Libations of Liberated Living


January 21 – March 06 2022

Micah Adams, Joshua Augusto, Dexter Barker-Glenn, Sophie Dannin, Melissa Fisher-Rozenberg, Ryland Fortie, Lauren Goodman, Alastair Martin, Matt Nish-Lapidus, Julie Oh,  Ciar O’Mahony, Pascal Paquette, Gord Peteran, Diana Lynn VanderMeulen, Meichen Waxer

Presented as part of DesignTO festival

Organized by Laura Carusi, Emma Green, Alison Postma, Callum Schuster, and Emma Welch





















The idea of turning “garbage” to “gold” is as old as alchemy and has misled many if not  most about its meaning ever since the first pursuit. Beyond materiality and through the  objects we possess, the combination of function and fictions formed around one’s life create  the transcendental spark that generates our manifested environments true worth.

Artists and designers have always been at the forefront of these explorations. When stepping  into the field of interior design, no stone — or in this case, couch cushion — goes unturned.

The familiar yet atypical nature of artistic design practice modifies our expectations of  materiality and experience which will be seen through ergonomic exploration and  (re)fabrication of everyday things remade into new.





upcoming programming:

Reading Group and Discussion led by Ciar O’Mahony 
Not Just Themselves: Engaging art objects through the writing of Fredric Jameson

Sunday February 27, 3 - 5pm

To register please contact us at info@theplumb.ca

A collective reading workshop looking at Fredric Jameson’s 2015 essay The Aesthetics of  Singularity. Hosted by artist Ciar O'Mahony, the workshop will facilitate a collective reading of  the text by all participants. No pre-reading will be required and texts will be freely distributed at  the workshop held on Sunday Feb 27 from 3-5pm. The reading will be followed by a  conversation responding to the text and exploring its potential relationships to works within the  exhibition.

Fredric Jameson is an American cultural critic and philosopher best known for his analysis of  capitalism and postmodernity. His essay, The Aesthetics of Singularity explores the conceptual  conditions of art objects from a postmodernist perspective, provocatively stating that artists no  longer create objects but rather create events. The reading session will examine this and other  ideas put forth by the essay activating the many discourses channeled by the exhibition. 

To give the essay a presence within the exhibition beyond the reading session, a takeaway  poster with fragments of the text will be available for free in the gallery space. The poster  contains a QR code leading to a download of the essay, which O'Mahony uploaded to Library Genesis.




Photo documentation courtesy of Alison Postma






Meichen Waxer, Horus, 2021, white beeswax candle, cast of commercially produced  polystyrene ceiling rose, edition of 3, 12” diameter




Micah Adams, Friendship Lighters, 2021, welded steel, Bic lighters, 4” x 3 ½” x 2 ¾“. Courtesy of MKG127, Toronto.






Diana Lynn Vandermeulen, strawberry milk plaid baby chairs, 2021, Hand laminated acrylic plaid on  1” lucite, 28¼” x 20” x 17½”




Dexter Barker-Glenn, Kill Cord, 2021, oil on canvas, emergency pull cord, 7” x 5”






Lauren Goodman, from The Providence Project, 2021, salvaged, discarded steel, processed with oxy-acetylene, connected through a MIG welder and spray painted




Dexter Barker-Glenn, Doctrine of Signatures, 2021, oil on engraved wood, Apple Earpods,  12” x 9”


Micah Adams, Bic with Safety Features, 2022. Courtesy of MKG127, Toronto.



Ryland Fortie, Bottle Module (Temple 1 & 2), 2020, soda bottles, plywood, aerosol  paint, and epoxy resin, dimensions variable






Lauren Goodman, from The Providence Project, 2021, salvaged, discarded steel, processed with oxy-acetylene, connected through a MIG welder and spray painted

Sophie Dannin, Magnet I, 2021, various carpet remnants, fiberglass mesh, felt






Sophie Dannin, Magnet II & III, 2021, various carpet remnants, fiberglass mesh, felt











Micah Adams, Friendship Lighters, 2021, welded steel, Bic lighters, 4” x 3 ½” x 2 ¾“. Courtesy of MKG127, Toronto.




Melissa Fisher-Rozenberg, picking scabs in reverse, 2016 – 2019, wood spindles, pine dish holder, acrylic display, sign vinyl, acrylic paint, 10” x 7” x 5”







Dexter Barker-Glenn, Under the Lilacs, 2021, oil on canvas, steel, 36” x 8”




Joshua Augusto, Pile of Scraps, 2021, an accumulation of selected construction debris  and curb finds, assembled onsite, dimensions variable






Julie Oh, Time, 2021, thermostat, 12” x 12” x 1 ½"



Pascal Paquette  

Brick, formerly 328 Richmond Street West, 2011, spray paint, brick
Brick, formerly 82 Divadale Drive, 1-3, Toronto, 2015, spray paint, brick
Art Child, formerly 433 Richmond Street West, 2011, spray paint, brick
Kwest, formerly 431 Richmond Street West, 2011, spray paint, brick
Bacon, formerly 328 Richmond Street West, 2011, spray paint, brick 

each approx. 8” x 2” x 3”




Pascal Paquette, Concrete Block, formerly 553 Clinton Street, 2014, spray paint, cinder  block, 12” x 8” x 16”





Micah Adams, Bic Within Small Tin, 2021 welded steel, Bic lighter, found tin, 3” x 2” x 1”. Courtesy of MKG127, Toronto.


Dexter Barker-Glenn, Whip and Tongue, 2021, oil on canvas, graphite, paper, steel, 12” x 7”






Alastair Martin, Propane Accessories Bowl v1 & v2, 2014, cut propane tank, textured  lacquer, enamel, each 12” x 8” x 12”

 











Dexter Barker-Glenn, Plover Bird, 2021, oil on canvas, computer mouse, 6” x 8”







Melissa Fisher Rozenberg, you round up and I’ll round down, 2018, hanging metal planters, used bed sheet, thread, 24” x 16” x 16” 






Gord Peteran, Electric Chair, tubular metal chair frame, light bulb, 31” x 14” x 16”











Matt Nish-Lapidus, Allegory, 2020, Python, Raspberry Pi, LCD, “The World is Too Much  With Us” (William Wordsworth), “Mindstorms” (Seymour Papert), non repeating loop, 3 ½” x 3”

Matt Nish-Lapidus, DO WHILE TRUE, 2020, Python Turtle (LOGO), Raspberry Pi, LCD, infinite, 3 ½” x 3” 



Micah Adams Bic/Pilot/Staedtler,  Bic/Starlite/Uni-ball, Bic/Sharpie/Staedtler, Bic/Papermate/Bic, Bic with Paper Clip, Bic/Bic/Pencil Co, 2021,  welded steel, Bic lighter, pen pocket clips, each 2 ⅓” x ¾” x ¾”. Courtesy of MKG127, Toronto.   






Dexter Barker-Glen, Substrate, 2021, oil on canvas, wire, 14” x 11”



Joshua Augusto, Nail Works 1, 2021, dimensions variable


email: info [at] theplumb [dot] ca
instagram: the_plumb

Reach out to us and let’s make something happen!