Cake replica of former house at 271 Union St. Vancouver BC, created by Allison Chambers
The Future is Uncertain
2014
Presented as part of Adjacencies, a one-night live event hosted by 221a Artist Run Centre.
The Future is Uncertain was a one-time performance which took place in a vacant lot at 271 Union St, Vancouver BC. Responding to the inauguration of the lot as a future public art venue, the event involved the staging of a cake-cutting ceremony, enacted by “The Mayor of Vancouver,” as portrayed by actor Jesse Malakoe. His speech, loosely inspired by the rhetoric of municipal party Vision Vancouver, caused a rupture in the site’s history while channeling a sense of doubt and ambiguity around redevelopment and homelessness policies in the city. With an absurd gesture reminiscent of Gordon Matta-Clark’s building cuts or Vincent Trasov’s Mr. Peanut Mayoral campaign, “The Mayor” performed a destructive dedication ritual for a house that no longer stands in a neighbourhood that has faced a long history of controversial redevelopment.
Director/Writer: Lauren Marsden
Assistant Director: Nathalie Therriault
“The Mayor of Vancouver”: Jesse Malakoe
Cake Sculptor/Designer: Allison Chambers
Performance Script
