Anarchy in the Dot CA

A Dance Culture Diorama by the
Freespace Collective

Featuring:
Nebula – Techno psy-ish live p.a.
Paranoize vs Fuzzi Robot – Techno
Sense – Psytrance
Divell – Trance/ Psytrance
Atp vs. Jane Shorthand – Hard House
Bennyp – Everything/Nothing
Reptilian – Psytrance
Keya – Psytrance
Sensehertz – Ambient

After ten years of exhibitions and public performances at 129A Hunter Street West, the ultimate exhibition at this Artspace location is also a party. Anarchy in the Dot CA examines the strange appearance of anarchistic tribes that have bubbled up out of the margins of dance culture, an otherwise voraciously corporate landscape. “In 1993, the dance music industry in England was worth 1.3 billion pounds, which was five times more than the film industry.” <Tim Laughlin quoted by Jimi Fritz, Rave Culture, An Insider’s Overview, Page 112> While raves and “all-night dance parties” have become a billion-dollar industry there remains a small bastion of activity that resists such capitalistic urges in favour of the communal principles that forged the underground dance scene.

This presentation, dubbed a “dance culture diorama,” leaves intact the nature and underpinning philosophy of Toronto’s “Freespace Collective,” a group that pursues the underground tradition of free parties in reclaimed public spaces. This event is curated by Artspace Director David LaRiviere as a multifaceted challenge: first as a showcase for what is normally a clandestine activity; and second to position the curatorial act itself as a viable strategy to enable vibrant realms of cultural production, normally thought to be discrete from the “art world”, to cross over into the critical framework of an artist-run centre.