I Love Art

I was walking home one afternoon, saving money on public transit and feeling my Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) when I passed the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (952 Queen West). It was free admission so I went in.

Most of the works on display were interesting enough and I watched a video installation for a good half hour. But at the back of the Museum, I came across the most fantastic bedroom: a queen size bed covered in fake white fur, with a video screen hanging overhead. Weird, robotic ambient music was playing and lighting was provided by a pair of large dangling pods.

I couldn't quite make out what was playing on the video screen because it was aimed towards the occupant of the bed. Then I saw a small sign beside the bed: "Please remove shoes before mounting the bed." My shoes were off in half a second and I made myself comfortable right away.

Rifling around in the fake fur bedspread, I found some remote controls. One controlled the pod lighting, one controlled the massager inside the bed, and one controlled the video screen. The screen displayed other parts of the Museum. With the touch of a button, I was able to manuver the camera and spy on other visitors.

So, there I was, alone in a white bedroom, spread out on fake white shag, enjoying the soothing buzz of an in-bed massager, cackling as I monitored unsuspecting humans. It was one part Howard Hughes/Monty Burns and one part Barberella.

The installation was called Cyborg Living by KC Adams and I'm sorry to report that it ended November 6. I fully intended on returning with someone to join me in bed but things came up and it slipped my mind.

As great as all this sounds, I know people will adamantly argue that Cyborg Living is not art. This small-mindedness regarding the definition of art infuriates me but I will keep my argument short.

When asked to give their definition of art, people usually point to sculpture and painting, preferably depicting something pleasing or at least, easily recognizable. Hence, most people would readily identify the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as art, for its beauty and its technical excellence. But back when Michelanglo was creating the fresco ceiling, he was not simply creating a pretty picture. His aim was to put people in awe of divinity - to take them out of their short, brutish lives and push the boundaries of their imagination.

I believe that art is about elevating life above monotony and the mundane. In today's fast society, it takes more than an impressive mural on a wall to snap people out of cell phone calls, reality shows, and road rage. Installation art like Cyborg Living did more to take me out of my financial worries and SAD than any pill or shopping spree. I'm still basking in its afterglow.