Since Elizabeth was busy all weekend - curling and flying back to Newfoundland - we decided on a mid-week outing to the Art Gallery of Ontario!
Our TV guide for the evening.
On the first Thursday of every month during the winter, the AGO hosts an after hours party featuring music, food, and, of course, some weird and wonderful performance art. We headed down this Thursday for a TV themed evening at the museum.
Turns out First Thursdays are a pretty popular event, and the party was very much in full swing as we showed up shortly after the doors opened. We picked up a drink at the cash bar and started our wandering. We had been to the museum once before when we visited Toronto last year, but needless to say it was a whole different atmosphere this time around.
Turns out First Thursdays are a pretty popular event, and the party was very much in full swing as we showed up shortly after the doors opened. We picked up a drink at the cash bar and started our wandering. We had been to the museum once before when we visited Toronto last year, but needless to say it was a whole different atmosphere this time around.
Food and drink in the gallery.
After checking out the food on offer and finishing up our drinks (no drinks allowed near the precious paintings...obviously), we started exploring the huge museum in search of the scheduled events. We first stopped by an exhibit on Canadian artist David Milne, where we had our first encounter with a performance artist who was getting up close and personal with her unusual TV camera… Anyway, after that we found our way upstairs to catch the end of a satirical talk show and the start of Roombonspiel, a bizarre and hilarious fake sporting event which saw the Wooly Mammoths take on the Salmon Bears in a high stakes match of Roomba Curling.
Roomba Curling.
At half-time we left the Roombonspiel, slightly confused and entertained, to go see some improv comedy that was happening elsewhere in the museum. On our way, we got a bit distracted by the Amy Wong performing in the main atrium (which was awesome), but eventually caught up with the comedy show (which was also awesome).
 Amy Wong performing. |  Improv Comedy. |
We then actually took in a bit more of the artwork on show at the museum. Despite having been to the museum before, there's always something new to discover in such a large gallery, and we enjoyed exploring the place in the different atmosphere.
Before heading home we took in one last “TV” show in the form of Henri Faberge’s Heart Throb Chart. Inspired by Top of the Pops, the show featured two “English” presenters who counted us down through the heart throb chart. Along the way there was some live music, some ethereal, hypnotic beings, and Henri Faberge himself, conveniently voted the number one Heart Throb of the evening.
Before heading home we took in one last “TV” show in the form of Henri Faberge’s Heart Throb Chart. Inspired by Top of the Pops, the show featured two “English” presenters who counted us down through the heart throb chart. Along the way there was some live music, some ethereal, hypnotic beings, and Henri Faberge himself, conveniently voted the number one Heart Throb of the evening.
Henri Faberge's Heart Throb Chart.
Here are some more photos from the party:
Curious what we were up to a year ago? Well, we went Scuba diving with Santa (an experience that traumatized Elizabeth for life). And two years ago we were making Ugly Sticks in preparation for the Mummer's Parade, a Newfoundland tradition.
