A 'Sticky' Situation

In the year 2011 Wendy was awarded an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University. She was in good company. Shelagh Rogers was also being given an honorary doctorate, as was some dude called Douglas Coupland. Wendy knew little or nothing about Coupland but mentioned that he gave a riveting speech to the graduates. As if this wasn't enough, Peter Mansbridge (who, it was once noted, looks a lot like my Dad) was the Chancellor at Mount A. It was a star studded cast (Mansbridge being the stud, Rogers/Coupland/Nielsen the stars).

Originally an unspecified honorary doctorate recipient was scheduled to address the graduates. Something happened at the last moment and Shelagh Rogers was asked to make the address, to which she agreed. As it turned out, Mr.Coupland hit the stage before Shelagh and ended up speaking at length. Wendy remembers his speech as being brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that when Coupland was done Shelagh Rogers leaned over to Wendy and said something to the effect of 'how can I go on and speak after such brilliance',

Douglas Coupland's name was loosely on our radar after Wendy's chance encounter in Sackville, New Brunswick, though it wasn't until May 30, 2014 that he re-emerged again in a big way. I read an article in the Globe & Mail about him and I came to the following conclusion.....cool!

I liked his work. It was original, big, bright, whimsical and interactive. Fast forward to January 2015. I happened to noticed that Mr.Coupland's art was being feted by the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art as part of a collaborative effort. Bingo! This is my chance to see his work firsthand.

I just mentioned that Coupland's work is interactive. Take a look at today's images. Coupland has built a seven foot high likeness of himself. This sculpture currently sits in Holt Renfrew's new men's store on Bloor Street. I assume that it's there to build up excitement for the new exhibition, and to lure people into Holt's new store. I went there yesterday to photograph the sculpture, and not to augment my already impressive menswear collection. If I return to Holt's today, things will be different, but not in a fashion sense.

The public has been invited to chew bubblegum (provided) and stick it to the sculpture. Every day dozens, if not hundreds, of wads are added to the sculpture. Eventually the blackness of the piece will be replaced by gummy rainbow coloured badness. I'm well versed at this kind of art, having spent many enforced (gumless) hours sitting behind a school desk. Now, thanks to Coupland, my nefarious acts of youth are being celebrated in a place that sells $600 shirts.

Victory will be mine, albeit in a $30 shirt from Winner's.

I think I'll go back to Holt Renfrew today and chew up a wad myself. Why photograph and write about art when you can be the artist? On that note, I've decided to challenge myself to do/make a Couplandesque art installation. I'm going to see his exhibition on February 3. I'm hoping, after seeing the exhibit, that I'll be inspired to create my own work. If nothing else, I'll have absorbed a lot of information upon which to chew.

Want to learn more about Douglas Coupland?  http://coupland.com/ or perhaps https://www.artsy.net/artist/douglas-coupland

If you think he's just a visual artist, then I'm sorry to burst your bubble. He's also the author of fourteen novels, numerous essays and God knows what else. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that he has a pet unicorn and can juggle five poached ostrich eggs simultaneously.

What else can I say, other than 'cool'!