Life on the road, while hugely thrilling and life-affirming, has a way of turning life-as-you-know-it upside down round and round inside out. It ain’t easy to drop everything and hit the road for a month, living with 5 other people in a minivan, juggling the daily logistics of a touring art show, trying to find peace in constant motion, working with new people and situations each day, not knowing where you’re going to sleep most of the time, making sure everybody’s happy and full, working with little to no money, always being on (even when you’re off duty). It was challenging out there, mentally, physically, spiritually. … There’s so much to say about it. But I digress (until a later date). All I’ll say for now (on that note) is that we’re all still friends, still working and playing together, and we’re stronger for having put ourselves to the test. And I look forward to doing it all over again (but this time with money). …
Just two months after returning from the roads of Eastern Canada – the tour wheels still whirring in our ears – we packed up the show again and, with help from the Brooklyn Art Project, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and others, we took our devilish antics to New York City, on NYC Roadtrip 11, for one last banger on Devil’s Night in Brooklyn.
Now we’re back in Toronto, recovering (just barely) and preparing for the final installment of the show, where we’ll chronicle the whole tour experience through an exhibition, video screening and oral storytelling session. Round and round we go. It never stops. Who knew when we started this thing that it would keep expanding has it has.
- posted by crew leader Ryan
Here’s a little collection of photos that speak to me.
Trois-Pistoles, QC. Image by Karol.
Our fearless crew in Fredericton, NB.
Our portable zine library in Sackville, NB.
Packing up the van, again. Image by Joey.
Me with one of many poutines. Image by Karol.
A rare pic of Terror Clown. Image by Karol.
Portable drawings, Cornwall, ON. Image by Karol.
Sheltered from the rain at Messtival, Moncton, NB.
Inside an old schoolhouse in Pugwash, NS. Image by Karol.
Ritual. Image by Karol.
For the New York City Edition of
After nine stops on the tour the Wander Project is beginning to take on a recognizable face. Each new place brings with it a chance to follow my feet towards slices of delicious texture, graffittied walls, and heaps of colourful garbage. Along the way, I meet construction workers, climb fences, and tiptoe through dirty puddles. The images I collect speak to a sense of space based entirely on first impressions. My eyes adore shapes and angles, especially where metal meets wood, weeds grow from stone, or paint has peeled its layers. I would like to continue this project into the future. I have visions of thousands of images lining white walls, all catalogued according to place and corresponding to a mapped out wander. Ordered and adventitious at once. This is how a wander feels to me…
