological reality this body goes through, and BEING MIND as a very direct experience of REALITY. Since 2009 I live in the forest of Vendel and work on a series of ‘movements’ that explores why THE DANCING ATOMS OF THIS BODY are not merging with the dancing atoms surrounding it?” ~Gustaf Broms
Just as a performance artist uses their body as their medium, this is a fragrance composed entirely of the orange tree: fruit, leaves, bark, roots, and flowers. Artist Orange performs itself.
neroli, blood orange
fresh orange juice, petit grain
orange twig, orange seed